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For the Canadian party, see Liberal-Unionist. For the British party see Liberal Unionist Party Liberal-Unionists were supporters of the Liberal Party of Canada who as a result of the Conscription

The Liberal Unionists were a British political party that split away from the Liberals in 1886, and had effectively merged with the Conservatives by the turn of the century. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the early 19th century until the rise of the Labour Party in the 1920s and a third party Year 1886 ( MDCCCLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is a Political party in the United Kingdom. The formal merger was completed in 1912. Year 1912 ( MCMXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year starting Their principal leaders were Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain. Spencer Compton Cavendish 8th Duke of Devonshire, KG, GCVO, PC ( 23 July 1833 – 24 March 1908) was a Joseph Chamberlain ( 8 July 1836 &ndash 2 July 1914) was an influential British businessman politician and statesman

Contents

Formation

The reason for the split in the Liberals was the conversion of William Ewart Gladstone to the cause of Irish Home Rule. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Home rule refers to a demand that constituent parts of a state be given greater self-government within the greater administrative purview of the central government The 1885 General Election had left Charles Stewart Parnell's Irish Nationalists holding the balance of power, and had convinced Gladstone that the Irish wanted and deserved Home Rule. Results |} Total votes cast 4638235 All parties shown Voting summary Seats summary See also Charles Stewart Parnell ( 27 June 1846 &ndash 6 October 1891) was an Irish Protestant landowner nationalist The Nationalist Party was a term commonly used to describe a number of parliamentary political parties and constituency organisations supportive of Home Rule for Ireland from Some Liberals believed that Gladstone's Home Rule bill would lead to de facto independence for Ireland, and the dissolution of the United Kingdom, which they could not countenance. The First Home Rule Bill (official name Irish Government Bill 1886) was the first major attempt made by a British parliament to Seeing themselves as defenders of the Union of Britain and Ireland, they called themselves Liberal Unionists.

Most of the Liberal Unionists were drawn from the Whig faction of the party, including Hartington, Lord Lansdowne, and George Goschen, and had been expected to split from the party anyway, for reasons connected with economic and social policy. The Whigs (with the Tories) are often described as one of two political parties in England and later the United Kingdom from the late 17th to Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, KG, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, PC ( London 14 January George Joachim Goschen 1st Viscount Goschen ( 10 August 1831 &ndash 7 February 1907) was a British Statesman and Also relevant in their pro-unionism was their extensive landed estates in Ireland and the fear that these would be broken up or confiscated if Ireland had its own parliament.

The anti-Home rule Liberals formed the 'Committee for the Preservation of the Union' in early 1886 and were soon joined by a smaller radical faction led by Joseph Chamberlain and John Bright. Joseph Chamberlain ( 8 July 1836 &ndash 2 July 1914) was an influential British businessman politician and statesman John Bright ( 16 November 1811 &ndash 27 March 1889) Quaker, was a British Radical and Liberal Chamberlain had briefly taken office in the Gladstone government and only resigned from it once he had seen the details of Gladstone's Home Rule plans. As Chamberlain had previously been a standard bearer of radical liberalism against the Whigs , his adherence to the alliance against the Gladstonian Liberals came then as a big surprise. When the dissident Liberals eventually formed the Liberal Unionist Council which was to become the Liberal Unionist party, Chamberlain organised the separate National Radical Union in Birmingham. However this organisation would not last long as Chamberlain soon joined then main body of Liberal Unionism. Ironically one person who could have joined the 'National Radical Union' at this stage was the radical Liberal David Lloyd George (later British Prime Minister). David Lloyd George 1st Earl Lloyd George of Dwyfor OM, PC (17 January 1863 &ndash 26 March 1945 was a British Statesman and the only He had been due to go to the first meeting of the National Radical Union in Birmingham but got his dates wrong and arrived on the wrong day. Many years later Lloyd George was to go to Birmingham once more but in 1901 as a fierce critic of Chamberlain and the Boer War.

