Conservative chj History Journal Winter 2008 | £7.50 Mitzi Auchterlonie “To work for Women’s Enfranchisement” The quiet campaign of the Conservative & Unionist Women’s Franchise Association, 1908-1914 Timothy Heppell No More than Another Major: How William Hague became Leader of the Conservative Party Plus: Charles Dudgeon on the Jacobites; Helen Szamuely Interviews John Charmley; Robert Self on Neville Chamberlain and the ‘Guilty Men’; Nicholas Hillma on the ‘Rivers of Blood’ Speech; Jamie Martin on the 1992 General Election campaign Conservative History Journal • Issue 7 • Winter 2008 1 The Conservative History Journal is published by the Conservative History Group Contents ISSN 1479-8026 Advertisements 3 Editorial To advertise in the next issue Helen Szamuely call Helen Szamuely on 07733 018999 5 “To Work for Women’s Enfranchisement by Educative and Editorial/Correspondence Contributions to the Journal – letters, articles Constitutional Methonds Consistant with Unionis Principles” and book reviews are invited.The Journal is a Mitzi Auchterlonie refereed publication; all articles submitted will be reviewed and publication is not guaran- 8 The Club Whose Time Has Come Again teed. Contributions should be emailed or Alistair Cooke posted to the addresses below.All articles remain copyright © their authors 10 Were the Tories Jacobites? Subscriptions/Membership Charles Dudgeon An annual subscription to the Conservative History Group costs £15. Copies of the 13 John Charmley on the Other Conservative Tradition Journal are included in the membership fee. Helen Szamuely The Conservative History Group Chairman: Keith Simpson MP 15 Disraeli’s Historical Reputation and the Repeal of the Corn Laws Deputy Chairman: Professor John Charmley Richard A Gaunt Director: Iain Dale Treasurer: John Strafford Secretary: Martin Ball 18 The First Birmingham Conference Journal Editor: Helen Szamuely Helen Szamuely Committee: 19 Neville Chamberlain and the Long Shadow of the ‘Guilty Men’ Christina Dykes Robert Self Lord Norton of Louth Lord Brooke Jonathan Collett 22 No More Than Another Major Simon Gordon Timothy Heppell Mark Garnett Ian Pendlington 24 Marketing the Tories in Opposition David Ruffley MP Quentin Davies MP Tim Sansom William Dorman Graham Smith 31 The ‘Rivers of Blood’: Forty Years on Jeremy Savage Nicholas Hillman Lord Henley William McDougall Tricia Gurnett 33 ‘Ernie’: A Centennial Reassessment of Ernest Marples David Dutton Conservative History Group PO Box 42119 36 Winning Before the Falklands London Lee Peck SW8 1WJ Telephone: 07768 254690 39 Of Course it was the Conservatives Wot Won it Email: [email protected] Jamie Martin Blog: http://conservativehistory.blogspot.com BOOK REVIEWS 42 Order of Merit by Stanley Martin, reviewed by Ronal Porter 43 A Political Suicide by Norman Fowler, reviewed by Iain Dale 2 Conservative History Journal • issue 7 • Winter 2008 Editorial, Helen Szamuely Editorial he best laid schemes o' mice an' “ men/Gang aft agley”. So said Robert Burns and, though he Twas hardly a conservative in the usual sense of the word, one cannot really argue with him.The plan to produce a larger Conservative History Journal than its prede- cessors has actually come to fruition; the plan to produce it a little earlier in the year did not. On the other hand, this issue will be the perfect Christmas reading for all those who are interested in various aspects of the Conservative Party’s history. There are articles about such diverse sub- jects as Conservative suffragists and the pos- sible Jacobite connections of the early Tory leaders; there are studies of the reputations of Neville Chamberlain and Benjamin Disraeli; a new analysis is presented of Enoch Powell’s famous speech and of the now almost forgot- ten Ernest Marples; above all, there are arti- cles about various aspects of theThatcher and post-Thatcher years. Something for every- Helen Szamuely is the editor of the Conservative History Journal. one, is the editorial hope. Email her on [email protected]. A section had to be dropped from the Journal for lack of space. It was my intention to write about recently published books that could be of interest to conservative historians interest … to those interested in conserva- Party,its politicians,the debates and ideas that and historians of conservatism as well as peo- tive history.Anyone who has ideas of pub- could be found in its vicinity.There is no edi- ple interested in conservative history.These lications to be included is encouraged to torial policy on what conservatism means; were not going to be full reviews but a para- let me know about them. Tory history and Tory ideas are as welcome graph or so about such books as Jean M. Let us now turn to future plans.I have said as more liberal and libertarian ones. The Lucas’s book about Conservative Agents, this before in editorials but this time I say it Conservative Party has been a “broad “Between the Thin Blue Lines” or Giles with real feeling: the Journal will improve in church”for a long time and conservative his- Hunt’s “The Duel” about that infamous its punctuality and,indeed,diversify.The plan tory must be equally broad. encounter between Canning and for early 2009 is to produce a supplement Let us not forget that there are conserva- Castlereagh. My intention was to expand the that concentrates entirely on what is the tive ideas and movements in other coun- Journal’s horizon by discussing briefly most exciting recent historical and political tries as well. Some of them will be covered Richard Pipes’s “Russian Conservatism and idea: the Anglosphere. I am collecting articles in the Anglosphere supplement; others can Its Critics”.There was no space for this won- of 2,000 – 3,000 words that look at the sub- be written about in the Journal itself. derful idea,so it will have to be transferred to ject of economic and political developments There is a third outlet. Part of the blog, I the Conservative History Journal blog that are specific to Britain or to the way those hope, will be contributions by other peo- (http://conservativehistory.blogspot.com/). ideas have developed in the Anglospheric ple. So far I have received two very differ- The blog has taken up a certain amount countries. Of course, if someone wants to ent ones, which were posted within hours of my time and will take up even more as write a knowledgeable piece on why the of being sent to me. One was a review of a I try to turn it into the pre-eminent site for Anglospheric ideas are completely erro- play in London, the other an eye-witness all those who are interested in conservative neous, they are welcome to do so. I shall be account of the recent American elections. history. Admittedly, my definition of con- happy to include it. Other contributions will be very welcome servative history has been rather wide but Later in the year, there will be a and I do credit the authors. Longer pieces that has not stopped hits from growing and Conservative History Journal of the kind we may then be reprinted in the forthcoming many interesting comments from being are more used to (though, perhaps, used to is issue of the Journal. posted on it (as well as some trollish ones not quite the right expression, given the edi- Plenty of ideas for all of us to get going that had to be removed). Among other tor’s shocking dilatoriness) that will once with.The Conservative History Journal in all strands in it will be the proposed “Books of again have articles about the Conservative its manifestations should have a bright future. Conservative History Journal • Issue 7 • Winter 2008 3 “To work for Women’s Enfranchisement by Educative and Constitutional methods consistent with Unionist principles” The quiet campaign of the Conservative & Unionist Women’s Franchise Association, 1908-1914 Dr Mitzi Auchterlonie, author of the recently published “Conservative Suffragists – The Women’s Vote and the Tory Party”, writes about Conservative women’s contribution to the enfranchisement debate espite the considerable body of (CUWFA) as being ‘neglected in standard work that has been published on accounts of the movement’. It has been left the British women’s suffrage to Martin Pugh (TheTories and the People,The Dmovement in recent years, the March of theWomen etc.) to record the contri- contribution to the debate made by women bution made by the CUWFA to the eventu- who supported the Conservative Party dur- al achievement of votes for women.1 Pugh ing the second half of the nineteenth and first maintains that ‘we have underestimated the half of the twentieth century remains an conservatism and the Conservatism in under-researched area. In historian Harold women’s suffrage, and thereby lost an impor- Smith’s short overview of the British tant part of the explanation for the eventual women’s suffrage campaign there is the success of the cause’. admission that ‘the importance of Despite this historical marginalisation Conservative women in the NUWSS, and in there is no doubt that a number of the suffrage movement in general, has been Conservative women were active in the suf- underestimated’, while June Hannam identi- frage movement from the earliest days.They fies organisations like the Conservative & joined the first women’s suffrage commit- Lady Constance Lytton Unionist Women’s Franchise Association tees, became members of the two most 4 Conservative History Journal • issue 7 • Winter 2008 Conservative & Unionist Women’s Franchise Association influential suffrage societies, the predomi- tively sympathetic to their campaign. Lady Plaque comemorating Emily Davies nantly Liberal National Union of Women’s Strachey could not deny that ‘the country Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), and, to a much has been roused to interest as it never was lesser extent, the Women’s Social and before .