The Strange Survival of Liberal Lancashire The story of the decline of the Liberal Party after 1918 is well known. With the rise of class politics the Liberals were squeezed between the advance of Labour and the exodus of the middle classes to the Tories. Liberalism disintegrated in industrial and urban Britain and was pushed back to rural enclaves in the ‘Celtic fringe’, where it held on precariously until the 1960s when, reinvented by Jo Grimond as a radical alternative to Labour, the party spread back into the suburbs. he survival of the Liberals The persistence of this Pennine Jaime Reynolds as a significant local force outpost of Liberalism is conven- examines one exception Tin the Lancashire and York- tionally attributed to the strength shire textile districts throughout of Nonconformity and the Liber- to this story: the this period is a striking exception als’ collusion with the Conserva- to this general picture. The party’s tives in anti-Labour pacts. Thus resilience of the Liberal decline here was slower than in Peter Clarke has lamented that Party in the Lancashire other parts of urban Britain with after 1914 the Liberals could win the result that by the mid-1950s elections there only on the basis of cotton districts between over two-thirds of the Liberals’ ‘a sort of Nonconformist bastard remaining local government repre- Toryism’. 2 This does not do jus- the 1920s and the 1970s. sentation came from the region.1 tice to the continuing vigour of

20 Journal of Liberal History 85 Winter 2014–15 The Strange Survival of Liberal Lancashire Pennine Radicalism which, at least availability of digital sources4 on and thereafter the Liberals secured until 1945 and in some places later, local history to map the main con- only isolated victories. White held amounted to a third force in the tours and character of the Liberal his seat until 1945; Arthur Holt sat politics of the northern industrial stronghold in the Lancashire cot- for Bolton West from 1951 to 1964 heartland. It continued to play a ton districts. For reasons of space, thanks to a pact with the Tories; prominent part in the political lead- other parts of Lancashire includ- Michael Winstanley represented ership of the region and remained ing most of the Manchester conur- Cheadle from 1966 to 1970; and deeply embedded in the local social bation as well as the West Riding Cyril Smith gained Rochdale at and economic structure. It articu- of Yorkshire are not covered in a by-election in 1972. The steady lated a distinctive political outlook detail. Future articles will look at national decline to the 1950s was that influenced the development of these areas in depth. The time span mirrored in the pattern of Lib- all three major parties. examined is from the end of the eral candidatures in the region and The academic literature on Lan- First World War until the reorgani- the falling average of votes they cashire Liberalism that is so rich for sation of local government in 1974. received. the period before 1914 – notably The persis- Labour advanced in Lancashire Clarke’s seminal Lancashire and the tence of this in the same period. In 1906 it held a New Liberalism3 – is almost totally Electoral trends in Lancashire dozen seats, all of them in alliance lacking for the period after the In parliamentary general elections Pennine with the Liberals. In 1918 Labour First World War. In the dominant – apart from a couple of blips in the won fourteen seats, but only one class-based left–right interpreta- 1920s – at national level the Lib- outpost of of these was in new territory; it tion, the Liberals are dismissed as erals declined steadily from their had held all the others at some time an irrelevant and outmoded relic of landslide victory in 1906, through a Liberalism is before 1918. By 1923 – the year of the past. Far more has been written series of crashes at the general elec- the first minority Labour govern- about tiny and electorally insig- tions of 1918, 1924, 1931, 1935 and convention- ment – Labour reached twenty- nificant groups on the political 1950, down to a low point in 1957 three seats, still behind the Liberals. extremes. Even Liberal historians when they held just five seats at ally attrib- Their gains were concentrated have generally confined their inter- Westminster. in unionised working-class con- est to the intellectual influence on The parliamentary election uted to the stituencies in Manchester, Salford the national party of a few promi- figures for Lancashire paint the and the South Lancashire heavy nent northern intellectuals such as same picture. In 1906 the Liber- strength of industrial belt. In 1929 they broke Ernest Simon, Ramsay Muir and als and their allies won fifty-four into previously Liberal textile Elliot Dodds, ignoring the sig- seats in the region to the Conserva- Nonconform- areas such as Accrington, Mossley, nificance of the resilient Liberal tives’ sixteen. By December 1910 Rochdale, Rossendale and Staly- grassroots in the mill towns. But in they had thirty-nine seats to the ity and the bridge & Hyde winning forty seats. order to understand properly the Tories’ thirty-two.5 At the 1918 gen- However in the 1931 crisis elec- nature of the party in the years of eral election only nine Coalition Liberals’ col- tion Labour collapsed to just five decline it is essential to understand and one Asquithian Liberal were lusion with seats and recovered only to fifteen more about its social and economic returned. The Liberals’ high-point in 1935. These were essentially the underpinning and the story of the after the First World War was 1923 the Con- core seats they had won in 1918 and many hundreds of local activists when they won twenty-six seats in before. Labour had to wait until who sustained it in its northern the region, but by 1929 they were servatives in the 1945 landslide to repeat and go redoubt. down to six, and in 1931 only Her- beyond the point they had achieved This article is intended as a cor- bert Samuel in Darwen and Gra- anti-Labour in 1929, winning fifty-two seats, rective to this neglect. It makes ham White in Birkenhead East including a number in middle-class use particularly of the increasing remained. Darwen was lost in 1935 pacts. suburbs where the Liberals had

Journal of Liberal History 85 Winter 2014–15 21 the strange survival of liberal lancashire previously been strong.6 Thus, far Table 1: Percentage of Lancashire county borough and municipal borough seats held by party9 from being a relentless advance, Liberal Conservative Labour Other Labour expansion was largely con- fined to its working-class union- 1921 28.2 48.4 16.0 7.3 ised strongholds apart from the leap 1929 21.0 40.6 29.0 9.4 forward of 1929 which was soon 1938 14.1 41.0 27.7 17.2 reversed, and that of 1945 which 1947 9.0 44.2 37.7 9.1 marked a more permanent shift. The Conservatives were by far 1957 6.1 39.5 50.6 3.8 the dominant party in Lancashire 1963 11.9 31.7 52.2 4.3 parliamentary elections, apart from 1972 5.7 38.0 54.0 2.3 1906–10 and 1945. Even in bad years such as 1923 or 1929 they won more seats than either the Liberals or Table 2: Percentage of county borough and municipal borough seats held by party in cotton Labour.7 In their good years, such districts as 1924 or 1935, their lead was over- Liberal Conservative Labour Other whelming.8 It was only in the early 1950s that Labour replaced them as 1921 39.3 46.5 11.3 2.8 the leading party in Lancashire. 1929 32.4 41.8 21.8 4.1 At local government level, the 1938 27.2 45.7 23.7 3.4 trends were broadly similar. In 1947 17.2 42.6 37.3 2.9 Lancashire, as nationally, Labour’s progress fluctuated. Its advances 1957 9.4 37.5 52.6 0.5 were in 1919, in the second half of 1963 16.2 27.2 54.7 1.9 the 1920s, the mid-1930s, and espe- 1972 6.5 35.5 56.6 1.4 cially in 1945–6 and 1952–4 when Labour established majorities in many boroughs, which it main- support in the seaside resorts of or to fuse into electoral coalitions tained through to the later 1960s. In Southport and Blackpool – Lib- with the Tories. The Conservatives the intervening years it lost ground. eral strength was concentrated in were also relatively strong in this The Conservatives made sweeping the cotton-manufacturing bor- industrial area. The pattern shifted gains in 1967–9 followed by almost oughs in the east and south of the after 1945, with the Liberal relative as sharp a swing back to Labour in county. If we home in on the tradi- strength becoming less marked and 1970–2 when the last elections were tional weaving towns of Burnley, indeed negligible by the end of the held before local government reor- Darwen, Accrington, Haslingden, period, the Conservatives losing ganisation in 1974. (See Table 1.) Rawtenstall and Bacup, together their local advantage and Labour The Liberals – ignoring those with the traditional spinning performing better than elsewhere who stood as Independents – held towns of Bolton, Bury, Rochdale, in Lancashire to become the clear more than 20 per cent of seats Oldham, Stockport, Heywood, majority party in these districts through the 1920s and still held a Middleton, Ashton under Lyne, from the 1950s.10 seventh of the total at the end of Dukinfield, Hyde, Stalybridge and the 1930s. Their decline acceler- Mossley, this pattern is clear. (See ated after 1945 and into the early Table 2.) An electoral tour of the East 1950s. There were some signs of In this area the Liberals held Lancashire textile belt revival even before Jo Grimond more seats than Labour during the (The figures in brackets after the towns became leader in 1956, followed by interwar period and as late as 1947 give the population in 1931.) more wins in 1957–8 and a surge in they still held more than a sixth of In the north there were the cotton 1962–3 when sweeping gains were the total, slightly more than they weaving towns of Preston, Black- made at the expense of the Con- managed at the height of the 1960s burn and Burnley surrounded by servatives. These successes were Liberal revival. Until the early a number of smaller centres: Dar- reversed almost everywhere in 1950s Labour was considerably wen, Accrington and the towns in Lancashire in the mid-1960s. In a weaker here than in Lancashire as Rossendale and the Clitheroe–Pen- few boroughs the Liberals benefited a whole, but thereafter somewhat dle Hills area. Preston (119,000)11 from the swing against Labour in stronger than in the wider region. and Blackburn (123,000)12 were both the late 1960s, but in most places Conversely the Tories were some- fortresses of working-class Tory- the party was heading in reverse at what stronger here than in wider ism where the Liberals were tra- the beginning of the 1970s. By 1972 Lancashire before the Second ditionally weak and the Labour it was in a weaker overall position World War but weaker afterwards. Party secured an early foothold. than fifteen years before. There were many fewer Independ- Clitheroe (12,000) leaned towards ents here than in other districts. the Conservatives but until 1918 it Before 1945 Labour seems to formed a single large constituency Electoral patterns in the have had greater difficulty mak- with the Radical towns of Nelson cotton districts ing headway against an entrenched (38,000) and Colne (24,000). This The data above cover the whole Liberal Party with a strong sense of was one of the first Labour seats, of Lancashire and hide the extent identity or at the very least a reluc- taken in 1902. The constituency to which – apart from pockets of tance to stand under other labels was split in 1918: Clitheroe soon

