Word: owen
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...still the party's second worst in more than a half-century. The most disappointed loser was the Liberal-Social Democratic Alliance, which had become a third force in British politics in its six years of existence. Led by the Liberals' David Steel and the Social Democrats' David Owen, the Alliance had aimed to eclipse Labor as the main opposition party. Instead, its representation in the House was reduced to 22 seats from the 23 it won in the previous election. The vote was a landmark in one respect: three blacks and an Indian, all Labor candidates, became the first...
After the election, the Alliance's Owen joined in the criticism of Labor's policies. "They were unelectable and are unelectable," he declared. "The reason Labor has not delivered is that their policies stink." Owen, however, was having his own problems. The Alliance had counted on this election to gain a surge of new support from middle-of-the-road voters, but its share of the popular vote actually declined nearly 3 percentage points from 1983, putting its survival in doubt. Analysts believe the Alliance suffered because there were fewer uncommitted voters in this election. The two Alliance parties...
...occasionally stumbled, as when she was asked why she had taken out private medical insurance rather than relying on the National Health Service. She replied, "To enable me to go into hospital on the day I want, at the time I want, with the doctor I want." That led Owen to castigate her for indifference toward those who cannot afford the luxury of choosing between private and state health care...
With the race focusing increasingly on the Tories and Labor, the Alliance was struggling. Its leaders, Liberal David Steel and Social Democrat David Owen, still hoped to hold the balance of power in a "hung" Parliament in which neither of their two rivals had an outright majority, but that possibility receded as their campaign failed to ignite. Steel and Owen added to their problems by disagreeing over possible participation in a coalition government. Steel called it "unimaginable" to support the Tories, while Owen wanted to keep all options open. They patched up the split, but Thatcher and Kinnock dismissed...
...North told Congress last June, under oath, that he barely knew Owen. In fact, as Owen's testimony to the congressional Iran-contra investigators establishes, the two had been working together closely for two years. At the end of his testimony, Owen read a paean canonizing his mentor. Sample line: ". . . at crude altars in the jungle, candles burn...