Britain

• Election

  1906
• The 1906 election was a landslide victory for the liberal party, the liberals won a majority in the house of commons but they also won a huge overall majority with around 401 seats compared to 157 in the conservatives
• Arthur Balfour lost his seat in the cabinet, it wasn't until 1922 that the conservatives won another election
• Lloyd George and Churchill were some of the ministers who led the new liberal government in Westminster 1906
• They introduced the idea of new liberalism and created a range of reforms to tackle poverty
• The 1906 election had wider results such as the emergence of the labour party as a distinct force in the house of commons
• Boer war (1900)


  Helped the conservatives to win an impressive electoral victory, but also led to their defeat in the long term as the war lasted longer and cost a lot more in money and lives than expected, and caused moral outrage in Britain due to the use of concentration camps
• The Boer war also exposed the amount of malnutrition in Britain, especially within cities, and led to concerns about the physical health of the nation
• 1902 education act


  Roused the fury of the non-conformists and led many of them to revert to the liberal party
• 1904 licensing act


  Annoyed non-conformist voters by proposing to compensate brewers and publicans for the cancellation of licenses
• Chinese Labour issues (1902-4) damaged the conservative government in the eyes of the nonconformists and the trade union members
• The Taff Vale Case (1901-2) reinforced the conviction between the workers that the conservatives were opposed to their interests, it encouraged support for labour in parliament and for campaigning against the conservative party
• The awareness of poverty that was growing within the public after the Boer war contributed to the decline of support for the conservatives
• The tariff reform campaign (1903) ended up splitting the conservative government and party
• A.J Balfour's position as conservative prime minister after Salisbury's death didn't help the conservatives
• The Lib-Lab pact (1903) may be argued to have helped the LRC more as it gave them new political power
• Old liberalism


  Stressed freedom to do things such as freedom to worship
• New liberalism


  Stressed freedom from evils such as poverty, low wages, believed that intervention by the state had a key role in establishing minimum standards in life
• New liberalism did not suggest help for everyone, only those who were unable to help themselves
• New liberalism implied higher government spending which contradicted the traditional liberalism view which emphasised low taxation
• Factors leading to the development of new liberalism

  • Growing awareness of poverty and its causes
  • Influence of intellectuals on the Liberal party
  • Political factors
  • Concern over national efficiency
  • Support for new liberalism within the liberal party
• The new liberal government which took power after the election was first led by Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman from 1905-1908, then by Herbert Asquith from 1908-1915
• Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman


  Liberal prime minister from 1905 to 1908 who set the liberals on the path to carrying out social reform
• H.H. Asquith


  Succeeded C-B as liberal prime minister in 1908 and introduced social welfare reforms that were influenced by new liberalism
• David Lloyd George


  The most dynamic and effective of the new liberal administration, introduced the old age pensions bill of 1908 and planned the national insurance scheme for health
• Winston Churchill


  One of the Liberal party's most articulate exponents of the ideas of new liberalism, played a key role in the 1909 Trade boards act and the setting up of labour exchanges
• As a result of The Lib-Lab pact of 1903, the LRC won 30 seats and renamed themselves the labour party
• Issues Labour also faced

  • The new MPs were working men with little formal education and admin experience
  • The 30 MPs didn't form a strong, cohesive body
  • Keir Hardie didn't have the qualities needed to hold the labour MPs together
  • W.V. Osborne challenged the right to demand the political levy
  • It faced a financial crisis when it faced the 1910 elections
• Despite problems at Westminster, the labour movement grew in support between 1906 and 1914
• In 1909 the Conservative Party was renamed the 'conservative and unionist party'
• the labour MPs together and create an effective force within the HOC
• W.V. Osborne challenged the right to demand the political levy. These compulsory levies which were charged by trade unions went towards paying labour MPs salaries. It was a blow to the Labour Party when the HOL ruled in favour of Osborne. This would make it difficult for it to operate as an effective political force
• It faced a financial crisis when it faced the 1910 elections, which made it rely even further on the Liberal Party
• Growth of the labour movement between 1906 and 1914


  • Trade union membership rose from 900,000 to 1.5 million
  • Membership of socialist societies grew from 17000 to 33000
  • Number of local labour societies grew from 83 to 158
• In 1909 the Conservative Party was renamed the 'conservative and unionist party' and in May 1912 it formally merged with the Liberal unionists
• Following the 1906 election, the conservatives were powerless in the HOC with less than 1/4 of the seats
• The conservative leaders (Balfour and Lansdowne) decided to use the permanent Conservative majority in the house of lords to block the new policies of the Liberal government. The HOL became 'Balfour's poodle'
• In 1906, the liberal's Education Bill was so mutilated by the Lords that it had to be abandoned. This clash between the HOL and the HOC caused a constitutional crisis in 1910-11
• In 1913, British industry remained focused on the staple industries that had been the basis of its industrial revolution and which made Britain so economically successful
• Main staple industries


  • Textile industry
  • Steel
  • Coal
  • Shipbuilding