22 Journal of Liberal History 85 Winter 2014–15 the strange survival of liberal lancashire returned to the Tories, and Nelson the largest party until 1951 and continued to dominate the scene & Colne was solidly Labour.13 As sporadically up to 1962, with an until the 1960s.18 There was also in some Yorkshire Pennine towns, overall majority in 1960–2. There- a history of Liberal–Conserva- Nelson’s Radicalism evolved into after their representation dwindled tive cooperation in parliamentary ethical socialism. The Independent and the Conservatives supplanted elections in the Heywood & Rad- Labour Party (ILP) was particu- them as the dominant party in the cliffe constituency. From 1922 to larly strong there and from the late town in the later ’60s and early 1931 the MP was Colonel Abraham 1920s the town was dubbed a ‘little ’70s. In Darwen the pattern was England, a right-wing Liberal who Moscow’ due to the large and mili- the reverse: between 1945 and 1955 joined the Liberal Nationals in 1931. tant Labour majority on the council the Liberals lost all their seats on In Middleton some of the local Lib- right up to 1974.14 Colne was more the council as the Conservatives eral establishment were also aligned evenly balanced between Labour secured a controlling majority, with the Liberal Nationals.19 and the Conservatives. As the Lib- however from 1956 the Liber- Bury (56,000) was a Tory bastion erals were weak or absent in these als recovered at Tory expense and both before and after 1945. Nev- towns throughout the period,15 they were often the largest party ertheless the Liberals equalled the they have been excluded from the from 1965. The trend in Haslingden Conservatives as the largest party analysis in Table 2. was similar to Bacup. The Liberals on the council during the 1920s and The other towns in the cot- were the largest party at times in again in 1933. They only fell deci- ton-weaving district were Liberal the 1950s, but they were displaced sively behind in 1937–8. Labour was strongholds. Davies and Morley by the Conservatives after 1964. In weak and at the end of the 1930s conclude that there was no ‘strange Rawtenstall, a three-party balance still had only four seats (of forty- death’ of Liberalism in inter-war survived until 1949 but the Liberals four) on the council. After 1920, Burnley (98,000). The Liberals were were for a time eliminated from the Lib–Con electoral collaboration the first or second party on Burn- council by 1953 and Labour became was the norm, with a candidate of ley council throughout the inter- the usual majority party. Accring- each party standing in the two- war period with between 25 and 45 ton was also Labour dominated for member wards. However there per cent of the seats. ‘Liberalism … most of the 1950s and ’60s with only were occasional clashes between enjoyed a recrudescence and con- Davies and a small Liberal group surviving on the two parties including a spate of solidation of its position after 1918. the council. That leaves Burnley, contests in 1938 and after the war It had a continuing local vibrancy Morley con- also dominated by Labour from when the Liberal representation down to 1934, Labour’s year of tri- 1945 to 1967, where the Liberals on the council was rapidly reduced umph.’ Even in 1938 the Liberals clude that remained the second largest party from thirteen in 1938 to three by had twelve councillors to Labour’s until 1949 but then collapsed to just 1950. fourteen.16 there was two seats in 1956–7. They recov- In Oldham (140,000) the Liber- In the neighbouring cotton no ‘strange ered a little ground in the follow- als fought elections and formed a towns the Liberals were a major ing years before a stronger revival council majority in alliance with force until the Second World War. death’ of in 1967–70 when they shared with the Conservatives and until 1928 In Accrington (43,000) they were the Tories the spoils of Labour’s were the largest party. However the controlling party until 1929 Liberalism decline. In 1969 they briefly this pact broke down in the late and the largest party until 1945. In equalled Labour’s total of twelve 1920s enabling Labour to take con- Darwen (36,000) they had an over- in inter-war seats, but by 1972 had slumped to trol briefly in 1934 by when the all majority on the council until three. Liberals had been reduced to six 1945. In the three boroughs of Ros- Burnley. The Moving further south we come seats (of 48) on the council. Oldham sendale the Liberals were the larg- to the Oldham-Rochdale-Bury Liberals were split between Liberal est party: in Bacup (21,000) they Liberals were cotton-spinning district, which Nationals such as Lady Emmott20 had periods of overall control; also included the municipal bor- and J. S. Dodd21 and independ- they were nearly always the largest the first or oughs of Radcliffe, Heywood ent Liberal stalwarts such as James party in Rawtenstall (29,000); and and Middleton. Rochdale, Hey- T. Middleton.22 In 1935 Dodd was in Haslingden (17,000) they vied for second party wood, Middleton and Radcliffe elected for the two-member bor- control with the Tories, holding the followed a pattern of long-term, ough as a Liberal National MP advantage in the 1920s, while the on Burn- stable collaboration between Lib- in harness with a Conservative, Tories had the edge in the 1930s. erals and Conservatives. In Roch- opposed by a Samuelite Liberal.23 In parliamentary elections the ley council dale (91,000) from 1924 onwards At local level it was denied that Liberals were most successful in the Liberals were the leading party there was a Lib–Con pact24 and Darwen, the seat of Herbert Samuel throughout on the council including periods indeed three-way contests were – the Liberal leader from 1931 until the interwar when they held an overall major- fairly common, but there were his defeat in 1935. Accrington also ity (1925–33, 1936–7, 1947–50). The also clear cases in the later 1930s of elected a Liberal/Constitutional- period with two parties were fiercely competi- mutual support allowing straight ist in the 1920s. In Rossendale they tive in parliamentary elections.17 fights against Labour.25 ran the Conservatives close. Burn- between 25 In Heywood (26,000) and Mid- By the 1950s the Liberals had ley was held by Labour from 1918 to dleton (29,000) party politics were been eliminated from Oldham 1931 but was represented by a Lib- and 45 per muted with Liberal–Conserva- council with their last seats sur- eral National from 1931 to 1935. tive oligarchies in control for dec- rendered undefended in 1950 and After 1945, Bacup and Darwen cent of the ades. However the parties merged 1951. The party, led by James Mid- were the main Liberal strongholds only in Radcliffe where a ‘Munici- dleton, continued to function but in the district. In Bacup they were seats. pal Party’ was formed in 1935 and it did not fight local elections for

