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One explanation put forward by Duverger was the electoral system. REPORT While there is truth in this, it is not the whole truth because it does not explain how it happened so quickly and in the precise way it did. Nor Decline and Fall: The Liberal Party and the can it explain how a remnant of elections of 1922, 1923 and 1924 the once great party came to be left behind, surviving in a particu- Evening meeting, National Liberal Club, 10 February 2014, lar form, rather than being elimi- nated totally. And do the events of with Michael Steed and Professor Pat Thane; chair: Dr Julie What was it the 1920s have something to tell us Smith. about the nature and fate of Brit- that caused ish politics in general in the rest of Report by Graham Lippiatt the twentieth century? Looking at the decline British politics within a compara- or the Liberal Party, the during these short years, that tive framework, if the decline of three general elections of caused the decline of the once great of the once the Liberal Party was the result of F1922, 1923 and 1924 repre- Liberal Party into the rump it the mobilisation of the industrial sented a terrible and rapid journey became? Was it accident, the First great Liberal and rural working classes around a from post-war disunity to reunion World War? Was it murder, and if socio-economic programme, then and near return to government and so who was the murderer – Ram- Party into Britain should have had a socialist then to prolonged decline. Argu- say Macdonald, Stanley Baldwin? or social democratic Labour major- ably this was the key period which Was it suicide arising from the the rump ity for most of the period from the relegated the Liberals to the third- split between Asquith and Lloyd 1920s until the end of the twenti- party status from which they have George? Or was it death by natural it became? eth century, along with compara- never escaped, and such was the causes? Looking at the question as a ble European polities. That this did proposition debated by psepholo- political scientist, Steed believes the Was it acci- not occur in some Catholic coun- gist Michael Steed, honorary lec- case is strongest for death by natu- tries can be put down to religion. turer in politics at the University of ral causes. In almost all developed dent, the In Britain, however, one reason for Kent, and Pat Thane, Professor of European countries, there existed this not happening is perhaps the Contemporary History at King’s by the end of the nineteenth cen- First World nature of the British Conservative College, London. The meeting was tury some kind of two-party sys- Party as compared to other Euro- chaired by Dr Julie Smith, Senior tem. Amongst a lot of diversity, a War? Was it pean conservative movements. But Lecturer in International Relations simple dichotomy of a middle-class murder, and to try and get a better understand- and Politics at Robinson College, liberal party, fighting around a pro- ing of exactly what happened, Cambridge University. gressive or radical agenda, faced by if so who was Steed referred in detail to the three Julie Smith introduced the a conservative or clerical opponent, general elections in question, what meeting by quoting the descrip- could be found almost everywhere. the murderer came immediately before and what tion by Lady Violet Bonham Carter By the early twentieth century, in came after. (under whose portrait she was sit- Europe, Australia and New Zea- – Ramsay The figures for the 1922 and 1923 ting) of the 1922 general election land (although not in North Amer- elections show that the vote spread as a contest between two men, one ica), that political left–right contest Macdonald, between the parties is remarkably with Saint Vitus’ dance and one was being replaced by a socio-eco- similar – although the seat share with sleeping sickness. As Michael nomic left–right divide. It would Stanley Bald- changes significantly (see table). Steed explained, these characters have extraordinary, therefore, The dramatic change is between were of course Lloyd George and given Britain’s place in mainstream win? Was it the essentially three-party system Bonar Law – both key figures in European culture and political of 1922 and 1923 and the result in British electoral history of the time. development, for this country to suicide aris- 1924 when, on the face of it, there Howeveer, as Steed pointed out, have remained exempt from those was a massive shift from Liberal when he was first researching elec- forces – immune to the mobilisa- ing from to Conservative but nothing like tions it was not the easy task it is tion of the working classes around the same from Liberal to Labour. today to find electoral results and a different political agenda from the split A more detailed look, however, facts. And of all the general elec- that embodied in the increasingly reveals switching from Liberal to tion results, those for 1922 and 1923 irrelevant, nineteenth-century Lib- between Labour did occur. One of the keys were the most difficult to obtain. So eral approach. However, something Asquith to understanding this is to look at from his schoolboy pocket money else becomes apparent from this the ‘Candidates’ column. It helps he purchased a copy of The Times comparative analysis: in most com- and Lloyd explain the changes but makes election supplement for 1923, which parable countries the process took analysis extremely complicated had the complete results for every decades; in Britain it happened George? Or because of the many varieties of constituency for that year and the within a very limited time frame, contests, three-way, two-way Lib– year before, with the contemporary 1922–1924. was it death Con, or Lib–Lab – as well as the party labels. This highlights the specificity of fights between Lloyd George and The key question arising from the British case. But what happened by natural Asquithian Liberals. the elections of this period, accord- to advance the death by natural To set more of the back- ing to Steed, was what it was, causes of the British Liberal Party? causes? ground, Steed then talked about 38 Journal of Liberal History 82 Spring 2014 REPORT: DEclinE And FAll – tHE libERAL PARTY And THE ELECTIONS OF 1922, 1923 And 1924 the by-election and local election Lloyd George money. The Asquith- between the two Liberal camps and results of the 1918–1922 parliament. ian manifesto was strongly worded, within some Tory ranks as to who These sent out extraordinarily giving a flavour of the times. was standing where and with what diverse and conflicting signals from support. the electorate as to the state of Brit- The circumstances of the Cou- In the short 1922–23 Parliament, ish politics and made it hard for the pon election were so abnormal with its dramatic replacement of commentators to understand what that the events which have hap- Bonar Law by Baldwin rather than might happen in forthcoming gen- pened since constitute a com- Curzon or Austen Chamberlain, eral elections. Local elections were plete justification of the warning there was no honeymoon for the then on a three-year cycle held in which Liberal leaders then gave new administration. By-elections November. In 1919, Labour made that the continuance of the coa- continued to go against the govern- sweeping gains – especially in Lon- lition [in 1918] meant the aban- ment, even in places like Liverpool don, winning control of a number donment of principle and the which was at that time pretty sol- of boroughs. In the following years substitution of autocratic for idly Tory. Then, despite having a local election results were all quite Parliamentary government. working majority and with very similar, showing small Labour little warning, Baldwin announced gains, small Liberal losses and the The whole tone and content of the on 13 November 1923 that he is Conservatives standing still. Fol- Asquithian manifesto is directed calling a general election to seek lowing this sign that Labour was not against Tory or Labour but a mandate for tariffs. It is hard on the rise, however, came the dra- wholly against Lloyd George and today to appreciate the passion and matic by-election in Paisley in Feb- the idea of coalition now so directly intensity that people felt about free ruary 1920, in which Asquith was associated with him, even though trade. It was thought, rather like returned to parliament with a huge he is no longer Prime Minister. the National Health Service today, swing, apparently signalling that The electoral timings of late to be part of the British identity and the independent Liberal Party was 1922 are crucial. The declaration this was reflected in the language on its way back. Labour’s ambigu- of the Newport by-election was at of the manifestoes and speeches ous position was reinforced by the 2 a.m. on the morning of 19 Octo- of the day, not just in Liberal cir- result of the East Woolwich by- ber. The local election campaign cles but in Labour’s too. The free election of March 1921 in which was already under way with a num- trade issue allowed the two wings Ramsay Macdonald was prevailed ber of pacts having being agreed. of the Liberal Party to reunite upon to stand, having lost his seat The local election results then came around this traditional Liberal pol- in 1918 probably because he had through on 2 and 3 November icy. Lloyd George had the money; been on the peace-making side dur- and nominations for parliamen- Asquith had most of the troops on ing the First World War.

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