Why was there a Liberal landslide victory in the 1906 General Election?

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The Liberal victory in General Election of 1906 has gone down in History for being one of the biggest landslides in modern UK politics, but it can be argued that it was more of a Conservative loss than a Liberal gain.

The Conservatives made many mistakes in policy which alienated much of their support base that originally elected them into power.

The key policy that they pushed in their election campaign was Tariff Reform, an issue that divided the party, making them appear weaker to voters. Arthur Balfour allowed Joseph Chamberlain to go ahead with the push, but they miscalculated public opinion; it was not what the public wanted. The population did not see the benefits of Tariff Reform from the bigger picture like Chamberlain did, protecting the domestic market; rather they saw it as a bread and butter issue, with taxes directly affecting their costs of living, which the working class feared may hit them badly.

The Working Class felt further disillusioned and underrepresented by the current government by the Taff Vale case where Trade Unions could from then on be sued for ...

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