Journal of Liberal History 85 Winter 2014–15 23 the strange survival of liberal lancashire a time. In Bury the Liberals main- Lib–Con competition was often Liberals in second place and Labour tained a residual presence on the keen in these districts. mostly a weak third. In Stockport council thanks to their strength in Throughout the interwar period (126,000)32 the Liberals held about a Elton ward. In Radcliffe the Lib- the Conservatives were the lead- quarter of the seats until 1929 and erals vanished into the Municipal ing party in Bolton (177,000)29 and still held eleven (of seventy-two) Party – there was no trace of them had an overall majority except in in 1938 – one more than Labour. left when it broke up in 1962–3 the years 1933–6. The Liberals gen- In the 1920s the Liberals were split and was replaced by the Conserva- erally had between 15 and 20 per between factions led by Henry tives. Middleton politics were cent of council members. Labour Fildes (MP 1920–3), who inclined transformed in the mid-1950s by overtook the Liberals in 1925 and to cooperation with the Tories, the building of a large Manches- peaked in 1929. However it failed and Charles Royle (MP 1923–4), ter overspill estate in the town to get much beyond this point and closer to Labour. Royle joined the and the emergence of a disciplined indeed at the end of the 1930s fell Labour Party in 1929 but the com- and assertive Labour Party which back sharply with both the Tories plex pattern of Con–Lib collabo- pushed aside the Con–Lib elite and the Liberals gaining. Elections ration in some years and in some whose pact continued for a few were frequently competitive but wards and competition in others, more years.26 there was also cooperation between continued. From 1945 the Liberals In Rochdale the Liberals did the Liberals and both the other par- were squeezed as elections became not collapse after Labour’s break- ties. The Liberals were assertive in very polarised between Labour and through in the early 1950s. They defending their position in their Conservative. They surrendered remained the second party on the stronger wards and in the second their last seat in 1954 and ceased council until 1970. The electoral half of the 1930s captured several to fight local elections for a time. agreement with the Conservatives Tory seats. The Labour break- Labour dominated the borough for continued, but was strained when through came in 1946 when they most of the 1950s and ’60s. Ashton- Ludovic Kennedy came close to won control of the council for the under-Lyne (52,000) was also winning the 1958 by-election and first time. Many of the early post- strongly Conservative until 1945. 1959 general election just behind war contests were three-way fights Lib–Con collaboration broke down Labour in what had previously been in which the Liberals were squeezed in the late 1920s and the Liberals a Conservative-held seat. In the from nineteen seats down to six (of were crushed in the ensuing hostili- 1960s, Liberal-versus-Conservative ninety-two) by 1947. Their only ties. However the Liberals revived contests became increasingly com- wins were in harness with Tories somewhat in the late 1930s in tacit mon. At the end of the decade the or by Thomas Connor,30 a former alliance with Labour. This collabo- Tories were the major beneficiary Labour councillor who defected ration seems to have continued into of the swing against Labour, and to the Liberals in 1938 and was to the 1950s as Labour established con- in the last years of the county bor- remain on the council until 1967. trol, enabling the Liberals to retain ough’s existence, as Labour recov- He managed to defend his Smith- a foothold on the council. ered, the Liberals lost more than ills seat against all comers. By the In Dukinfield (46,000) the Lib- half of their council seats. At par- early 1950s the Liberals were down erals were the largest party as late liamentary level, however, Cyril to two seats and local elections as 1949, controlling the council Smith27 recruited from Labour and had become an almost exclusively in alliance with the Conserva- gained the seat for the Liberals at a In Rochdale Tory–Labour contest with control tives. After the Second World War, by-election in 1972. In Heywood of the council changing hands fre- Labour gradually displaced the the Liberal presence on the council the Liberals quently. This was in stark contrast Liberals as the leading party and was static in the late 1950s and early with the parliamentary situation in had a comfortable majority on the ’60s and there was no weakening of did not col- Bolton where from 1951 the Con- council from 1952 to 1966 during the Lib–Con electoral understand- servatives entered a pact with the which time the Tories were almost ing. The Liberals shared the ben- lapse after Liberals to share representation at always in third place. The Liber- efit of the anti-Labour swing in the Westminster. As a result Arthur als dwindled from eight to ten seats later 1960s, increasing from seven Labour’s Holt , a Liberal, was returned as MP (of twenty-four) in the 1940s down to twelve seats (of thirty-six), but for Bolton West from 1951 to 1964.31 to four or five by the mid-1950s. falling back again as the pendulum break- The Liberals began to make gains Politics in Hyde (32,000) were more swung to Labour at the beginning from both other parties from 1956 competitive. The Liberals and of the 1970s. through in and by 1963 had eighteen coun- Conservatives continued to vie It is worth flagging that the cil members. However the Liberal for control of the council until the Liberals also did well in some of the early vote collapsed in the mid-1960s and mid-1930s with Labour as a very the Urban Districts around Roch- 1950s. They by the end of the decade they had weak third party. The Liberals held dale and Oldham, notably Royton been eliminated from the council. an overall majority as late as 1928. (17,000) where they held control remained Moving further south to the In the second half of the 1930s the several times between 1946 and Lancashire–Cheshire border east Conservatives established a firm 1965, Saddleworth (13,000)28 which the second of Manchester we come to the grip and Labour gained ground they controlled in the early 1960s, county borough of Stockport, at the expense of the Liberals, but and Crompton (15,000), Milnrow party on the and the municipal boroughs of there was little evidence of Lib- (9,000), Littleborough (12,000), Ashton-under-Lyne, Dukinfield, eral collaboration with the Tories. Wardle (5,000) and Whitworth council until Stalybridge, Hyde and Mossley. The Liberals lost their last council (8,000) where they frequently held Until 1945 the Conservatives were member in 1953. The last Liberals a sizeable minority of the seats. 1970. strong in these boroughs with the were opposed by both other parties.

24 Journal of Liberal History 85 Winter 2014–15 the strange survival of liberal lancashire

From 1949 to 1957 the Liberals the socio-economic and other fac- Cooperation areas.36 This may have involved ceased contesting local elections in tors present in localities of Lib- bluffing or wishful thinking but Hyde, which swung over to Labour eral strength – would be of great between the no doubt it also indicated that in control as Conservative support interest. many communities what might be steadily collapsed. Neighbouring Liberals and called the ‘Liberal infrastructure’ Stalybridge (35,000) also leaned to – including Liberal public figures, the Conservatives, with the Liber- Why did Lancashire Liberalism Conserva- employers and opinion-leaders, als as the second party comfortably persist? clubs, friendly societies, Sunday ahead of Labour. A Lib–Con deal The common reasons given for the tives against schools, chapels and newspapers – was abandoned in 1928 though spo- survival of Pennine Radicalism – remained intact. Pacts tended to radic cooperation continued. The electoral pacts and religion – pro- Labour was collapse where Liberalism was bro- Liberals lost some ground but nev- vide at most a partial explanation. widespread ken and was ceasing to count. In ertheless on the eve of the Second They must be seen in the broader much of East Lancashire this hap- World War still held ten (of thirty- context of the political culture in the region pened late or not at all. two) seats on the council. Post-1945 and community ties of the cotton Many of the pacts had the fla- Stalybridge became a tight Con– towns as well as the ideological out- and in some vour of an armed truce between Lab battleground and the Liberals look of northern Liberalism which combatants with episodes of ten- were eradicated from the council facilitated alliances with the Con- boroughs sion when one or other party tested by 1947. servatives while remaining fiercely the boundaries of the deal.37 Deeper The small borough of Moss- independent. was clearly Lib–Con convergence was uncom- ley (12,000), tucked in the upper mon. Only in Radcliffe was a fused Tame valley in the foothills of the Pacts an important coalition, the Municipal Party, Pennines where Yorkshire, Lanca- Cooperation between the Liberals formed. The Liberal Nationals were shire and Cheshire met, survived and Conservatives against Labour factor keep- not strong in the region and they as a unique Liberal enclave as if was widespread in the region and took over the local party only in untouched by modern two-party in some boroughs was clearly an ing Labour at Burnley.38 In Oldham, Bolton and politics right up to the 1970s. There important factor keeping Labour at Stockport, however, some promi- was fierce and evenly balanced bay and sustaining the Liberal pres- bay and sus- nent Liberals backed the Simonites, rivalry between the Liberals and ence on local councils. but they were in a minority. More Conservatives with control of the Such pacts were common taining the often until the mid-1940s the situa- council swinging between the two. throughout Britain from the tion was unclear: local associations Mossley remained more faithful 1920s until the late 1950s when the Liberal pres- seem to have remained affiliated to to Liberalism than anywhere else national leadership of the party ence on local the Samuelite party while work- in the UK with periods of Liberal for the first time took decisive – ing closely with the Conservatives. control for most of the interwar though not totally successful – steps councils. Lib–Con competition occurred in years and in the 1950s, 1960s and to stamp them out.34 In many areas many boroughs and in some, such 1970s, in some years as the only they seem to have had the effect as Ashton-under-Lyne, the Liber- Liberal-controlled authority in of hastening the disappearance of als even cooperated with Labour the country. In 1953 the Manches- the Liberals rather than preserv- against the Tories. There are few ter Guardian described the town ing them. In Merseyside, the South examples of the Liberals being ‘the last stronghold of municipal Lancashire industrial district and reduced to captives allowed to Liberalism … this uniquely way- Manchester/Salford pacts did not retain their seats only by ‘grace and ward place – an industrial area prevent the near-complete elimina- favour’ of the Tories.39 with no Labour councillors where tion of Liberal councillors by 1945 It should be recalled that neither local elections are fought in terms if not earlier. Liberals nor Conservatives could of sewage works and secondary However in East Lancashire guarantee to deliver their vote to schools …’.33 Mossley’s eccentricity pacts seem to have reflected con- their partner in a pact. Evidence extended to parliamentary politics tinuing Liberal strength rather than from the 1951 general election sug- too. The Mossley division (which being the cause of it. In Burnley gests that where a Liberal withdrew extended well beyond the borough) when pacts broke down it was the in the Lancashire textile constitu- was represented in the Commons Tories who came off worse that the encies the Liberal vote split about for most of the interwar period Liberals.35 Some of the pacts were 60:40 in favour of the Conserva- by an Independent MP, Austin very advantageous to the Liberals – tives, but in Rossendale, one of the Hopkinson. in Rochdale for decades the Tories most traditional Radical seats, the Within the boroughs there were accepted third-party status on the split was 50:50.40 some areas of extraordinary Lib- council and in Bolton the Tories eral resilience and other districts conceded one of the parliamentary Religion where the party was eradicated for seats to the Liberals. This appar- The ‘Radical belt’ of East Lanca- long periods. In Rochdale Spotland ent generosity reflected the wide- shire and the area where Noncon- ward returned Liberals consistently spread perception that Liberalism formity was strongest in the region at every election from the 1930s to remained a potent if subdued force coincided and Nonconformity has the 1970s, while Central ward was that the Conservatives needed to long been regarded as a factor in the very rarely contested during the enlist in order to meet the Labour persistence of Liberalism in these same period and won only once in challenge. At election time com- districts. The powerful nineteenth- 1969. Future research – beyond the mentators habitually noted the century association of Liberalism scope of this article – to analyse ‘strong Liberal tradition’ in such and Dissent lived on here to some