Breaking away from 'Gladstonian' Liberalism

The 1886 election left the Conservative Party as the largest party in the House of Commons, but without an overall majority. Results |} Vote summary Seats summary See also MPs elected in the UK general election 1886 The leading Liberal Unionists were invited to join the Conservative Lord Salisbury's government. "Lord Salisbury" redirects here For other holders of the title see Marquess of Salisbury. Salisbury said he was even willing to let Hartington become Prime Minister of a coalition ministry but the latter declined. In part, Hartington was worried this would split the Liberal Unionists and lose them votes from pro-Unionist Liberal supporters. The Liberal Unionists, despite providing the necessary margin for Salisbury's majority, continued to sit on the opposition benches throughout the life of the parliament elected in 1886, and Hartington and Chamberlain continued to occupy the opposition front benches alongside their former colleagues Gladstone and Harcourt. Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt ( October 14, 1827 - October 1, 1904) was a British Lawyer, Journalist

However, a few months later Goschen, by far the most conservative of the leading Liberal Unionists, received an invitation to become the new Chancellor of the Exchequer in the place of Lord Randolph Churchill when the latter suddenly resigned in December 1886. The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all Economic and Financial Major Randolph Frederick Edward Spencer Churchill, MBE ( May 28, 1911 &ndash June 6, 1968) was the son of British After consulting Hartington, Goschen agreed to join the Conservative government and remained Chancellor for the next six years.

The round table conference

Whilst the Whiggish wing of the Liberal Unionists were informally cooperating with the Conservative Government (and supplying them with a cabinet minister), the party's Radical Unionist wing sat down for a series of meetings with their former Liberal colleagues. Lead by Joseph Chamberlain and Sir George Otto Trevelyan the 'Round Table Conference' was a perhaps half hearted attempt to see if reunion of the Liberal party was possible. Sir George Otto Trevelyan 2nd Baronet OM, DC LLD DL (20 July 1838 17 August 1928 was a British Statesman and Author was born in Despite some progress (and Chamberlain's statement that they were united on 99 out of 100 issues regarding the future of Liberalism), the issue of Home Rule for Ireland could not be reconciled. Neither Hartington or Gladstone took direct part in these meetings - and there seemed to be no other Liberal statesman who would be able to reunite the party. Within a few months the talks were over, though some Radical Unionists including Trevelyan later rejoined the Liberal Party.

Moving towards a Unionist coalition

The failed talks of 1887 forced the Liberal Unionist party to continue to develop its links with the Conservatives. In Parliament, they supported the Salisbury administration - though for political presentation reasons, they sat on the opposite side of House of Commons with the Liberal Party . The House of Commons' is the Lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords Relations between former political colleagues hardened with the return of Gladstone as Prime Minister following the 1892 General Election. Results |} The totals above exclude two Irish candidates whose party affiliation was unclear to F Forming a minority government with Irish Nationalist support, the Liberals introduced the second Home Rule bill. The Irish Government Bill 1893 (known generally as the Second Home Rule Bill) was the second attempt made by William E Leading the opposition against the bill were the Duke of Devonshire (as Hartington had become in 1891 following the death of his father) and Joseph Chamberlain. The Home Rule bill was defeated this time in the House of Lords and Gladstone resigned not long after.

By now all chance of a reunion between the two Liberal parties had disappeared, and it was no great surprise when leading Liberal Unionists joined Salisbury's administration in 1895. The resulting government was generally referred to as "Unionist", and the distinction between Conservatives and Liberal Unionists began to dissolve.

A few Liberal Unionists like Goschen formally joined the Conservatives and in the House of Lords where the Whig Unionists remained in considerable strength, they provided the leadership in that upper chamber for both parties after 1902. However despite these ever closer political bonds - the Liberal Unionists continued to maintain a separate identity and raise their own funds . The party's strength in the House of Commons fell from 78 seats in 1886 to 47 in 1892 but recovered to 71 and then 68 in the General Elections of 1895 and 1900. The UK general election of 1895 was held from 13 July - 7 August 1895 The United Kingdom general election of 1900 was held from 25 September to 24 October 1900 They managed to stay strong in the South West of England, West Midlands (the centre of Joseph Chamberlain's power base) and Scotland.

Split over free trade

From the very start - the Liberal Unionists always had the tension between the 'moderate' Whigs like Devonshire and the more radical spirited Chamberlain who seemed to be keen to forge a new politics in the 1890s that got away from the existing party labels. Despite this - the party more or less managed to stay united until 1903 when in a surprise move, Chamberlain dramatically launched Tariff Reform with a speech in his Birmingham political homeland. For the protectionist Australian political party from the 1880s to 1909 see Protectionist Party This departure from free trade caused immediate problems within the Unionist alliance but especially with the Devonshire wing of the Liberal Unionists. Free trade is a system in which the trade of goods and services between or within countries flows unhindered by government-imposed restrictions Rejecting Tariff Reform , Devonshire and other supporters of free trade left the Liberal Unionist Association in 1904 in protest. Chamberlain took over the party's leadership but this didn't stop a large number of disgruntled Liberal Unionists including a few MPs migrating back to the Liberal party. As for Devonshire and his allies - they put their political efforts into the Free Food League which included a sizable minority of Conservative Members of Parliament (MPs) (and, for a few months , Conservative MP Winston Churchill before he too defected to the Liberals in 1904). A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a Parliament. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC, PC (Can ( 30 November 1874

