THE PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE AND THE RISE OF LABOUR, 1903–1922 POLITICAL CHANGE IN INDUSTRIAL BRITAIN Samantha Wolstencroft The Progressive Alliance and the Rise of Labour, 1903–1922 Samantha Wolstencroft The Progressive Alliance and the Rise of Labour, 1903–1922 Political Change in Industrial Britain Samantha Wolstencroft Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester, UK ISBN 978-3-319-75743-8 ISBN 978-3-319-75744-5 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75744-5 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018935302 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the pub- lisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institu- tional affiliations. Cover illustration: Street Scene by Arthur Berry (1968). © The Arthur Berry Estate. Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer International Publishing AG part of Springer Nature. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland To my husband Julian and in memory of my mother Kathy Frost (1949–1981) P reface There exists an enormous literature on the causes of political change in Britain in the period immediately prior to and after the First World War. The realignment that saw the demise of the Liberals as a party of govern- ment and the subsequent rise of the Labour Party shaped British politics for the remainder of the twentieth century. It is unsurprising that the sub- ject has fascinated political historians for many years, and there have been a variety of ways in which they have attempted to explain the process by which Labour emerged as the principal opposition to the Conservatives while the Liberals collapsed to third-party status. Some have emphasised social and economic change, others have prioritised political circumstances and what might be described as ‘accidental factors’. It is unlikely there will ever be complete consensus in relation to the precise causes of such a reversal in political fortunes. The Progressive Alliance and the Rise of Labour, 1903–1922: Political Change in Industrial Britain evaluates elec- toral politics in two of Britain’s leading industrial centres, Manchester and Stoke-on-Trent. The book is the first to focus specific attention upon the politics of the Progressive Alliance, the informal, though critically impor- tant, electoral arrangement between the Liberal and Labour parties. It explores the character, development and long-term viability of such an electoral alliance and considers the difficulties faced by the early Labour Party in its attempt to gain a foothold within the political landscape. No single study has examined in detail both Liberal and Labour politics in Manchester, Britain’s leading industrial city, during this critical period; the political history of Stoke-on-Trent has been similarly neglected. vii viii PREFACE Examination of both these localities, however, provides a valuable insight into political alignment and electoral politics in Britain before and after the upheaval of war. Detailed comparative analysis of two urban areas is particularly useful for a number of reasons. It allows for a thorough and contextualised understanding of political change during the early twenti- eth century. Drawing upon extensive empirical evidence, the detailed local study helps to prevent an overly determinist account of political change which has a tendency to present party performance as simply the product of changing social and economic circumstances and national develop- ments. It also helps to prevent a reading of politics where political change is perceived as a consequence of virtually autonomous processes, such as the impact of national leadership. The health of local organisations has to be seen as a critical factor in contextualising the debate concerning the national strength, or otherwise, of political parties. Local networks, such as the party associations and trade unions, were significant mechanisms of political communication and were of critical importance for both the effi- ciency of national organisation and in terms of mobilising popular sup- port. Local political culture was also of considerable significance. The book examines the evolving character of the political parties in the decade before the First World War, in particular that of the Liberal Party and the new Labour Party, the significance of candidates and the interre- lationship between national issues and local political culture. Political his- torians have traditionally tended to concern themselves with ‘high politics’ and political leadership at the centre. A principal objective of this book is to show how individual candidates were of critical importance in shaping the political agenda, influencing political change on the ground and in mobilising party support. The book examines campaign speeches across both parliamentary and municipal elections. Very few studies have pro- vided a detailed evaluation of municipal elections and council politics in the early twentieth century; given that much of Labour’s early activity focused upon local government, this appears to be a significant omission within the literature. This book examines electoral strategy and party per- formance at the municipal level and explores the developing character of council politics before and after 1914. The impact of the experience of war upon the political parties was enor- mous and the relationship between the two left-of-centre parties changed forever. By 1922, the economic context and disillusionment with the political status quo encouraged many voters in Britain’s industrial heart- lands to desert the Liberal Party. This enabled Labour to build upon and PREFAC E ix consolidate its electoral position. In this book I recognise the power of politics within the electoral process: the significance of issues and the can- didates’ abilities to advocate party policy. Samantha Wolstencroft a cknowledgements A book of this kind relies heavily on the work of many other writers and I am indebted to all those cited within the first chapter. Two historians, however, stand out as having monumental importance in the historiogra- phy of the early Labour Party, and the work of both was critical in igniting my interest in the subject. I would like to express my considerable grati- tude to the late Professor Duncan Tanner who was always exceptionally generous with his time and provided tremendous encouragement in my early research. I would like to thank sincerely Dr Ross McKibbin who very kindly read the manuscript and contributed generously with comments and advice. Many other people, in one way or another, have also contrib- uted to this book. I would like to thank Professor Peter Barberis and Dr James Moore for their academic guidance, but more particularly for their long-term friendship. My colleagues within the Department of History, Politics and Philosophy at Manchester Metropolitan University have always been enormously supportive over the years and I am immensely grateful to Dr Nigel Hems, Dr Steve Hurst, Dr John Gibbons, Stewart Cowley and Dr Tony Adams. Equally, I would like to thank all of my poli- tics students (past and present) at the Manchester Metropolitan University who every year are a joy to teach and a pleasure to know. I would like to express my gratitude to Dr Chris Godden, Professor David Dutton, Dr Mark Garnett, Professor John Garrard, the late Professor Sam Davies and the late Professor Howard Elcock who all read the manuscript in various stages of development and offered many helpful suggestions. Of course, any errors that remain are sadly my own. I would like to record a debt of thanks to the staff of the various research libraries and record offices in xi xii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Manchester, Stoke-on-Trent, Birmingham, Bristol and London, which are acknowledged in the reference lists. I would like to thank Emily Russell and Carmel Kennedy at Palgrave Macmillan for their considerable help in guiding me through the production process of the book. Thank you to Cynthia Berry for permission to use the front cover image. It has taken a number of years to produce this book and it would not have been possible without the exceptional support and practical contributions of my hus- band Julian. I would also like to put on record my immense admiration for many of the political activists (both Labour and Liberal) discussed within this book. Their drive and dedication to create a more humane and demo- cratic political system which exists to serve the many and not the few was remarkable; some stood by their convictions when circumstances were by no means favourable to them. In 1922 one Labour candidate in Manchester told his audience that ‘something radically different must occur if life is to be worth living’. The energy and determination with which political activ- ists fought for a ‘life worth living’ for the greater proportion of the popu- lation during the earlier twentieth century should continue to inspire us all. I hope what follows goes some way to providing an insight into the efforts of those activists.