BPG FINALS 2020 – New Liberalism
(What sort of wealth equality did NL advocate?
How did they plan to distribute and to what extent?
What was the role of the state?
How do they differ from the old Liberal tradition? How do they differ from socialists?
What justification do new liberals give for the enhanced role of the state?
'New Liberalism’ = can refer to the ideological ideas of New Liberal political theorists, or to the ‘New
Liberal’ political party
‘new Liberalism’ = may be referring to if a change occurred in the Liberal party. A ‘new Liberalism’
could be ‘New Liberalism’)
,New Liberalism
Past Paper Questions (add 2020):
• Why did the Liberals survive so long as a governing party?
• Was the work of the Liberal governments of 1906 – 1914 a ‘new Liberalism’?
• In what ways was New Liberalism liberal?
• To what extent was New Liberalism a response to electoral challenges?
• What caused the Liberal party to collapse so rapidly?
• Was the Liberal Party in decline by 1914?
• What was ‘new’ about New Liberalism? Was there continuity with ‘old’ Liberalism? Did it
become more radical over time? Did it strengthen the position of the Liberal Party?
• How stable was the ‘progressive alliance’?
• When and why did the Liberal Party decline?
, New Liberalism and the 1905-14 Governments
Overview – Governments and Elections:
• Liberal Party split in 1886 over Irish Home Rule, and was in office for only 3 years of the following
20 years. It returned to office in December 1905 when Arthur Balfour resigned over tariff reform
divisions, and was replaced as PM by Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman.
• Governments:
1 1905-08 – Liberal majority led by Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman until he resigned
following a series of heart attacks. Note: Liberals took office in December 1905, led by
Campbell-Bannerman, after Balfour decided to resign over unpopularity. Election in
1906
2 1908-15 – Liberal majority led by Herbert Asquith (had been Campbell-Bannerman’s
Chancellor) until January 1910, and then continued as Liberal minority until May 1915.
3 May 1915-December 1916 – after early mismanagement during WW1 (particularly the
failure of the Gallipoli Campaign), Asquith formed a coalition with 9 Conservatives and 1
Labour MP (most of the important positions held by Liberals). The coalition fell as a result
of the Conservatives resigning, leading to Asquith and most of the Liberals moving into
opposition.
4 1916-22 – mostly Conservative coalition led by David Lloyd George as a ‘National Liberal’
(the only time apart from Churchill in 1940-42 when the PM was not leader of their party).
The Conservatives met at the Carlton Club in 1922 and decided to withdraw their support
for the coalition following several scandals (including allegations of the sale of honours) –
Andrew Bonar Law was invited to form a Conservative government, and won a majority
in the subsequent 1922 election.
• Elections:
1 1906 – Campbell-Bannerman called an election immediately upon taking office, and the
Liberals won a landslide majority of 125 seats. Of the 401 Liberal MPs elected, 205 had
never sat in the Commons before. Highest number of MPs achieved by Liberal Party.
2 They could have continued until 1913 (parliament then had a life of 7 years), but called an
election early in January 1910 when the House of Lords voted down the 1909 People’s
Budget – the convention is that a government resigns if it cannot get its budget approved.
The result was a hung parliament (on the highest turnout ever of 86%), but the Liberals
continued ruling with a minority government, with the support of the Irish Nationalists
and Labour.
3 Second election in December 1910 had virtually the same result (Liberals lost 2 seats),
leading to deadlock – the Lords still refused to pass the budget, which meant the
government ran out of money. Asquith persuaded the King to create 470 Liberal peers to
swamp the Conservative majority in the Lords, leading to the Lords eventually backing
down.
4 1918 ‘coupon election’ after the armistice was signed with Germany – this was the first
election where all men (over 18) and some women (over 30, with certain property
qualifications) could vote. The incumbent coalition (Llyod George) won a landslide of 525
seats, but Liberals supporting Asquith won only 27 seats, and Asquith himself (who had
coined the pejorative term ‘coupon’) lost his seat.
(40 MPs in 1924, then 59 in 1929, then parliamentary representation dwindled thereafter)
(Vote percentage fell from 49% to 17.6% between 1906 and 1924. Meanwhile Labour
made rapid gains – 2 MPs in 1900, 30 in 1906, and 191 in December 1923 – enough to
, form a Labour minority government – share of vote rose from 1.8% to 33% between 1900
and 1923 (Leybourn))
Why did Asquith and Lloyd George split?
• Over conscription – Asquith opposed it as illiberal, Lloyd George supported it on the grounds
that the war effort needed increased government planning in both the armed forces and the
economy
• Asquith’s attempts at compromise eventually rolled back as conscription introduced for both
single and married men in 1916
• Asquith was perceived to be failing in his handling of the war effort:
o Shellshock scandal – shortage of artillery shells in 1915. Led to disaster at the Battle
of Aubers, blamed on the lack of shells (suffered 10x the casualties of the Germans)
o Failure of Dardanelles campaign – resulted in heavy casualties, as did the following
Gallipoli campaign
o Resignation of Fisher – greatly admired admiral. Resigned from the post of First Sea
Lord, as did the First Lord of the Admiralty, Churchill, over Gallipoli
• Conservatives presented the coalition government as a weakness of the Liberals
• November 1916 Conservative back bench rebellion threatened the government, so Lloyd
George, Bonar Law, and Lord Beaverbrook suggested to Asquith setting up a three-man ‘war
council’ chaired by Lloyd George, in control of war policy but with Asquith as PM
• Asquith rejected the deal and resigned as PM
• Lloyd George accused in 1918 by General Sir Frederick Maurice of denying British generals the
troops they asked for on the Western Front
• Asquith proposed a vote of no confidence, and 98 Liberal votes with Asquith.
• Lloyd George won the vote convincingly, but this division proved decisive at the GE in 1918
• Lloyd George declared he would fight the 1918 election on behalf of the governing coalition
• Government-approved candidates were given a ‘coupon’ of approval, and very few of those
Liberals who voted against him in the Maurice debate received this approval.
• Labour stood against Lloyd George – first time they had every stood independently
• The government won by a landslide, in a coalition of 380 Conservatives and 133 Lloyd George
Liberals. Asquith’s Liberals were out-performed by the Labour party, and Asquith himself lost
his seat