Journal of Liberal History 85 Winter 2014–15 25 the strange survival of liberal lancashire

extent in the first half of the twen- less than 5 per cent in Stalybridge & Left: Dame Sarah the numbers to account for contin- tieth century. Many of the Liberal Hyde and Mossley, less than 10 per Lees (1842–1935): uing mass support for the Liberals. elite were also active Nonconform- cent in Rochdale and Heywood & mill-owner, Rather Nonconformity should ists, whilst active Anglicans, Cath- Radcliffe and only just over 10 per philanthropist, be viewed as an important reinforc- olics, Jews and non-believers were cent in strongholds such as Dar- suffragist, ing element in the local community less common. For example Arthur wen and Burnley. By far the high- Congregational- culture and the broader ideological Worsley, who maintained an active est proportion was in Rossendale, ist, Liberal Mayor outlook that sustained Liberalism in regional Liberal organisation in the but even there it was less than 20 of Oldham many districts. This may well have north-west for many years, was a per cent.43 1910–11. been true in the nineteenth century Methodist lay preacher.41 Noncon- The Liberals no longer monop- too. Peter Joyce has argued that formity was clearly an important olised the Nonconformist vote. Right: John Percy ‘religion was part of a ritualised marker of Liberal support, but it Many amongst the largest group, Taylor (1868– politics that had little to do with was not the determinant of Liberal the Wesleyan Methodists, were 1945): mill-owner, either politics or religion’, stressing survival in the area. inclining towards the Conserva- Liberal leader in that it was essentially a badge rep- The chapel was declining both tives, while Labour was making Bolton between resenting allegiances to communi- as a religious force and Liberal prop inroads into the Baptists.44 Simi- the wars, ties closely connected with places in the interwar years. The decline larly, the Liberals were losing the Mayor 1934–35, of work. In his view ‘the conflict was apparent well before 1914. support of Congregationalists both Unitarian. of church and chapel was itself an Peter Clarke considers that by 1914 to the Tories and Labour. The lim- expression of allegiances formed ‘Nonconformity … was clearly ited evidence on voting behaviour at the level of the factory and its no longer the dominant element indicates that only about one-third environment’. According to Joyce in the [Liberal] party’.42 Although of Nonconformists who could vote this ‘culture of the factory’ was the it occasionally surfaced in politi- in 1918 were Liberals and of those underlying determinant of party cal controversy in the 1920s – over coming of age in 1918–35, not much support and religious sectarianism such issues as Sunday opening of more than a quarter were Liberals. (bearing in mind the low levels of cinemas for example – religion fell This contrasted with 50–60 per cent working-class attendance at church into the background as a party issue allegiance to the Liberals among and chapel) was more a matter of except in some parts of Liverpool, their fathers. Amongst Noncon- display.46 Bootle and Preston where sectarian formists coming of age in 1935–50, In towns such as Nelson where (Catholic–Protestant) divisions still only 16 per cent were Liberals.45 other community factors sup- counted. These data may of course under- porting Liberalism were relatively Nonconformists were a rela- state the wider social influence of weak, the presence of strong local tively small minority even in the the chapels and their role in mobi- Nonconformist roots was insuffi- hotspots of Liberalism in East Lan- lising the Liberal vote, but they cient to compensate.47 cashire. In 1922 they accounted for show that Nonconformity lacked

26 Journal of Liberal History 85 Winter 2014–15 the strange survival of liberal lancashire

Community Left: James were often linked with the textile Smith claimed in his memoirs Long before the 1970s’ Young Lib- Alfred Bottomley industry. A large class of white- that there was ‘no Old Boys influ- erals invented community politics, (1874–1957): collar workers was employed in the ence’, this seems like an example the Liberal Party in places like East mill-owner and commercial and mercantile busi- of the interweaving of politics and Lancashire was sustained by exten- seven times nesses that grew up and depended employment.51 Many other activists sive and deeply embedded roots in Liberal mayor of on textiles. Manchester was still the were drawn from the small business the local community. Alongside Mossley. largest commodities market in the and professional classes that relied the chapel and the Sunday School, a world in 1929. Locally, small busi- on the industry for their prosperity. range of structures tied voters of all Right: Jeremiah nesses, shopkeepers and profession- The prominence of Liberals in classes to the party and its view of Lord (1877–1947): als of all kinds were dependent on civic leadership in the North, seen the world. Foremost amongst these weaver, Baptist, the fortunes of the cotton trade. for example in the high proportion was the place of work. In the cot- Liberal mayor Not all mill owners were Liber- of council committee chairman- ton industry most firms were small of Haslingden als of course. Many were Tories or ships held by Liberals in some bor- with close contact between work- 1926–27. unaligned politically. There was oughs, was, according to at least ers and management. In 1959 after even the occasional Labour mill one study, attributable to the par- many mergers and rationalisations owner. Nevertheless there were ty’s close links with local business the average size of firm was still extremely strong ties between cot- and the professions and its reputa- only 244 employees.48 Mills were ton and the Liberal Party. In vir- tion for civic activism and good commonly surrounded by housing tually all the towns examined in administration.52 provided by the employers for the this article, mill-owning families The Liberal electoral coalition skilled and unskilled operatives, the provided the party’s elite. A good included many working-class vot- overlookers, clerks and managers. example is J. P. Taylor, owner of a ers. Davies and Morley writing Even as the industry declined, the family cotton mill in Bolton and a of Burnley note that the firm ties influence of paternalistic owners leading figure in the Liberal Party before 1914 between local Liberal- diminished (a process visible from and local government until his ism and ‘the respectable and politi- the late nineteenth century), and death in 1945.50 The workforces in cally and socially aware groups some of the workforce moved to the mills also provided a large pro- within the working class survived the suburbs, the role of the cotton portion of the activists including to some degree in inter-war local industry in people’s lives remained many councillors. When a youthful politics.’ Working-class Liberalism, central. It also played a major role Cyril Smith lost his civil service job alongside the still powerful tradi- in the life of many boroughs. As in 1945 because of his campaign- tion of working-class Toryism, late as 1955, in Bolton 29,000 peo- ing for the Liberal candidate for remained important in many parts ple were employed in textiles – 35 Rochdale, he was re-employed by a of the region, aided by the moder- per cent of the labour force.49 Other local textile mill where the Liberal ate, verging on apolitical, character local industries such as engineering candidate was a director. Although of much of the Lancashire textile

