Evolution of the British Party System: 1885-1940

By the end of the nineteenth century, reform and development of the British electoral system had inaugurated a new style of mass politics which fundamentally transformed the face of the British party system. This book traces the evolution of recognisably modern parties from their roots in the 1880s through half a century of dramatic change in organisational structure, electoral competition and constitutional thought. In the House of Commons the Labour Party replaced the Liberals as the radical answer to the Conservative Party. In the country at large the complex web of Victorian social, regional and religious allegiances gave way to a cruder but more dynamic model of modern political loyalties. The transformation at Westminster and in the constituencies is surveyed in relation to changes to the franchise (including the vote for women), class consciousness, political organisation and doctrine. The comprehensive account explains the varying fortunes of the parties in the face of mass democracy, collectivism, the First World War and economic uncertainty. It also provides a critical insight into the debates and conflicts of interpretation which surround this pivotal period in British political history.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements XI 1 Introduction 1 Notes and references 4 2 Development of the electoral system before 1914 6 2.1 The Franchise and Redistribution Acts, 1884-1885 6 2.2 The elimination of corruption and intimidation 10 2.3 The franchise in Britain after 1885: 'Democracy tempered by registration' 13 Notes and references 18 3 The rise of modern party organisation 21 3.1 Extra-parliamentary organisation 22 3.2 Linking the grassroots to the leaders: the National Union and the Liberal caucus 28 3.3 The emergence of a central party bureaucracy 31 3.4 Discipline and control in the parliamentary parties 34 3.5 The rise of national campaigning, manifestos and programmatic politics 36 Notes and references 38 4 Party realignment and Unionist ascendancy, 1885-1905 41 4.1 Gladstonian Liberalism and the schism of 1886 41 4.2 Liberal malaise, 1886-1902 44 4.3 Liberals, Labour and the birth of the Progressive Alliance 50 4.4 Lord Salisbury and the Unionist alliance 55 4.5 Unionist decline and Liberal revival, 1900-1906 61 Notes and references 64 5 The challenge of New Liberalism, 1906-1914 69 5.1 The reformulation of Liberalism 69 5.2 The conversion of the Liberal party 71 5.3 Liberals and the politics of taxation 74 5.4 Unionist crisis and the politics of taxation, 1906-1910 77 viii Contents 5.5 Labour, the Progressive Alliance and the New Liberalism 80 5.6 Rumours of a 'Strange Death', 1910-1914 84 5.7 The electorate and the New Liberalism 88 5.8 Conclusion: the significance of the New Liberalism 92 Notes and references 94 6 War and the party system 99 6.1 Liberalism divided 99 6.2 Liberal ideology and the strains of war 105 6.3 Conservatism and the challenge of war 109 6.4 Collapse of the Progressive Alliance and Labour's bid for independence 112 6.5 Labour, 'socialism' and the impact of war 115 6.6 The 'coupon' election of December 1918 118 Notes and references 120 7 The Lloyd George Coalition, 1918-1922 124 7.1 The impact of Labour 124 7 .2 Coalition, reconstruction and resistance to socialism 127 7.3 Slump and the destruction of 'national unity' 129 7.4 Anti-socialist 'fusion' and the realignment of the centre-right 132 7.5 The fall of the Coalition 133 Notes and references 138 8 Three-party confusion in the 1920s 140 8.1 Explanations for party realignment 140 8.2 The 'franchise factor' and the Fourth Reform Act of 1918 142 8.3 The organisational factor in Labour rise and Liberal decline 146 8.4 Labour, Liberals and the battle of ideas 149 8.5 The impact of the first Labour government 156 8.6 The foundations of Conservative electoral hegemony 159 8. 7 The 1929 election: the end of the three-party era 168 Notes and references 171 9 The National Governments 176 9.1 The party crisis, 1929-1931 176 9 .2 The political crisis and the National Government 179 9.3 The character of the National Government 183 9 .4 The collapse of independent Liberalism 188 9.5 Labour responses to 1931: leadership, power and organisation 189 9.6 Labour's ideological response to 1931 191 9.7 Party politics and the 'impact of Hitler' 195 9.8 The failure of political extremism in the 1930s 197 9. 9 Electoral competition and the onset of war 199 Notes and references 202 Select Bibliography General background histories The electoral system Party development and management Elections and electoral behaviour Party histories: the Conservatives The Labour party The Liberal party Extremist parties Coalition and 'National Government' Party doctrine and thought Index

About the Author :
Robert C. Self is Senior Lecturer in Politics at London Guildhall University.