Britain: A Bold Gamble Pays Off

Williams scores a major victory for the Social Democrats

"Tonight's result is a miracle by anybody's standards!" exulted the smiling, unpretentious woman who suddenly found herself borne aloft by her cheering campaign workers. "There is not a single safe seat left in the country." Lifting a glass of champagne, Shirley Williams, 51, toasted her victory as the first person to be elected to Parliament under the banner of Britain's new Social Democratic Party. It was a historic moment in modern British politics. For the first time since the Liberals faded in 1922, the...

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