Journal of Liberal History 85 Winter 2014–15 27 the strange survival of liberal lancashire trades union movement. In some These firmly entrenched organisa- essentially passé Gladstonian creed instances such loyalty was sustained tions aided the strong performance which found increasing points of by paternalistic and philanthropic of the Conservative and Liberal agreement with the Conservatives owners, who had by no means parties throughout the twenty and many points of disagreement entirely died out, such as Oscar years of elections. The Labour with the Labour Party. Some his- Hall in Bury,53 James Bottomley in Party realised the advantage the torians starting from a left–right Mossley,54 the Holts in Bolton,55 or other two parties had with their class-based template deny that Dame Sarah Lees in Oldham.56 clubs and bemoaned their own lack there was any significant ideologi- It was also reinforced by a range of them.’61 Such social network- cal difference between the Liberals of institutions in which Liber- ing extended beyond the political and Conservatives in this period. als often played a prominent part. clubs: in interwar Nelson, Labour Describing Bury, Davies and Mor- Notable were the Friendly Socie- complained about Liberal influence ley see: ties,57 several of the most impor- in the town’s cricket club.62 tant of which had originated in the Finally, the importance of the … a minimum of ideological region, including the Oddfellows local Liberal press should be men- and political differences existing and Rechabites (Manchester) and tioned. Many towns had their own between the two parties. Both the Foresters (Rochdale). During local newspapers, owned by Liberal stood for the free market and the nineteenth century the Friendly families, which were supportive private property. This was Society movement had mostly of the Liberal Party. As well as the translated into a defence of aligned with the Liberals and some Manchester Guardian, whose influ- the ratepayers ‘true’ interests were identified closely with Liberal ence was felt throughout Lanca- by the advocating of ‘small causes – for instance the Rechabites shire and beyond, these included government’. Minimum with the Temperance movement. the Bolton Evening News (Tillot- government, ostensibly in the The Societies had some eight mil- sons), the Oldham Evening Chronicle interest of the freedom of the lion members at the end of the (Hirsts) and the Rochdale Observer. individual, involved a resistance 1930s.58 They were part of a vast The party’s leaders and activities to any perceived unnecessary popular movement of mutualist were given detailed and sympa- expenditure of ratepayers’ institutions that included building thetic coverage in such papers. money. The defence of public societies, cooperatives and mutual This web of communal sup- order in the face of another improvement societies dedicated ports for Liberalism was gradually perceived threat: that of the to education. Some writers iden- eroding as the cotton indus- unemployed was another area of tify such self-help ventures with try declined and urban areas mutual agreement.64 the Labour Party and the left,59 but changed, but it remained impor- they were at least equally associated tant throughout the interwar This leaves unanswered the ques- with Liberalism. A typical Liberal period and in some places was still tion why so many so-called ‘right- activist of the interwar period was significant after 1945. It consti- wing’ Liberals declined to throw a person of modest, often working- The Liberals tuted a powerful defence against in their lot with the Tories, or class origins, who through educa- the advances of the Labour Party, why some progressives for so long tion in the Mechanics Institute or maintained which despite its very moderate refused to abandon the Liberal other ‘self-help’ means had risen to character in Lancashire, remained Party. In fact, the Liberals main- occupy a supervisory or manage- a distinc- extremely weak in some bor- tained a distinctive ideology which rial role in a mill or had started a oughs and everywhere had diffi- shared some common ground with small business or shop. Frequently tive ideology culty breaking out of its unionised each of the other parties but also he (sometimes she) was an ‘active strongholds. Similarly the far left major points of difference which citizen’ involved in local social, which shared was strikingly feeble in Lancashire could not easily be blurred. religious, masonic, sporting and even at the height of the slump. Their starting point was to educational causes alongside politi- some com- The Independent Labour Party reject class politics and to stress cal activity.60 (ILP) and the Communist Party the importance of efficient and Liberal working-men’s clubs mon ground and its fronts such as the Unem- non-partisan management of local provided another prop of this ployed Workers Movement fought government. As Davies and Mor- infrastructure. Davies and Morley with each local elections regularly but with ley note, this time writing about note the importance of the clubs conspicuous lack of success. As one Burnley, an important source of to both the Conservative and Lib- of the other Labour historian writing of Lan- their strength was that ‘the Liber- eral parties in Bury: ‘These clubs cashire rather archly puts it ‘the als played down, and even attacked, served as a focal point of politics, parties but surviving peculiarities in the com- the notion of class-based politics. entertainment and sometimes, also major munity forms of social relations Liberals emphasised the differences moral instruction … The Liber- worked against effective coordina- between Liberalism and Labour als, if anything, had a more vibrant points of tion of working-class unrest’.63 as well as stressing the far greater club organisation [than the Tories]. business and administrative expe- Some of their clubs carried the difference Radical ideology rience of Liberal candidates.’65 great names of nineteenth century Pennine Radicalism is routinely This not only reflected the party’s Liberalism: the Gladstone (East which could viewed as individualistic, economi- moderation, but also its view that ward), the Cobden and the Trev- cally liberal (indeed laissez-faire), both Labour and the Conserva- elyan (Church ward). Also active not easily be anti-socialist and fixated with free tives represented sectional interests were the Blackford Bridge, Phil- trade and reducing public expendi- to the cost of the general public. ip’s and the Fishpool Liberal Club. blurred. ture. In other words it is seen as an Labour projected itself as the party

28 Journal of Liberal History 85 Winter 2014–15 the strange survival of liberal lancashire of the working class and the Con- servatives were seen as the party of privileged ‘rent-seeking’ economic groups.66 Othello Whitehead,67 a prominent Bury Liberal in the 1920s saw the fundamental ‘differ- ence between Conservatives and Liberals was that the former repre- sented the dividend seekers’.68 This outlook was rooted in the ideo- logical heritage of the ‘Peers ver- sus the People’ battles before 1914, the influence of George-ist ideas on land taxation, but above all free trade doctrine which regarded pro- tectionism as a Tory conspiracy against the public good. There is some debate about the continued potency of the free trade issue. Peter Clarke plays it down claiming that it had been neutralised as a decisive parti- san issue because many Lanca- shire Conservatives favoured free trade.69 Frank Trentmann, on the other hand, insists that it still retained enormous power as a great expanded civil freedom, freed the Michael and Liberal parliamentary candi- popular cause coming ‘close to a state from group interests, and pro- Winstanley date in 1950 told the Manchester national ideology’ right up to the moted peace amongst nations. (1918–93), Liberal Guardian that ‘she used to describe First World War. He describes a If free trade was for many Lib- MP for Cheadle herself as “a Liberal with Labour more gradual disintegration of the erals an insurmountable barrier in 1966–70, for leanings”. She still calls herself a intellectual, popular and business the way of them joining the Tories, Hazel Grove working woman and a democrat, foundations of free trade which it was viewed as a national issue February – but towards the Labour Party she continued until Britain abandoned that had little relevance for local October 1974. has reservations. In her view the the policy in 1931–32.70 government. This contrasted with Labour creed implies excessive reg- The mass popularity of free ‘sound finance’ which offered fer- imentation.’76 It is often suggested trade lasted longer in Lancashire tile ground for cooperation with that this shared anti-socialism and – dependant on cotton exports, the Conservatives at local level in economic and social connections commerce and shipping – than else- order to keep the rates down and to made Liberals and Conservatives where. As we have seen as late as the ensure tight control over expendi- virtually indistinguishable politi- 1923 general election the Liberals ture. This was a favourite theme cally. However this is to underes- were able to secure twenty-six Lan- of Liberal campaigns throughout timate the differences in outlook cashire seats on an anti-protection- the period. In Bury in the 1920s and background that made many ist platform. This scale of success and 1930s the Liberals’ parsimony Liberals feel uncomfortable with was not repeated: almost every- sometimes exceeded even that of the Tory Party. An example of this where free trade was ceasing to be the Conservatives and they argued is Vera Bruce Chambers, a Stock- a winning cause on its own, but it that the most effective way for the port Liberal councillor who joined continued to be a badge of iden- council to ease unemployment was the Conservative Party in Decem- tity differentiating Liberals from by keeping the rates low.72 In Roch- ber 1947. Within less than a year she Conservatives and enabled them dale two decades later ‘the most had defected back to the Liberals to tap into a powerful current of economy-minded members of the complaining that she was ‘wrong in Lancashire opinion. Liberals from Council appeared to be the Liber- hoping to work with the Conserva- the region were in the forefront as als, not the Conservatives’.73 tives and is sure the Tory Party is no champions of free trade in the party Those Liberals who stuck with place for the Liberal-minded’.77 right into the 1950s.71 the party were almost by definition Progressive ideas remained It is important to remember that ‘anti-socialist’. This was true for important in the Liberal Party free trade was not just about tariff those on the ‘left’ of the party as for especially in Manchester which policy but focused a whole philoso- those on the ‘right’.74 A Progressive had a considerable influence on the phy, as the sub-title of Trentmann’s like Ernest Simon, a leading Man- surrounding boroughs. As late as book suggests, of ‘commerce, con- chester Liberal and driving force 1930 the Liberal candidates there sumption and civil society’. It was of advanced interventionist poli- were described as ‘nearly always of associated with socially responsible cies to clear the slums and regener- deepening shades of pink’.78 The trade and consumerism, equity, and ate housing in the city, took years zeal for improvement in social social solidarity. It provided the to overcome his aversion to join- conditions was evident amongst Liberals with their own political ing the Labour Party.75 Winifred many other Liberals. Often this mythology in which free trade had Kirkham, an Oldham councillor took the form of philanthropic

