Electoral Results
In United Kingdom general elections, the Lib Dems succeeded the Liberal–SDP Alliance as the third most popular party, behind Labour and the Conservatives. Their popularity initially declined from the levels attained by the Alliance, but their seat count has risen to its peak of 63 seats, a feat that has been credited to more intelligent targeting of vulnerable seats. The vote percentage for the Alliance in 1987 and the Lib Dems in 2005 is similar, yet the Lib Dems won 62 seats to the Alliance's 22.
The first-past-the-post electoral system used in UK General Elections is not suited to parties whose vote is evenly divided across the country, resulting in those parties achieving a lower proportion of seats in the Commons than their proportion of the popular vote (see table and graph). The Lib Dems and their Liberal and SDP predecessors have suffered especially, particularly in the 1980s when their electoral support was greatest while the disparity between the votes and the number of MPs returned to parliament was significantly large. The increase in their number of seats in 1997, 2001 and 2005 was attributed to the weakness of the Conservatives and the success of their election strategist Lord Rennard. Lib Dems state that they want 'three-party politics' in the Commons; the most realistic chance of power with first past the post is for the party to be the kingmakers in a hung parliament. Party leaders often set out their terms for forming a coalition in such an event—Nick Clegg stated in 2008 that the policy for the 2010 general election is to reform elections, parties and Parliament in a "constitutional convention".
| General election | Name | Share of votes | Seats | Share of seats | Source |
| 1983 | SDP–Liberal Alliance | 25.4% | 23 | 3.5% | |
| 1987 | SDP–Liberal Alliance | 22.6% | 22 | 3.4% | |
| 1992 | Liberal Democrats | 17.8% | 20 | 3.1% | |
| 1997 | Liberal Democrats | 16.7% | 46 | 7.0% | |
| 2001 | Liberal Democrats | 18.3% | 52 | 7.9% | |
| 2005 | Liberal Democrats | 22.1% | 62 | 9.6% | |
| 2010 | Liberal Democrats | 23.0% | 57 | 8.8% |
The party has performed better in local elections as it won control of 31 councils. In the 2008 local elections, they gained 25% of the vote, placing them ahead of Labour and increasing their control by 34 to more than 4,200 council seats—21% of the total number of seats.
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