In the 1906 General Election the Liberal Unionists shared the same fate as their Conservative allies in a big reduction in their parliamentary strength. The United Kingdom general election of 1906 was held from 12 January to 8 February 1906 They now numbered only 23 (or 25 according to other calculations) MPs in a combined Unionist alliance of just 157 in the new House of Commons. With a few exceptions - the remaining Liberal Unionists were now firm supporters of tariffs as were now the majority of the Conservative MPs. Indeed for a short period in early 1906 - Chamberlain was also the de facto leader of the Unionist alliance in the House of Commons as the Conservative party leader and former Prime Minister Arthur Balfour had lost his seat in the election (though he managed to return before long in a by-election). Arthur James Balfour 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC (25 July 1848 - 19 March 1930 was a British Conservative politician and

In July 1906 Chamberlain suffered a stroke which left him physically crippled though he remained politically involved until his death in 1914. Chamberlain remained the leader of the Liberal Unionists though in effect his son Austen Chamberlain acted on his behalf in both the party and the Tariff Reform League . Sir Joseph Austen Chamberlain KG ( 16 October 1863 &ndash 17 March 1937) was a British Statesman, Despite the loss of both its main political founders, the Liberal Unionists were able to increase their parliamentary representation in the two 1910 General Elections to 32 and then 36 MPs.

Towards a formal merger

The issue of Tariff Reform had now became overshadowed by the revived threat of Home Rule for Ireland as the 1911 Parliament act stripped the House of Lords of their ability to in effect veto it. This encouraged a movement to formally merge the two parties at constituency and national organizational level . It had already happened to some extent in Ireland with the Irish Unionist Party and the separately organized Ulster Unionist Council in 1905 (later to become the Ulster Unionist Party). The Irish Unionist Alliance (also known as the Irish Unionist Party) was a Unionist party founded in Ireland in the second half of the 19th century The Ulster Unionist Party ( UUP, sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or OUP or in a historic sense simply the Unionist Party

In May 1912, however, the Liberal Unionist Association merged with the Conservatives to form the Conservative and Unionist Party (the modern Conservative Party). The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is a Political party in the United Kingdom. Although by then the political distinction between the two parties had long ceased to have any real meaning, it was a factor in Austen Chamberlain's failure to become the Unionist leader in the House of Commons in 1911. When Arthur Balfour resigned, Austen Chamberlain and Walter Hume Long both declared themselves as candidates for the leadership of the Unionist Party in the House of Commons. Arthur James Balfour 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC (25 July 1848 - 19 March 1930 was a British Conservative politician and Walter Hume Long 1st Viscount Long ( 13 July 1854 - 26 September 1924) the son of Richard Penruddocke Long, was a British However, as Austen Chamberlain was still officially at least a Liberal Unionist, his candidature was opposed by many Conservatives because they already had the Liberal Unionist Lord Lansdowne leading them in the House of Lords. In the end Andrew Bonar Law was elected unopposed by Unionist MPs instead and Chamberlain would have to wait ten years for his chance to lead the party. Andrew Bonar Law (16 September 1858 &ndash 30 October 1923 was a Canadian -born British Conservative Party statesman and Prime Minister.

The political legacy of Liberal Unionism

The political impact of the Liberal Unionist breakaway marked the end of the long nineteenth century domination by the Liberal party of the British political scene. From 1830 to 1886 the Liberals (the name the Whigs, Radicals and Peelites accepted as their political label after 1859) had been managed to become almost the party of permanent government with just a couple of Conservative interludes. The Peelites were a breakaway faction of the British Conservative Party, and existed from 1846 to 1859. After 1886 it was the Conservatives who enjoyed this position and they received a huge boost with their alliance with a party of disaffected Liberals.