Journal of Liberal History 85 Winter 2014–15 29 the strange survival of liberal lancashire activity in support of educational candidates habitually insisted that The Radi- and were increasingly assertive in and health causes. Wealthy women ‘politics’ – meaning national poli- electoral contests. They were less such as Dame Sarah Lees and her tics – should be kept out of local cal ideol- willing to stand aside for Liberals or daughter Marjory in Oldham,79 government. This is an important Independents. Especially in some of Amy Jones in Rochdale80 and Ada reason why Liberals in a number of ogy allowed the larger boroughs, such as Burn- Summers in Stalybridge81 were boroughs were prone to cooperate ley, Oldham and Stockport, the prominent in this field, but there with Tories in local government and indeed Liberals were squeezed out. Where were also others from more mod- while continuing to compete vig- this happened, typically the Liber- est backgrounds such as Mary orously with them in parliamentary encouraged als put up a fight in the late 1940s Ellen Wild in Ashton-under-Lyne elections.87 but then largely ceased activity for who was a pawnbroker.82 Doc- cooperation a time from 1950. This also reflected tors such as Richard Mothersole83 with both the wider demoralisation and pen- and Jean Marshall,84 both council- The retreat of Lancashire nilessness of the party after the col- lors in Bolton in the interwar years Radicalism the other lapse of its attempted revival at the were drawn into Liberal politics In 1938 the Liberals controlled Dar- 1950 general election. through medical practice in the wen and were the largest party on parties: with In East Lancashire there were mills and deprived areas. Where Rochdale, Accrington, Bacup, and also important local factors at Liberals had power they pursued Heywood councils and in second the Con- work, above all the economic positive social reforms. In 1934 the place in Bury, Stockport, Dukin- and social changes that were tak- Manchester Guardian reported field, Haslingden, Hyde, Middle- servatives in ing place as the cotton indus- that Liberal-controlled Rochdale ton, Mossley, Rawtenstall, and try declined. Cotton had been in was ‘very enterprising’, promot- Stalybridge. In Burnley and Bolton the cause of retreat since the 1920s, with some ing several local public works pro- they were in a strong third place 800 mills closing and 345,000 peo- jects that provided employment – a just behind Labour. Even in their efficient and ple leaving the industry between reservoir, a secondary school for weakest boroughs, Oldham and 1918 and 1939. Nevertheless the girls, a maternity hospital and a Ashton-under-Lyne they retained economical region still accounted for 28 per sanatorium.’85 a strong foothold on the councils. cent of world cotton trade at the The Liberals’ enthusiasm for Overall they held some 27 per cent local admin- end of the 1930s. There was a fur- such progressive measures was part of council seats: more than Labour. ther 50 per cent decline in work- and parcel of their broader ideo- By 1957 their representation istration and force and production during the logical commitment to mutual- had been seriously depleted. They Second World War, but this fall ism, active citizenship and equality had been eliminated from Old- with Labour was largely reversed as the indus- of opportunity (seen in Bury for ham, Hyde, Rawtenstall and Sta- on progres- try boomed after the war, and by example in a tendency to argue for lybridge, and councils. In most 1951 production for the home mar- greater expenditure on education other boroughs they held on tenu- sive issues ket exceeded that of the mid-1930s. than the Tories86). The enthusiasm ously with a councillor or two. In The ‘Cotton Crisis’ hit in 1951–2 of Lancashire Liberals for the Bev- Darwen, Dukinfield, Haslingden, such as edu- due to inflation of textile prices and eridge national insurance plan in Heywood they could still claim a a shift in spending towards con- the mid-1940s was dimmed by the more sizeable representation but cation, slum sumer durables. By 1958 produc- shift away from mutualism and vol- only in Rochdale, Bacup and Moss- tion for the home market was down untaryism that its implementation ley did they remain a major force. clearance by 24 per cent and for export by 57 brought about, as well as the cost Overall their strength had fallen per cent compared with 1951. The implications. to 9 per cent of council seats in the and munici- government’s efforts to rationalise The Radical ideology allowed East Lancashire area. This was a big and modernise the industry were and indeed encouraged coopera- decline, but nevertheless the Lib- pal enter- unsuccessful and in the late 1960s tion with both the other parties: eral presence in local government and early 1970s cotton entered its with the Conservatives in the cause remained significantly greater here prise. At the final agony with mills closing at of efficient and economical local than in any other part of the coun- a rate of almost one a week across administration and with Labour try except the West Riding.88 same time it Lancashire.89 on progressive issues such as educa- In part the Liberal decline At the same time the commu- tion, slum clearance and municipal was due to the stronger and more was a barrier nity structure that had helped sus- enterprise. At the same time it was aggressive electoral challenge of tain Liberalism was dissolving. a barrier in the way of full amal- the Labour and Conservative par- in the way In part this was due to independ- gamation with those parties. The ties, which was a national phenom- of full amal- ent factors such as the continuing differences with Labour were per- enon. As we have seen, Labour decline of Nonconformity, the pro- tinent at local as well as national made a breakthrough in some areas gamation vincial press and the mutual sector. level because Labour consciously in 1945–46 and there was a further The Friendly Societies lost their sought to spread its class-based, shift in its favour in the early 1950s. with those central role in the national insur- collectivist and redistributive poli- Compared with before the war, ance system in the 1948 National cies into local government. With Labour had everywhere broad- parties. Assistance Act. The communal the Conservatives the Liberals’ dif- ened its appeal and improved its ‘self-help’ educational sector was ferences related more to national, organisation so that there were no also sagging after the war and by or as it was described at the time, longer boroughs where it was a the late 1960s the tradition had col- imperial policy – in other words, negligible factor. The Conserva- lapsed in many mill districts to be free trade and international affairs. tives too improved their organisa- replaced by new national initiatives Thus in local elections Liberal tion, recruited a mass membership such as the Open University.90

30 Journal of Liberal History 85 Winter 2014–15 the strange survival of liberal lancashire

Population movements and Table 3: Liberal council members in eighteen East Lancashire boroughs 1956–72 urban regeneration unhinged estab- 1956 1959 1961 1963 1966 1969 1972 lished political patterns in many Bolton, Bury, Stockport 7 8 18 39 12 3 1 areas. In Middleton, for example, the building of a large Manchester Other boroughs 66 77 84 81 75 88 47 overspill estate in the 1950s trans- Total 73 85 102 120 87 91 48 formed local politics and propelled the previously docile local Labour Party into power.91 retreated, and this was mirrored In the elections to the new Other changes were more by a weakening of support for the county authorities in 1973 the best directly linked to the disintegra- Conservatives in the region, no Liberal performances in the north- tion of the cotton industry. Much doubt reflecting the same social west were outside the region cov- of the old Liberal elite drawn from changes. Labour gained ground as ered in this article, in the newer the industry and its commercial the balance of the economy shifted Manchester suburbs of Cheadle, and small business offshoots disap- away from cotton. Hazel Grove, Prestwich and Altrin- peared. Deference and the influ- These trends were not much cham & Sale and in areas where ence in tightly knit communities affected by the Liberal revival they had previously been weak such of employers, philanthropists and under Jo Grimond. As Table 3 as Liverpool and Colne, Pendle and local notables faded away. The shows, only Bolton, Bury and Preston.98 In their old heartlands supply of active citizens in tradi- Stockport followed the national they did well in Darwen and picked tional fields – the foot soldiers of pattern of a surge in the early 1960s up seats in Royton, Saddleworth the party – dried up. Many Lib- followed by a rapid retreat and and Rochdale, but made little eral clubs closed or lost their active indeed collapse in the later 1960s. impact elsewhere. connection with the party in the But even here the gains were on The economic, social and com- 1950s and early 1960s. The salience a more modest scale than in the munity factors that had sustained of free trade as rallying cry finally newer suburbs of south-east Eng- a distinctive northern Liberalism ceased as foreign competition in the land and the commuter fringe of in the textile towns of East Lanca- domestic textile market became an Manchester around Cheadle and shire were severely weakened by increasing problem. Sale. Elsewhere in the region the the 1960s – a pattern also evident Where these processes devel- advance came early and then stalled in Halifax, Huddersfield and other oped more slowly, the Liberal with the Liberals actually suffer- Liberal strongholds in the West political culture persisted longer. ing a slight loss of seats in the early Riding of Yorkshire.99 The mod- In Rochdale the Liberals held their 1960s. Here however the party held ernised Liberal Party of that period position on the council up to the its position more firmly in the later was also becoming less congenial to end of the 1960s, although they 1960s and indeed made some gains traditional economic liberals who did not hold a majority after 1950. at the end of the decade when to a increasingly found a home in the The town’s official handbook of limited extent it shared with the Conservative Party of Heath and 1952, packed with adverts for local Tories the spoils of the big swing Thatcher. textile firms, gives special promi- against the Wilson Labour govern- Traces of the region’s old Liberal nence to Rochdale’s Liberal tradi- ment, which was particularly sharp allegiance have survived and resur- tion and pictures of Cobden and in the textile area.97 (See Table 3.) faced especially where assisted by Bright.92 In Mossley, traditional However, as the figures for 1972 local factors and charismatic can- deference seems to have contin- show, this only concealed tem- didates. But the former textile dis- ued after the war. When the mill porarily the collapse of Liberal tricts have not been in the forefront owner and former Liberal ‘boss’ strength in the region. The Liberals of the expansion of the Liberal/ of the town, James Bottomley, had by this stage been eliminated Liberal Democrat electoral base in died in 1957 an obituary claimed from six councils (Oldham, Bolton, recent decades. The strange sur- that he ‘was known affectionately Bury, Ashton-under-Lyne, Sta- vival of Liberal Lancashire in the throughout the town, particularly lybridge and Middleton) and had first half of the twentieth century by the many cotton workers who only a handful of representatives (at was followed by the curious col- had been employed at his mills, as most three) in eight others (Stock- lapse of its heartlands the 1960s and “James Alfred” … At his mills and port, Burnley, Accrington, Dukin- ’70s. Future articles will examine at clubs and business premises all field, Hyde, Haslingden, Bacup, this story in the Manchester area over the town flags were lowered Rawtenstall). In Rochdale and and the West Riding of Yorkshire to half-mast on Tuesday as news Heywood they had lost heavily and as well as the contrasting develop- of his death spread’. Nevertheless, only in Mossley and Darwen was ments on Merseyside and the West a few individuals, such as Alder- the party’s position still relatively Lancashire coast.100 man Jesse Crabtree (and his son strong and stable. The Conserva- John) in Bacup,93 Alderman Rob- tives had supplanted the Liberals in Jaime Reynolds has written numerous erts in Mossley,94 Alderman David- several of their traditional strong- contributions for the Journal of Lib- son in Darwen95 and Alderman holds. Bacup, a council which the eral History and other History Group Fearn in Rochdale,96 kept the flag Liberals had controlled in the early publications. He was awarded a PhD of a dogged and robust Liberalism 1960s, had become solidly Conserv- following studies at LSE and the Uni- flying. ative by the end of the decade. The versity of Warsaw, Poland. He worked Generally though, the Liberal Tories had also overtaken the Lib- in the UK civil service and since 2000 decline was more marked as cotton erals in Rochdale and Heywood. has been an official of the European

