Theme 1a: i) Changes in the fortunes of the parties - 1918-1931

Question 1

Liberal Party in 1918

Answer 1

• Believed in free trade and limited state intervention.
• Party of social reform.
• Started to lose their appeal to Labour.
• The war had divided the liberals.

Question 2

How did the war divide the Liberals?

Answer 2

• Many opposed the growth in state power (conscription).
• Believed DLG was too close to the Tories.
• 1918 election: DLG split the liberal party - party’s vote share was split.

Question 3

Labour Party in 1918

Answer 3

• Strong relationship with the unions.
• 1911 Parliament Act - Easier for working class people to become MPs due to the introduction of wages for MPs.
• The ROPA led to an increase in electorate - widening the party’s voter base.

Question 4

The Representation of the People Act (1918)

Answer 4

• Electorate tripled in size - 7.7 million to 21.4 million.
• Ensured nearly all British men over 21 could vote.
• Women over 30 could vote if they were a property owner, or were a member of a local govt register or their husband was.

Question 5

Conservative Party in 1918

Answer 5

• Electoral reform meant they had to distance themself from the gentry and attract new voters.
• Presented themselves as a party of the middle classes and the aspirational working classes.
• Had been a part of DLG’s coalition since 1915, and continued to support him until 1922.
• 1918-: Large proportion of their votes came from property owning women.

Question 6

Demonstrate the Decline of the Liberal Party

Answer 6

1918 Election:
- DLG split the party.
- Conservative + Coalition Liberals vs Labour and the Liberals.
- Vote share split and Liberals couldn’t recover - Coalition Liberals popular and the growth of Labour.
- Coalition won a landslide -
Con: 332 seats Coalition Libs: 127 seats Libs: 36 seats.

Question 7

How did David Lloyd George contribute to the Liberal’s decline?

Answer 7

• Split the Liberals.
• June 1922: Found to have been selling knighthoods and peerages.
  1916-1922 - 1,500 knighthoods, and nearly 100 peerages.
  1922 Honours list: Several criminals of fraud on there.
• Deciding to go to war with Turkey dented his credibility - Tories not happy - abandon coalition in 1922.

Question 8

The immediate _____ of the Liberal’s _______ were the actions of _____ Lloyd ______.

Answer 8

The immediate cause of the Liberal’s decline were the actions of David Lloyd George.

Question 9

1922 General Election

Answer 9

• Tories ABANDON coalition and win a majority (344 seats)
• Labour make serious gains to become 2nd largest party (142 seats).
• Liberals left in tatters:
  DLG’s National Libs = 53 seats Asquith’s Libs = 62 seats.

Question 10

Rise of the Labour Party:

1924 Government

Answer 10

• Labour formed a minority govt under Ramsay MacDonald.
  -Underwhelming - couldn’t pass radical legislation due to their reliance on Liberal support.
• Relationships with the NEC of the Labour party became strained.
• Measure passed:
  Housing (Financial Provision) Act, 1924 - Increased money to local authorities to build houses for low-income workers.

Question 11

The collapse of the 1924 Labour Government

Campbell case

Answer 11

• MacDonald narrowly won a Motion of No Confidence after the decision to drop charges of Incitement to Mutiny against a Socialist paper.
• Campbell had written an article that had broken the law: “Turn your weapons on the oppressors!”
• Prosecution against Campbell was dropped in August and MacDonald was accused of having communist sympathies.
• A 2nd motion was passed against the Government and MacDonald had to resign and call an election.

Question 12

Labour rose _______. In 1918 they won __ seats but this became ___ in 1922.

Answer 12

Labour rose quickly. In 1918 they won 57 seats but this became 142 in 1922.

Question 13

General Election of October 1924

Answer 13

• Labour’s reputation tarnished when a Tory newspaper claimed they had received a letter from the Russian communists - the Zinoviev letter.
• It was a forgery made to take votes away from Labour and the left.
• Stanley Baldwin’s Conservatives won a landslide - 412 seats.
• The Tories took votes off Labour and the Liberals.

Question 14

The October ____ election was a _______ moment for the _______ party as a ________ force in British politics. They lost 12% of their vote share and ___ seats.

Answer 14

The October 1924 election was a defining moment for the Liberal party as a declining force in British politics. They lost 12% of their vote share and 118 seats.

Question 15

What electoral reforms aided the Tories?

Answer 15

• Plural Voting: Enabled businessmen to vote in the constituency they lived in and the constituency where they also owned property.
• 1918 Redrawing of constituencies: Greater representation to Middle Class suburbs.
• First Past the Post: Less votes to return a Tory MP compared to Labour or Liberal due to boundaries.
• 1921 Irish Free State: Liberals lost 80 Nationalist MPs but Tories kept support from 10 Northern Irish MPs.

Question 16

Coupon Election 1918

Answer 16

• DLG endorsed some Tories over Liberals.
• The coalition Liberals were separate from the Liberals.
• Coalition won a landslide with the Tories and DLG stayed PM.

Question 17

Conservative Dominance, 1924-1929

Answer 17

• Won 412 seats in the October 1924 general election.
• Presented itself as an alternative to the Labour Party and its ‘threat’ of socialism.
• Baldwin presented himself as a moderate to appeal to all classes.
• Faced a General Strike in 1926, and returned Britain to the Gold Standard in 1925.