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 ...
It could be argued that Gladstone’s failure to unite his party, during a time when their ultimate support and confidence in his leadership was crucial, was a significant tactical error that contributed heavily towards the failure of the 1886 Home Rule Bill. The results of the 1885 general election were to have a significant impact on the political landscape of Britain; despite winning the most seats, the Liberals did not have an overall majority.As Parnell and the Irish Parliamentry Party (IPP) held the balance...
In 1924, for the first time the Labour government was appointed, headed by leader Ramsay Macdonald. At this time, a topic of much political debate was trade, Conservatives adopting a protectionist policy contrasting with the Liberal and Labour views in favour of free trade, and as the strongest free trade party it was asked to take office. Their main aims in 1924 were to deal with the increase in relative poverty in the country, mainly the situation of living conditions, and economically to restrict expenditure and maintain a balanced budget, known as retrenchment. It was also an important aim of the 1924 Labour government to prove themselves fit to govern, as a minority government they were under pressure to please, which many argue compromised the ideals of the party in an attempt to stay in power.
Conservative Dominance in British Politics There are many different factors which contributed to the Conservative dominance of the period between 1885 and 1905. For one, the electoral reform of Gladstone's second ministry had a large effect on the Conservatives period in office as did the skill of Salisbury as a leader. The role that the government took in terms of its policies and foreign policy, and the nature of support for the party also played important roles in the conservative dominance. This is because the Conservatives lost working class support during its ministry, yet still managed to dominate politics for nearly twenty years.
Conservative Dominance in British Politics Between 1885 and 1902 During this period in history, it is clear to say that the conservatives dominated British politics. However, is it due to conservative strengths or liberal weaknesses? Although the weakness and the divisions within the liberal party helped the conservative cause, the latter party were dominant due to their unrivalled strength in politics. There were many reasons for these strengths, but it is safe to say that this was the main factor for supremacy in politics in the later 1800's.
In the 1906 election, the number of seats won by Liberals increased from 184 to 377, in contrast the numbers of seats lost by the Conservatives went from 402 seats won in 1900 to 157 seats lost in the 1906 election, this represented the lowest number of seats held by a Conservative government since 1832. This dramatic reversal of constituencies held, is due to a number of reasons. An argument is that, due to some poor decisions made by the Conservative governments, they in fact contributed largely to the landslide result in the 1906 election. ‘They were in effect the architects to the own downfall.’
This strike was a battle over several issues. One factor that escalated the strike intensity was the pensions battle. Billons of dollars in pensions were on the line. The Teamste...
The next year the Tories had different periods experienced 5 different prime ministers all whom were of no good, therefore the party became very rocky and unstable. If finding a prime minister who was good for the job was not bad enough, across the waters major conflict was arousing in Ireland. (just give them potatoes.) Daniel O'Connell, with the support of the Catholic Association, won the county Clare election.
To begin with, this era was more a victory for liberalism through many aspects one being politics. The first change progressives wanted in politics was the "initiative were voters could initiate laws instead of waiting for legislatures to do it. Another was the "referendum" were voters could vote proposed bills into law, once again taking power away from the legislatures and giving it to the people. Others included the recall, where voters could remove elected officials from power, the secret or "Australian Ballot" which allowed for more privacy when voting thus encouraging a more true vote and less intimidation at the polls. Also, Roosevelt, who at the beginning of his presidency may have been classified as conservatist, moved more towards progressivism as he pursued his "three C's ", (Control of corporations, Consumer protection, and Co...
The increase in crop yield caused a change in the economy, which the party set out to straighten out in 1892. On their party platform they demanded that the government take control of the railroad. The railroad was charging extremely high prices to transport grain. They asked the government to use the railroads for the benefit of the people. They also wished to set the economy straight and asked for an unlimited coinage of gold and silver at a ratio of sixteen to one and a graduat...
In the late1960’s American politics were shifting at a National level with liberalism being less supported as its politics were perceived as flawed, both by people on the left who thought that liberalism was not as effective as more radical political enterprises and by conservatives who believed that liberal politics were ostensibly crippling the American economy.
The election of 1896 was between William McKinley and William Jennings Bryan. William McKinley was the republican candidate for president and William Jennings Bryan was the democratic candidate. Both candidates had different campaign styles and different supporters. Big businessmen supported McKinley and most common men supported Bryan. William McKinley’s campaign style was a front porch campaign while Bryan had a moving campaign. Mark Hanna played an important role as William McKinley’s campaign manager. In the end, William McKinley beat William Bryan in the presidential election.
And finally, the issue of distrust of government due to the failures of the liberal consensus to stimulate economic growth and the Watergate scandal played into the hands of the conservatives who preached the reduction of government presence in almost all aspects of Americans' lives. This must have been a strong motivating factor in many "Reagan Democrats" who sided with conservatives in the 1980 election.
against their employers, employees were able to go on strike and prove a point. Some
This is confirmed by the period 1945-79, when power tended to alternate frequently between the Labour and Conservative parties. However, during this period, Labour won power twice with a majority of less than twenty seats, resulting in a near hung parliament. This tends to weaken the idea that the electoral pendulum has swung evenly for both parties. It is important to consider the period of time looked when attempting to identify which system best describes
The year 1912 brought one of the most important presidential elections in United States history. Four nominees confronted one another during this election: Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson, Progressive leader Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt, Republican William Howard Taft, and Socialist Eugene Debs. This election also proved to be crucial as it brought forth new considerable and “substantive” discussions concerning the Union and its future. These issues included, whether government should expand democracy, apply more control over businesses, and how solve the labor conflict, among others. Each of the four major presidential candidates took a position on these issues, either choosing to support or oppose such changes. The presidential election of 1912 involved aggressive and “violent” politics. In fact, these candidates offered choices which would be “unimagined in today’s political world.”