CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by ChesterRep This work has been submitted to ChesterRep – the University of Chester’s online research repository http://chesterrep.openrepository.com Author(s): Thomas Wyn Williams Title: The Conservative party in north-east Wales, 1906-1924 Date: December 2008 Originally published as: University of Liverpool PhD thesis Example citation: Williams, T. W. (2008). The Conservative party in north-east Wales, 1906-1924. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Liverpool, United Kingdom. Version of item: Submitted version Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10034/72473 THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY IN NORTH-EAST WALES, 1906-1924. Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Liverpool for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy by Thomas Wyn Williams. December 2008 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A number of people have helped with the preparation of this thesis. Firstly, Dr.Jeremy Smith, my ever-patient Supervisor at University of Chester, now at the University of Wales Lampeter, needs eternal thanks for the advice and encouragement and the time he has given up for me during the completion of this study. Professor David Dutton, Supervisor at University of Liverpool also offered invaluable advice and Dr. Jon Lawrence helped oversee the early part of this research while Professor Roger Swift has also acted as a Chester Supervisor, all need thanking accordingly. I would also like to thank everybody in the History Department at Chester for their assistance – especially Dr. Keith McLay, Dr. Ronald Barr and Brenda and Carol for always pointing me in the right direction! Elizabeth Christopher and Deborah Vranch in the Graduate Office in Chester sorted all the administration problems and gave untold support with meeting deadlines etc. I am grateful to all the staff at the various libraries and archives I have visited for the help they have given me. David Castledine at the Denbighshire Record Office and Paul Mason at the Flintshire Record Office were particularly helpful. I am indebted to Hilary Peters at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth for letting me view the Brogynytn MSS before she had finished cataloguing them. Felix Aubel spent much time discussing the project with me, making very many useful recommendations on how to tackle the subject- Thank you. I am also grateful to the Sixth Baron Tyrell Kenyon for allowing me into his home to view his grandfather’s papers, the Fourth Baron Tyrell Kenyon. A number of friends need a special mention - Mr. Lynn Waller whose knowledge of Welsh politics and his help in locating a number of sources proved invaluable to this study. At the same time Ms. Amanda Brookes helped with research projects and Mike Condliffe, computer genius, helped me with the mysteries of the P.C. Finally I am forever indebted to my wife, whose knowledge of the period was vital to the thesis’ completion and has been my support for so long. If I have left anybody out - Sorry! THOMAS WYN WILLIAMS-THESIS ABSTRACT. THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY IN NORTH-EAST WALES, 1906-1924. Between 1906 and 1924 the Conservative party only won three parliamentary elections in North-east Wales – the Denbigh Boroughs division twice in 1910 and the county seat in Flintshire in 1924. Conversely the Liberal party won all the other elections throughout the period, with the exception of Wrexham which fell to Labour in 1922 and 1923. This, however, says more about the vagaries of the British ‘first past the post’ electoral system than it does about the true strength of the political parties in the region. Indeed, between 1906 and 1924 the Conservative party never averaged below 39 per cent of the electorate in the constituencies it contested. Given this impressive but unrecognised electoral position, what this study set out to do was to analyse the strength of Conservatism in a region where failure was the norm. The period was chosen because it saw the last Liberal administration in this country, and marked the start of the Conservative dominance of government for much of the twentieth century. It also saw one of the biggest cultural and social upheavals in British history with the advent of the First World War, and witnessed the enfranchisement of women for the first time. The general election of 1906 returned no Conservatives for Wales. In North Wales a conference was called to examine the situation and evaluate future prospects. This led to a review of party organisation in the region, the intention being not only to attract more working class people and women, but also to lessen the autocratic domination by the landed classes. In 1910 the Conservatives won the Denbigh Boroughs constituency with a large swing against the Liberals, and came very close to winning the Flint Boroughs by-election of 1913. The period of War, 1914-1918, saw all political parties moth-balled until the end of hostilities, but during the period of Coalition Government from 1918 to 1922 in which Liberal representation went almost