Journal of Liberal History 85 Winter 2014–15 31 the strange survival of liberal lancashire

Commission working on interna- excellent analysis of Nelson’s candidate for Oldham 1929. Lib- Conservatives or Socialists, tional environmental issues. His economic and political culture. eral National MP for Oldham should such opportunities afford current research interests are the ‘Little Moscow’ was a misnomer 1935–45. themselves’. political parties and the expanding as communist influence was lim- 22 James Taylor Middleton (1887– 35 E. D. Smithies, ‘The Contrast role of women in local government ited and the local Labour tradi- 1957), solicitor, son of a Liberal Between North and South in politics in the 1920s and 1930s. tion owed more to Radical and mayor of Oldham. Councillor England 1918–39: A Study of ILP influences. Hill suggests that for Hollinwood ward 1936–48 Economic, Social and Political 1 M. Egan, Coming Into Focus – The ‘Red Nelson’ would be more apt. and numerous times Liberal Problems with particular refer- Transformation of the Liberal Party The large proportion of immi- candidate. Three times parlia- ence to the Experience of Burn- 1945–64 (Saarbrucken, 2009), p. grants especially from nearby mentary candidate. President ley, Halifax, Ipswich and Luton’ 168. Pennine weaving districts, the Oldham Liberal Association. (DPhil thesis, University of 2 P. F. Clarke, Lancashire and the absence of big employers to form President of NW Liberal Federa- Leeds, 1974), p. 287. New Liberalism (Cambridge, a patriarchal political class, and tion in 1950s. On executive of 36 For example in 1955 H. J. Hallam 1971), p. 397. the early development, large size Liberal Party Organisation. wrote of the very strong Liberal 3 Clarke, as above. and effective organisation of the 23 See D. Dutton, Liberals in Schism traditions in Radcliffe preserved 4 Especially the digital archives of Nelson Weavers’ Association – A History of the National Liberal by the Municipal Party, long The (Manchester) Guardian and were key factors in the excep- Party (London, 2008), pp. 91, 99. after Liberals had ceased to con- The Times, UK Data Service, the tional strength of Labour in 24 Manchester Guardian, 19 Oct. test local elections independently, British Newspaper Archive. The Nelson. 1936. see H. J. Hallam in D. Butler, family history site Ancestry UK 15 The Liberals began to gain seats 25 Enabling J. T. Middleton to gain The British General Election of 1955 is also useful for biographical in Colne in the early 1970s and Hollinwood ward in 1936 for (London, 1956), p. 145. material. became the largest party in the example. 37 Even in a town like Middleton 5 Clarke, Lancashire, p. 10. new Pendle District in 1973. 26 J. G. Bulpitt, Party Politics in Eng- where Lib–Con collaboration 6 Such as Birkenhead East (from the 16 S. Davies and B. Morley, County lish Local Government (London, was close, the Liberals fiercely Liberals) and Manchester Black- Borough Elections in England and 1967), pp. 22–39. defended their independence. In ley, Rusholme and Moss Side. Wales 1919–38: A Comparative 27 Cyril Smith (1928–2010), active 1951 a Liberal councillor pub- 7 Twenty-nine in 1923 and thirty- Analysis, vol. 2 (Aldershot, 2000) Liberal Rochdale, Stockport licly denounced what he claimed one in 1929. pp. 316, 333. The Tories had ten. 1945–50, on executive NLYL. were Conservative attempts to 8 Fifty-six in 1924 and fifty-nine Labour had nine aldermen, the Councillor Rochdale Labour force him to stand as a Tory and in 1935. Liberals two and the Conserva- 1952–66, Independent 1966–70. turn the council into a ‘closed 9 Calculated by the author. The tives one. Mayor. Rejoined Liberals 1970. shop’: Manchester Guardian, 2 data covers the total of council- 17 The Liberals only stood aside MP for Rochdale 1972–92. Nov. 1951. For more on Middle- lors and aldermen sitting on the at the 1951 and 1955 elections Unitarian. ton and on Rochdale, see Bul- councils in the years specified. when the Conservatives gained 28 In West Riding of Yorkshire. pitt, Party Politics, ch. 1 and 4. For a small number of coun- Rochdale. 29 Davies and Morley, County Bor- 38 Burnley Liberal Association cils, mostly in 1921, estimates 18 It was formed in August 1935 on ough Elections, vol. 1, pp. 463–542. affiliated to the Liberal Party have been used because of lack the initiative of the local Rector in 30 Thomas Connor (1896–1988), Organisation in June 1946. It of data. The total of seats in order ‘to eliminate political pas- commercial traveller. Labour had previously aligned with the 1921 was some 1,650 and in 1972 sions from local government’. See councillor Bolton 1929–38. Lib- Liberal Nationals without for- some 2,140. The region covered Manchester Guardian, 22 Aug. 1935. eral councillor 1938–61. Alder- mally affiliating to the Liberal is modern Lancashire, Greater 19 William Herbert Booth, a prom- man 1961–67. Mayor 1963–64. National organisation. See Man- Manchester and Merseyside, inent councillor and mayor in Leader Liberal group in 1960s. chester Guardian, 24 Jun. 1946. thus including some parts of pre- 1938, was described in the press Secretary Bolton Liberal Asso- 39 Unlike in Liverpool and Man- 1974 Cheshire. as a Liberal National. It was ciation and chairman from 1944. chester for instance where a 10 South-east Lancashire was one reported in 1937 that Middleton Failed to regain Smithills 1967. Liberal alderman survived in the of only two regions in the coun- & Prestwich Liberal Association Rejoined Labour Party 1967. 1950s only due to Conservative try that swung to the Labour had recently been re-formed: 31 B. J. Evans and A. J. Taylor, support. Party at the 1959 general elec- Manchester Guardian 2 Sept. 1937. ‘Rise and Fall of Two-party 40 E. J. Cleary and H. Pollins, ‘Lib- tion: D. E. Butler and R. Rose, 20 Mary Gertrude Emmott (neé Electoral Cooperation (Hud- eral Voting in the General Elec- The British General Election of 1959 Lees) (1866–1954), daughter of dersfield and Bolton)’,Political tion of 1951’, The Sociological (London, 1960), p. 236. cotton spinner, 1887 married Studies, xxxii (1984), pp. 257–272. Review, vol. 1, issue 2, Dec 1953, 11 M. Savage, The Dynamics of Alfred Emmott (1858–1926), cot- 32 In Cheshire, as were Dukinfield, p. 39. Working-Class Politics: the Labour ton manufacturer, Liberal MP Hyde and Stalybridge. 41 Arthur Douglas Worsley (1891– Movement in Preston 1880–1940 for Oldham 1899–1911, 1st Baron 33 Manchester Guardian, 6 May 1953. 1965), born Pendleton. Father (Cambridge, 1987) is useful. Emmott 1911. They were mayor 34 A resolution adopted at the 1958 was mayor of Salford. Organiser 12 S. Davies and B. Morley, County and mayoress of Oldham 1891. Liberal Assembly declared that for NW Liberal Federation from Borough Elections in England and She was Liberal candidate for the party ‘can, in no foreseeable 1927, secretary 1932–58. Wales 1919–38: A Comparative Oldham 1922. Vice-president circumstances, enter into pacts, 42 Clarke, Lancashire, pp. 272–3. Analysis, vol. 1 (Ashgate, 1999). of the Liberal Council 1929–31. with either the Conservative 43 M. Kinnear, The British Voter 13 Clitheroe elected a Labour MP in Prominent Liberal National in Party or the Labour Party on the – An Atlas and Survey since 1885 1918 and 1945 but otherwise has late 1930s. national or local level; whilst in (London, 1968), pp. 125–6. The always been Tory. Nelson and 21 John Samuel Dodd (1904–73), view of the undemocratic nature detailed figures are: Rochdale Colne was always Labour from engineer, director of family- of the present electoral system, 6.4 per cent; Heywood & Rad- 1918 to 1970, except in 1931. owned Sun Cotton Mill, one welcoming the opportunity of cliffe 6.2 per cent; Stalybridge & 14 J. Hill, Nelson: Politics, Economy, of largest in Oldham. Liberal presenting the Liberal case in Hyde 4.4 per cent; Mossley 4.6 Community (Keele, 1997) is an councillor and parliamentary a straight fight against either per cent; Darwen 10.0 per cent;

