the development of political parties

• In the early 1780s, the term ‘Whig’ and ‘Tory’ were coined, but

  they did not define a specific group within Parliament. After the

  fall of the Fox-North coalition, many supporters of Fox began to

  unite behind him, whilst supporters of Pitt united behind him, thus

  forming the Whig and Tory groups from around 1783.
• The years 1783-1830 were years of unbroken Tory rule, the Tory

  party was able to solidify itself in a policies and principles that it

  supported, including a strong military, laissez-faire economics

  and traditional values. The Liberals, in opposition, also were able

  to develop their ideology. Many began to support parliamentary

  reform, religious toleration, (ish) and the abolition of the slave

  trade.
• By the 1820s, Whig factions had effectively aligned under Earl

  Grey, they successfully exploited tory divisions over the repeal of

  the Test and Corporations Acts in 1828 (requirement for anyone

  in public office to be a protestant) and Catholic emancipation in

  1829. By 1830, the Whigs came to power.
• The Tory party suffered a great defeat in the General Election of

  December 1832, and after the Whigs won the election, they

  passed reforms in order to please the new middle class

  electorate such as the Factory Act and the Poor Law Amendment

  Act (though this sparked outrage from working classes).
• The Tory Party had little to bring to the new electorate, party

  organisation was poor, leadership was poor and, despite the

  Carlton Club’s formation in 1832 (a social club for male Tory

  MPs) there was little success. Bonham reformed party structures,

  he established Conservative Associations across constituencies

  (which still exist today) which provided a social and political body

  for local supporters.
• The Whigs however began to divide over Ireland after their

  reforms in the 1830s. The Tory Party was beginning to unite and

  rebrand under Robert Peel. During the 1834/5 election campaign,

  Robert Peel decided to set a precedent by issuing a statement of

  policies and beliefs to the electorate. Labelled the ‘Tamworth

  Manifesto’, it became the first manifesto and set a precedent for

  manifesto writing today. The manifesto showed Peel to be

  wanting to switch back to the reforms of ‘Liberal Toryism’ from the

  1820s.
• The Whigs, frustrated at the Tory’s return to government, teamed

  up with radical and Irish MPs to take down the Tory government,

  known as the Lichfield House pact, this marks the start of the

  Liberal Party as we know it. The term was first coined in 1835.

  The party was officially formed later.
• By the late 1830s however, the agreement began to fall apart. Many Whigs were uneasy at the level of reform and radicalism, some even defecting to the Tories. This led the Liberals to lose the 1841 election, leading the new Conservative Party (formed in 1834) into government.

  Though, again, 5 years later, the party split over Ireland for a

  second time, this time regarding the repeal of the Corn Laws.
• Peel and his supporters left the Conservative Party, sitting as an

  ‘Independent Group’, then joining with what would become the

  Liberal Party in the 1850s. The Conservative Party remained a

  ‘political wilderness’ for a whole 28 years after this, forming

  nothing more than a minority government.
• The Whigs reformed internally too, The Reform Club was

  founded in 1836 and became the de facto HQ for the Liberal

  Party, though the constituency link wasn’t as prevalent as in the

  Tory Party. Instead of appealing to people locally, they wanted to

  put across radical policies.
• The Reform Act in 1867 resulted in Gladstone becoming leader of

  the Liberal Party which was now an established party in 1867,

  forming his first of many governments in 1868 with a majority of

  116. He was Liberal to his core, considering abolishing income

  tax and far-reaching trade measures. By 1872 however, many

  were becoming disillusioned with Gladstone’s government.
• Disraeli began trying to appeal to the lower class of voters, not