unchallenged in North-east Wales, the Conservatives reorganised their Constituency Associations. By 1924 the landed domination of the party had diminished significantly, and in Flintshire the Conservatives won their first seat in an industrial working class area. Underpinning this success was a long-standing popular support, which after 1906 was better organised and mobilised for the Conservative cause through a variety of loosely attached organisations, societies and clubs. The Primrose League, an organisation that had been founded in 1883 to rally Conservative support, had a very high membership in the region compared to the rest of Wales. For example, the Denbigh Primrose League had over 800 members in 1912. A network of Conservative clubs existed in the region and as early as 1905 a thriving Workingmen’s Association had been founded in Wrexham. The Conservative party was also well represented in local government; in Flintshire between 1907 and 1913 it had more county councillors than the Liberal party. In addition, the upheaval of War and the attraction of socialism to the newly enfranchised masses meant that the Conservative party had to widen its appeal to those people who had acquired the vote in 1918. By recruiting women and working class members the Conservative party was able to lay the foundations for a number of parliamentary successes in North-east Wales that lasted until the 1990s. It is therefore the contention of this thesis that the Conservative party not only survived a very difficult period, but that it emerged a strengthened and invigorated force. Table of Contents THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY IN NORTH-EAST WALES INTRODUCTION: 1 Conservative Party Historiography. 2 A Rationale of the Study. 7 A Note on the Sources. 10 CHAPTER ONE: DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTS: Introduction 20 Population. 21 The Welsh Language. 22 Employment. 24 Religion and Society, 1851-1905. 26 Land. 28 Landed Influence and Authority. 30 The Erosion of Conservative Power and the Rise of the Liberals in Wales. 35 The Primrose League. 43 Voters and the Constituencies. 45 Elections and Party Politics, 1880-1906. 47 North-east Wales Elections, 1880-1906. 49 Conclusion. 52 CHAPTER TWO: THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY IN NORTH-EAST WALES, 1906-1910: Introduction: The Decline and Fall of Conservative Hegemony. 55 The 1906 General Election in North –east Wales. 58 Reorganisation and Recovery, 1906-1910. 67 Local Contests: The East-Denbighshire By-elections, 1906 and 1909 and the County Council Elections of 1907. 91 Conclusion. 99 CHAPTER THREE: THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY IN NORTH-EAST WALES, 1910-1914: Introduction: The 1910 General Elections and their Aftermath. 100 The January 1910 General Election in North-eastWales. 103 ‘Round Two’: The December 1910 General Election. 120 Party Organisation, 1910-1914. 128 Local Contests: The Flint Boroughs By-election of January 1913 and the County Council elections of 1913. 148 Conclusion. 155 CHAPTER FOUR: THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY IN NORTH-EAST WALES, 1914-1918: Introduction. 158 The Effect of the First World War on the Conservative Party in North-east Wales. 165 The Effect of the First World War on the Conservative Party in North-east Wales, the Representation of the People’s Act. 174 William Ormsby-Gore and the Wrexham Unionist Association. 177 Party Organisation, 1914-1918. 182 Conclusion. 190 CHAPTER FIVE: THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY IN NORTH-EAST WALES, 1918-1922: Introduction. 192 The 1918 General Election. 195 County Council Elections, 1919. 211 Adjusting to the New Political Landscape: Labour, Women and Democracy. 214 Party Organisation, 1918-1922. 223 County Council Elections, 1922. 238 Conclusion. 240 CHAPTER SIX: THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY IN NORTH-EAST WALES, 1922-1924: Introduction. 243 The 1922 General Election. 248 The Threat From Labour and the Build Up to the 1923 General Election. 263 The 1923 General Election. 271 Taking the Attack to Labour, 1924. 279 The 1924 General Election. 285 Party Organisation, 1922-1924. 296 Conclusion. 305 CONCLUSION. 307 APPENDICES. 318 SOURCES. 329 INTRODUCTION This is a study of the Conservative party in North-east Wales between 1906 and 1924. In particular it represents an attempt to analyse and evaluate how the party organised itself, and how it operated and survived during a period of turmoil and transition in national politics. It will examine how the party performed in three distinct demographic regions: the largely rural county of Denbighshire, the more diverse county of Flintshire and the industrial town of and the areas surrounding Wrexham. It will explore how the party reacted to electoral failure in the region - between 1906 and 1924 it gained only three victories, Denbigh Boroughs twice in 1910 and Flintshire in 1924, from a possible thirty contests at seven general elections - and will analyse the negative impact of radical Liberal legislation on the party in the years leading up to the First World War.