32 Journal of Liberal History 85 Winter 2014–15 the strange survival of liberal lancashire

Burnley 10.1 per cent; Rossen- 56 Sarah Lees (neé Buckley) (1842– Federation, proposed the famous (1865–1950), born Colchester, dale 18.7 per cent. 1935), born Mossley. Widow of ‘trumpet call for Free Trade’ mill doctor. Liberal councillor 44 Prominent Labour Baptists wealthy Oldham cotton spinner. adopted at the 1953 Liberal Bolton 1925–40s. included the Rev. Gordon Lang, Co-opted to Oldham Education Assembly in Ilfracombe. 84 Jean Marion Farie Marshall Labour MP for Oldham 1929–31 Committee 1902. Member of 72 Davies and Morley, County Bor- (1876–1965), born Greenock, and Stalybridge & Hyde 1945– Oldham council 1907–19. Mayor ough Elections, vol. 2, pp. 434, general practitioner working in 51, and Clifford Kenyon, Labour 1910 (second female mayor in 437–9. Bolton from before 1914. Liberal MP for Chorley 1945–70, a lay UK) and Freeman of Oldham. 73 Bulpitt, Party Politics, p. 91. councillor Bolton 1935–40s. preacher and former mayor of DBE 1917. Congregationalist. 74 The terms left and right are used 85 Manchester Guardian, 17 Oct. 1934. Rawtenstall. 57 Friendly societies clubbed here for convenience only. Old 86 Davies and Morley, County Bor- 45 D. Butler and D. Stokes, Political together workers to offer basic radical Liberal thinking com- ough Elections, vol. 2, p. 427. Change in Britain – Forces Shaping health and unemployment ben- monly dubbed ‘right-wing’ 87 For example in Rochdale, Old- Electoral Change (Penguin, 1971), efits, savings banks, job referral shares much in common with ham, Bury and Rossendale Lib- p. 170. services, and burial plans. what today would be labelled as erals opposed Conservatives 46 P. Joyce, Work, Society and 58 S. Cordery, British Friendly Socie- ‘left libertarianism’. in almost every parliamentary Politics – the Culture of the Fac- ties, 1750–1914 (Houndmills and 75 E. D. Simon bowed out of Liberal election from 1918–50. tory in Later Victorian England New York, 2003); T. Cutler, politics in the 1930s. He stood as 88 The Liberals were also strong in (Brighton, 1980), pp. 170, 241. K. Williams and J. Williams, an Independent at the 1945 gen- Blackpool, and Southport. Joyce also suggests that racism Keynes, Beveridge and Beyond eral election and shortly after 89 Miles, Lancashire Textiles, pp. (i.e. anti-Irish feeling) was a sec- (London, 1986), pp. 42–4; J. joined the Labour Party. His wife 25–6, 38–41. ondary factor behind sectarian McNicol, The Politics of Retire- Shena, also a leading Manchester 90 See J. Rose, Intellectual Life, pp. behaviour. ment in Britain, 1878–1948 (Cam- housing reformer had joined the 296–7, 463. 47 See further: Hill, Nelson. bridge, 1998); D. Gladstone (ed.), Labour Party in 1935. 91 See Bulpitt, Party Politics, pp. 48 C. Miles, Lancashire Textiles – a Before Beveridge – Welfare before 76 Manchester Guardian, 25 Jan. 1950. 22–39. Case Study of Industrial Change the Welfare State (Civitas, 1999), 77 Manchester Guardian, 13 Dec. 92 The County Borough of Rochdale (Cambridge, 1968), p. 42. http://www.civitas.org.uk/pdf/ 1947, 29 Oct. 1948. – the Official Handbook (3rd edn, 49 Miles, Lancashire Textiles, pp. cw47.pdf 78 The Times, 28 Oct. 1930. 1952). It records that 26,000 peo- 114, 121. Overall 241,000 people 59 J. Rose, The Intellectual Life of the 79 Marjory Lees (1878–1970), ple were employed in the textile were still employed in the indus- British Working Classes (2nd edn, daughter of Sarah Lees. Liberal industry, 46 per cent of the total try in 1959 and 164,000 in 1964. Yale, 2010), ch. 2. councillor Oldham. Contin- workforce. 50 John Percy Taylor (1868–1945), 60 See the biographies on the excel- ued her mother’s philanthropic 93 Successively councillors for cotton spinning mill owner. A lent Links in the Chain (Bolton) work. Freedom of Oldham 1934. Broadclough ward, Bacup in late leading figure in Bolton Liberal- site for numerous examples: 80 Amy Jones (1883–?), daughter of 1950s and early ’60s. ism for over forty years, Presi- http://www.boltonsmayors.org. Sir James E Jones, wealthy cot- 94 Nelson Roberts, Liberal coun- dent of Liberal Association for uk/ ton merchant, philanthropist, cillor Mossley Cheshire ward fifteen years, vice-chair North- 61 Davies and Morley, County Bor- leading Rochdale Liberal, mayor during 1950s and early 1960s. western Liberal Federation. ough Elections, vol. 2, p. 425. 1905–7 and pillar of the United 95 David Davidson, Liberal coun- Parliamentary candidate 1924. 62 Hill, Nelson, pp. 123–4. Methodist Church. Amy was a cillor Darwen South-west in Bolton council 1900–3, 1914–42. 63 K. Burgess, The Challenge of Rochdale councillor for a short early 1960s. Mayor of Darwen Mayor 1934. Freeman of Bolton Labour – Reshaping British Society time. 1961–62. 1938. Unitarian. 1850–1930 (London, 1980), p. 208. 81 Ada Jane Summers (neé Broome) 96 Charles H. Fearn, Liberal coun- 51 C. Smith, Big Cyril (London, 64 Davies and Morley, County Bor- (1861–1944), daughter of Old- cillor and alderman, Rochdale, 1977), pp. 48–9. ough Elections, vol. 2, pp. 426–47. ham textile mill owner, wealthy 1945 to 1960s. Chair of Housing 52 Smithies, ‘Contrast Between 65 Ibid., pp. 216–7, quoting G. widow of John Summers of Committee. North and South’, p. 295. Trodd, ‘Political Change and the family firm of ironmasters in 97 The textile towns of Lancashire 53 Davies and Morley, County Working Class in Blackburn and Stalybridge which became one saw a swing of 7.4 per cent to the Borough Elections, vol. 2, p. 429. Burnley, 1880–1914’ (PhD thesis, of largest steel producers in the Conservatives at the 1970 gen- Oscar Standring Hall (1862– University of Lancaster, 1978). UK. Active Liberal and suffra- eral election, compared with the 1932). Power loom manufac- 66 The Conservatives were gist. Stalybridge councillor from national average of 4.7 per cent: turer. Bury Councillor to 1926. described as ‘the party of vested 1912. First woman mayor of Sta- D. Butler and M. Pinto-Duschin- 54 James Alfred Bottomley interests’ in The Liberal Way lybridge 1919. Alderman. Free- sky, The British General Election of (1874–1957), mill owner Moss- (National Liberal Federation, dom of Stalybridge 1939. Known 1970 (London, 1971), p. 394–5. ley. Mossley council 1909–30s. 1934), p. 114. as ‘Lady Bountiful’ for philan- 98 The Liberals also captured con- Seven times mayor of Mossley. 67 Othello Lord William White- thropic work. Her brother-in- trol of Kearsley Urban District 55 Holt family: prominent Liberal head (1866–1953), headmaster. law J. W. Summers was Liberal near Bolton in the late 1960s, a Congregationalist mill-owning Liberal councillor Bury 1926– MP for Flint 1910–13. mining town with little Liberal (Holt Hosiery) family in Bol- 1940s. Mayor 1937–38. 82 Mary Ellen Wild (1866–1945), tradition. ton. A. E. Holt (1872–?) was a 68 Davies and Morley, County Bor- born Rochdale, shop-assistant, 99 See J. Reynolds and P. Wrigley, councillor from 1911, President ough Elections, vol. 2, p. 427. later pawnbroker. Moved to ‘Liberal Roots – The Liberal of Bolton Liberal Association 69 Clarke, Lancashire, p. 398. Ashton under Lyne in 1898. Party in a West Yorkshire con- and parliamentary candidate for 70 F. Trentmann, Free Trade Nation Liberal councillor 1919–28 stituency 1920s–1970s’, Journal of Bolton in 1924. Arthur Frederick – Commerce, Consumption and and subsequently several times Liberal History 80 (Autumn 2013). Holt (1914–95) was Liberal MP Civil Society in Modern Britain candidate. Her husband James 100 Researchers interested in collabo- for Bolton West from 1951–64. (Oxford, 2008), pp. 5, 32. Albert was also an active Liberal rating in further research on this Chief Whip 1963–64. President 71 James T. Middleton, presi- and councillor in Ashton. topic are welcome to contact the of the Liberal Party 1974–75. dent of the North-west Liberal 83 Robert Deveraux Mothersole author [email protected]

Journal of Liberal History 85 Winter 2014–15 33