In the final in this series of columns on LGBT issues and current parliamentary parties, I'll focus attention on ACT New Zealand, kindred German and British parties and the crisis of 'classical liberalism' in New Zealand. Since it was founded by ex-Labour Finance Minister Roger Douglas (1994) and entered Parliament (1996), the Asociation of Consumers and Taxpayers has been divided into two factions, often in uneasy co-existence. They consist of hardline New Right fiscal conservatives who want the party to stick to its core mission of containing central government expenditure, privatisation and acting as an advocate for the business community...and populist neoconservatives who futilely chase short-term objectives like attacking mainstream social liberal values and more latterly, 'law and order' issues. The latter have been a liability, causing the loss of pivotal bolthole constituency seats like Wellington Central and (now?) Epsom due to the haemorrhage of centre-right social liberals from the party. Its electoral fortunes have been rocky. For the first decade or so of its existence, it didn't dip below five percent of the total votes cast under MMP. When it did so in 2005, it decimated the party, reducing its ranks to Rodney Hide, its second party leader after Richard Prebble, and Heather Roy, who became his deputy. Given that Hide held Epsom in 2005, and the party's voter share recovered modestly, it seemed as if the party had achieved one of its chief objectives- partner to the National Party in a centre-right coalition arrangement. Unfortunately, under the strain of government, there have been sharpened rivalries within the party. They centred on Rodney Hide's ministerial expenditure, Heather Roy's leadership ambitions, and subsequent dumping from the deputy leadership role, as well as the sudden departute of Sensible Sentencing Trust activist David Garrett after unpalatable revelations about his past surfaced last year. However, the 'crisis of classical liberalism' doesn't appear limited to New Zealand. In Germany, the Free Democrats have existed since 1948. The FDP has served in several German coalition governments, mostly with the Christian Democrat centre-rightists (1949-56, 9161-66, 1982-1998, 2009- ). In the eighties, it became a more explicitly market-oriented 'classical liberal party'. Like ACT here, it supports state asset privatisation, industry and business deregulation, anti-union laws, welfare retrenchment and insurance-based welfare benefits, as well as strong competition laws. On the positive side, it is more strongly protective of human rights and civil liberties than ACT has proven here, although it is liberal when it comes to LGBT rights. This shouldn't be too surprising, as Guido Westerwalle, the current FDP leader and German Vice-Chancellor and Foreign Minister, is an out gay man, who signed a registered partnership with Michael Mronz, his partner, in September 2010. As with ACT, there seems to be a schism between its social liberal and classical liberal aspects. It also opposes wiretapping and online data retention surveillance, as well as online data sharing, but strongly supports retention of nuclear power. Like Rodney Hide, Westerwalle has attracted controversy over his overseas trips and his sacked former assistant, Helmut Metzner, has been disclosed as a US spy in the context of the Wikileaks revelations. Westerwalle's populist leadership style has also aroused controversy, with rumours that he is to be rolled when FDP caucus members can summon enough support. Like ACT, these revelations have dented support for the FDP. It is possible it may not survive the next Bundestag election. 'Classical liberal' parties also exist in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, France, Greece, Japan, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. What about Britain's Liberal Democrats, currently in coalition with a minority Conservative-led government? The Liberal Democrats were founded in 1988 after the merger of two earlier parties, the SDP (Social Democrats) and Liberals, who had been in an earlier formal alliance for the last seven years before that. At the close of the last parliamentary session, they held sixty three seats in the House of Commons. They are social liberals, green on environmental policy issues, support a comprehensive welfare state and favour continued British participation within the European Union. In addition to the above, which defines them as a centre-left party, they also favoured the introduction of the single transferable vote (STV) as an electoral reform option and the creation of a written constitution for the United Kingdom. In the end, they settled for the much less proportional electoral option Alternative Vote (AV) instead. Since 1988, DELGA (Democrats for Lesbian and Gay [and Bisexual and Transgender] Action) has had an input into party policy. Liberal Democrat Party leader Nick Clegg supports the introduction of same-sex marriage proper, reform of the existing total ban on British gay male/MSM blood donation, LGBT asylum policy reform and other inclusive policy reforms. Like the Greens here, the Liberal Democrats proved to be a strong and reliable LGBT-inclusive voting bloc during the Blair and Brown administrations, when Labour abolished Clause 28, introduced age of consent equality at sixteen, passage of antidiscrimination laws, civil partnerships and adoption law reform. It surprised many observers when the Liberal Democrats entered coalition with David Cameron's Conservatives after last year's British General Election resulted in a hung parliament. However, recent work has analysed the history and traditions of the third party in British politics, and how it has risen to its current coaltion partner status. Apparently, there are three main strands within the party- the communitarians, classical liberals and social liberals. All strands of the party seem to be inclusive and progressive insofar as LGBT rights, peace issues, green politics, civil liberties and women's reproductive freedom are concerned, although the classical liberals seem to be more akin to similar elements within the Conservative Party. As well as that, it seems to have been the Iraqi War quagmire and Blair's backdown over introduction over proportional representation that poisoned relationships between Labour and the Liberal Democrats, however compatible most might have been over social liberalism. Can this ‘brokeback' marriage survive…? Already, many 'social liberal' voters appear to have deecamped to the Labour Opposition. None of the three 'classical liberal' parties outlined here look particularly healthy, apart from the Liberal Democrats for the time being. ACT and trhe Free Democrats gambled on conservative populist expediency and appear to be doomed as a result. Recommended: Kevin Hickson (ed) The Political Thought of the Liberals and Liberal Democrats (Macmillan, 2010) Craig Young - 11th February 2011