Radical

In Britain, supporter of parliamentary reform before the Reform Bill of 1832. As a group the Radicals later became the progressive wing of the Liberal Party. During the 1860s (led by Cobden, Bright, and J S Mill) they campaigned for extension of the franchise, free trade, and laissez-faire, but after 1870, under the leadership of Joseph Chamberlain and Charles Dilke, they adopted a republican and semi-socialist programme. With the growth of socialism in the later 19th century, Radicalism ceased to exist as an organized movement.

In France, the Radical Party was a major force in the politics of the Third Republic, 1871–1940.