Why Did the Liberals Win the 1906 Election

8/12/2019 Why Did the Liberals Win the 1906 Election

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Why did the Liberal partywin the general election

of 1906?


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You need to created a g lossary

of key terms/peop le?

Trade Unions (unions) Nonconformist Boer War Conservative Party Liberal Party Labour Party Irish Nationalist Party Free Trade

Rates Imperial Protectionism Landslide Campbell-Bannerman Arthur Balfour


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Why d id the L iberal Partyw in the general elec t ion

o f 1906?L/O:

1) To understand the reasons for the Liberal victoryin 1906

2) To make a judgementas to the mostimportant reason

why the Liberals won


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The 2nd Boer War 1889-1902

Costly in money and lives. War lasted much longer than people expected3 years to defeat an

inexperienced group of badly equipped farmers.

Methods used to defeat Boers caused moral outrage in Britain. British army interned civilians in concentration camps where dreadful

conditions led to the spread of fatal diseases. Campbell-Bannerman [Lib.] described the armys methods as barbaric

and Lloyd George [Lib.] declared we are killing babies now.

Revealed the extent of poverty in Britains cities and need for socialreform. Roughly two volunteers in every three were rejected because they were

medically unfit. People wondered how a prosperous country such as Britain could

produce such weak and undernourished young people.

The Liberal Party was reunited as the war went on. This war seriously damaged the reputation of the Conservatives

because of the methods they used to win the war.


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The 1902 Education Act

Non-conformist support swung firmly back

in favour of the Liberal Party This Act increased state money to all church

schools, enabling them to provide elementaryeducation for free. This Act upset many non-

conformists who felt it gave preferentialtreatment to Church schools. They werefurious that their rates were going to help payfor Roman Catholic and Church of Englandschools

They launched a campaign against the Actwhich was supported by the Liberal Party

- Nonconformists & Lloyd George [c.1903]


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The 1904 Licens ing Act

The 1904 Licensing Act:

This Act aimed to reduce the number of publichouses [pubs] in certain areas. Thegovernment compensated breweries if theirpubs were closed. This upset the breweries

and also non-conformist opinion, who felt itwas outrageous to give state money tobreweries.


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Chinese Slavery

The Chinese Labour issue angered the tradeunionists and nonconformists Nonconformists raised a moral outcry about the

treatment of the Chinese in S. Africalow wages Trade unionists feared that employers might bring

Chinese labour to Britain to push wages down Unemployment in Britain was high in 1905 - why

was the government turning to Chinese labourwhen there were so many unemployed?

It was a gift for Liberal politicians in turning British

workers against the Conservatives. David LloydGeorge said: What would you say to introducing Chinamen at one

shilling a day to the Welsh quarries? . . . . If theyintroduced them to one part of the Empire, why not toevery part?


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The Taff Vale Case

1902House of Lords declared that the Taff ValeRailway Company could sue the railway workers tradeunion for lost profits due to strike they called in 1900.

Not officially an Act, this House of Lords ruling made iteffectively illegal for unions to go on strike, as they wouldbe financially liable for strike activity.

Conservatives lost support amongst the working classes becausethey refused to overrule the decision.

Encouraged trade union support for the Labour or Liberal Partywho promised to reverse the decision.


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Neglect of social reform

The Boer War exposed themalnutrition in the cities whichled to concerns about thephysical decline of the Britishrace.

Reports by Booth and Rowntreealso highlighted the extent ofpoverty in Britains cities.

Some Liberals were planning anew form of Liberalism in whichthe state would play a role inensuring minimum standards of

livingcampaigning for reforms The Conservatives produced

nothing other than theEducation Act


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Tariff Reform

Chamberlain put forward his ideas for tariff reform ina public speech in Birmingham on 15 May 1903.

1. The Conservative Party split between those who supported himand those who clung to the idea of free trade (Winston Churchilldefected)He crossed the floor of the House of Commons

and joined the Liberal party because he disagreed withtariff reform (later rejoined in 1924). The Conservative government adopted tariff reform as its

official programme. Working and middle classes feared that this would lead to rising

prices and therefore falling living standards

The Manchester Guardian, on 15 Jan 1906, wrote ofthe election in Lancashire A candidate had only to bea Free Trader to get in, whether he was known orunknown . . . He had only to be a Protectionist to loseall chance of getting in though he spoke with tongues

of men and angels.


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Balfour Lacked political skill

Failed to show an awareness ofpublic opinion (particularly theworking classes) Failed to foresee the problems of

Chinese Labour and Taff Vale Case

Indecisive on tariffs Ends up allowing Chamberlain tomake tariff reform a key policy

Balfour was responsible for theEducation Act (1902).

Responsible for the timing of theelectionthey could have waitedjust under another 2 years.

A lot of people believed thisperson became Prime Ministerbecause his uncle was PM beforehim (Lord Robert Bob Salisbury)


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The Lib-Lab Pact

Liberals wouldntoppose Labour in 30constituencies

Labour promised tolimit their candidates inother constituencies toprevent an anti-Conservative split

Reduced Liberalelection costs.


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Attract ions o f the L iberal Party

Reuniteddisagreed with Education andLicensing Act and Tariff Reform

Issues that had divided them were not being

discussed in the run up to the election United under the banner of Free Trade (key

issue in 1906 electionbread and butter issue)

It was very clear to voters what the Liberal Partywas against. But in 1906 it was far from clearwhat they stood for!

Th Lib l P i 1906


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The Liberal Party swep t to pow er in 1906,

w ith 399 seats to the Conservat ive

Partys 156. They were helped by:

The failings of the Conservatives in the late 1890sand early 1900s that led to massive defection ofvoters (alienated sections of the voting public)

The Liberal Partys ability to mobilise previously

untapped support Turnout rose by 8% over that in the 1900 election the

highest since 1885

The existence of Labour candidates in constituencieswhere no Liberal was standing

The abstention of many Conservative voters whocould not bring themselves to vote and who could notsupport Balfour.

The voting system in this countryFIRST PAST THEPOST rather than PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION

They promised that if they were elected they wouldintroduce social reforms.


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Essay Quest ion: Explain why the Liberals

won a landslide victory in the general

elec tion o f 1906?

IntroductionShow an understanding of what the landslide victorywas and the debate around why it happened.

How could you link the following into paragraphs? Tariff Reform Education Act Chinese slavery Taff Vale Case Licensing Act Lack of Social Reform Balfours leadership Neglect of social reform New Liberals proposing social reform Lib-Lab pact

Conclusionmost important factor. You could also comment onhow the voting system makes the victory a landslide even thoughthe percentage of votes is much closer.

Why Did the Liberals Win the 1906 Election

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