  working-class mind, they didn’t have the vote. Those that had

  entered ‘the pale of the constitution’ in 1867. This included his

  1872 Crystal Palace Speech to the National Union of

  Conservative and Constitutional Association (NUCCA). He

  wanted to establish a ‘Tory Democracy’ and appeal to

  disheartened Liberals. As a result, he won his first majority in

  1874, giving the Conservatives their first majority in nearly 30

  years.
• The reform acts of 1867 and 1884 were pivotal to changes in party organisations and structures. The NUCCA had been founded in 1867 which bought together local Conservative Associations into one national association. The Central Office was established which oversaw the selection of candidates. This is often said to be a reason why the Conservative Party did so well in the 1874 general election.
• In memory of Disraeli, the Primrose League was founded in 1884, this was the Conservative Women’s Group which was for women to try and convince their husbands to enter politics. This group was only disbanded in 2004. Membership of this group had reached 2,000,000 by 1910, but only 957 in the year it was established. A number of Conservative Working Men’s Associations were also established in industrial towns and cities.
• Disraeli however lost the 1880 election and died the following year. He lost 5 of the 6 elections he fought in as party leader, though ensured Conservatism survived as a force after the split of 1846.
• Liberal changes like the 1870 Education Act were very popular and enabled a literate generation. Gladstone was however very much a classical liberal with low taxes, little intervention, individual freedom and a laissez-faire attitude towards things.
• • The third reform act in 1884 gave Irish peasantry the vote, they voted in large numbers for the Irish Party in 1885 which gave them 86 seats and ensured they kept the balance of power. Gladstone however always failed on Home Rule for Ireland. The first time, it was rejected by the Commons, the second time, by the Lords, despite the Irish Party presence.
• The Liberal Party began canvassing after the 1867 Reform Act, after the mayor of Birmingham, and a Liberal supporter, said that this was the best way to ensure that all Liberal candidates would get elected in multi-member seats (done so today in local elections) this was called the Birmingham Caucus
• • The National Liberal Federation (NLF) was created in 1877 with the aim of spreading the ‘Caucus system’ around the country and establishing a greater constituency link with voters, like the Conservative Party had done after the First Reform Act. In 1883, the NLF even adopted the idea of supporting votes for women, though party leadership did not take this up. A number of Liberal Working Men’s Associations were established in industrial towns and cities.
• After Disraeli’s death, the Conservative Party was to be led by Lord Salisbury. Lord Salisbury would win three General Elections and was prime minister for over 13 years. Salisbury was able to preserve party unity and exploit the Liberal divides. Salisbury had learned from other members of governments that radical party changes could inevitable lead in a party split, as had previously happened in both the Liberal and Conservative parties.
• In 1903 however, the Conservative Party began to decline. Chamberlain had proposed introducing protectionist tariffs that would ‘protect British industry from unfair competition abroad’. This opened up deep divides within the Conservative Party. Tariff reform was not a popular electoral issue and the Liberal propaganda that was to come out about it struck a chord with the electorate. Tariff reform, and Balfour’s failure to tackle other social issues, resulted in the Conservative Party falling to their lowest number of seats ever, 157. 
• The years 1906-1928 was a long period of time with little tory governance. They frequently instead used the House of Lords in order to reject Liberal legislation, most notably the ‘people’s budget’ of 1909, which resulted in the 1911 Parliament Act being forced through by the King threatening to fill the House of Lords with Liberals.
• ‘New Liberalism’ from Asquith was to transform society in a way that could be barely considered Liberalism nowadays. This was due to the Boer war primarily: almost one third of potential recruits for the Boer War were rejected because of their poor physical condition, caused by poverty. Investigations in York and London showed that over 30% of people were living in poverty Knowing this, and accounting for the rise of the Labour Party, the Liberals embarked on radical reform.
• radical liberal reforms, Pensions were introduced, free school meals, medical inspections and free scholarships to secondary schools all transformed society. The most radical was the ‘National Insurance Act’ in 1911 which was the methodology to pay for all of this, it was a health and unemployment insurance to assist people through economic hardship.
• The two elections in 1910 destroyed the Liberal Party, leaving voters moving in droves to Labour and them being dependent on the Irish Party to pass legislation. The Liberal Party split during WW1 after Asquith was bought down by the Conservatives due to poor leadership of the war. This then resulted in many Liberal MPs staying with the Conservative party in a coalition government with David Lloyd George leading the country as Prime Minister.
• In 1918, the Liberals were punished: 137 coalition Liberals were elected and just 37 Liberals. 57 Labour members were elected. The coalition broke up in 1922 and the party united in 1923, however, this was too late. The Labour Party had replaced them as the 2nd largest party. No Liberal MP was to hold any form of office from 1922 to 2010.
• The emergence of the Labour Party, which was a term first coined in the 1880s after the Third Reform Act.
• n the 1892 General Election, Keir Hardie and one 2 other men were elected as Labour MPs. The Independent Labour Party was then formed the year after (1893). By 1900, the Labour Representation Committee was formed specifically to support a set Labour group in Parliament. By 1903, over 100 trade unions had affiliated and Keir Hardie had become party leader.
• • Also in 1903, there was the start of the ‘Lib-Lab Pact’, this involved the Liberals not standing against the Labour Party and the Labour Party not standing against the Liberal Party. As a result, in the 1906 election, the Labour Party won 29 seats and officially took its name that it retains today.
• After 1918 and 1928, political parties realised that they would have to create a mass membership in order to adhere to the massive electorate. The Conservative Party had already been amalgamating members since 1867 and was thus well placed. The Primrose League was a place for women’s membership which was too well established. Many Liberals defected under Gladstone too, giving the Conservative Party a solid membership.
• • The Liberal Party’s growing divisions from 1910 took a hit at their party’s organisation and membership. The split of the party in 1916 weakened the party greatly. Many of the remaining members that didn’t leave under Gladstone went to join the Labour Party. 
• The TUC decided that The ILP was right to be having parliamentary candidates. The Labour Representation Committee’s formation in 1900 was supported by trade unions, socialist organisations and the Fabian society. 3 Labour MPs were then given a role in government during the war. This gave Labour an experience of governance, the party’s membership expanded greatly during the war.
• • In government in 1923, Labour had to sacrifice many of their radical policies to adhere to the liberals. However, the Housing Act was passed which promoted the construction of 500,000 homes to be rented out at controlled rents. The Reform Acts greatly increased Labour’s chances of governance as the working classes could vote for them, and did.