Though not numerous - the Liberal Unionists boasted having within their ranks the vast bulk of the old Whig aristocracy as represented by the stolid Duke of Devonshire and the 'radical imperialist' Joseph Chamberlain - someone who was arguably the first true full time politician who had got to the front rank of British politics by his own efforts rather than depending on patronage or a hereditary title. If he hadn't been disabled by a stroke in 1906 - Chamberlain could have re-cast the political scene again with a more 'radical' Conservative party. Though the Liberal Unionist party disappeared as a separate organisation in 1912 - the Chamberlain legacy helped keep the industrial powerhouse of Birmingham from ever returning to Liberalism and would only be changed once more in 1945 in the Labour Party electoral landslide of that year. The Labour Party is a Political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century it has been since the 1920s the principal party of the It also remained a profound influence on Chamberlain's sons Austen and Neville Chamberlain - who when he was elected leader of the Conservative Party and thus became Prime Minister in 1937 - told an audience how proud he was of his Liberal Unionist roots. Arthur Neville Chamberlain (18 March 1869 &ndash 9 November 1940 was a British Conservative Politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom This isn't surprising - neither Neville or Austen actually stood for Parliament as a 'Conservative' - their local political association in Birmingham preferred to call themselves 'Unionist' during this time and it also privately suited Neville Chamberlain as well . He confided to his own family how he always regarded the Conservative party label as 'odious' and thought of it a barrier to people joining what he thought could be a non-socialist but a reforming party during the 1930s which he hoped would be called 'National' to include the parties of the National Government coalition in the 1930s. In the United Kingdom the term National Government is in an abstract sense used to refer to a coalition of some or all UK major political parties.

Leaders of the Liberal Unionists in the House of Commons, 1886-1912

Leaders of the Liberal Unionists in the House of Lords, 1886-1912

Prominent Liberal Unionists

The journalist and explorer Henry Morton Stanley for served one term as the Liberal Unionist MP for Lambeth North between 1895-1900. Spencer Compton Cavendish 8th Duke of Devonshire, KG, GCVO, PC ( 23 July 1833 – 24 March 1908) was a Joseph Chamberlain ( 8 July 1836 &ndash 2 July 1914) was an influential British businessman politician and statesman Edward Henry Stanley 15th Earl of Derby KG, PC ( 21 July 1826 &ndash 21 April 1893) was a British statesman whose Spencer Compton Cavendish 8th Duke of Devonshire, KG, GCVO, PC ( 23 July 1833 – 24 March 1908) was a Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, KG, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, PC ( London 14 January George John Douglas Campbell 8th and 1st Duke of Argyll ( 30 April, 1823 – 24 April, 1900) was a prominent United Kingdom Liberal Francis Charles Hastings Russell 9th Duke of Bedford KG ( October 16 1819 &ndash January 14 1891) was an English John Bright ( 16 November 1811 &ndash 27 March 1889) Quaker, was a British Radical and Liberal Chichester Samuel Fortescue, later Parkinson-Fortescue 1st Baron Carlingford and 2nd Baron Clermont, KP, PC ( 18 January 1823 – Sir Joseph Austen Chamberlain KG ( 16 October 1863 &ndash 17 March 1937) was a British Statesman, Joseph Chamberlain ( 8 July 1836 &ndash 2 July 1914) was an influential British businessman politician and statesman Jesse Collings PC ( 2 December 1831 &ndash 20 November 1920) was Mayor of Birmingham, England, a Liberal Edward Henry Stanley 15th Earl of Derby KG, PC ( 21 July 1826 &ndash 21 April 1893) was a British statesman whose George Joachim Goschen 1st Viscount Goschen ( 10 August 1831 &ndash 7 February 1907) was a British Statesman and Richard de Aquila Grosvenor 1st Baron Stalbridge PC ( January 28 1837 – May 18 1912) known from 1845 until 1886 as Lord Spencer Compton Cavendish 8th Duke of Devonshire, KG, GCVO, PC ( 23 July 1833 – 24 March 1908) was a Henry James 1st Baron James of Hereford PC, QC ( 30 October 1828 &ndash 18 August 1911) was an Anglo-Welsh Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, KG, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, PC ( London 14 January Thomas George Baring 1st Earl of Northbrook GCSI FRS ( 22 January 1826 &ndash 15 November 1904) English statesman eldest Roundell Palmer 1st Earl of Selborne ( November 27, 1812 &ndash May 4, 1895) Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, was William Waldegrave Palmer 2nd Earl of Selborne KG GCMG PC (1859&ndash1942 was a British politician Sir George Otto Trevelyan 2nd Baronet OM, DC LLD DL (20 July 1838 17 August 1928 was a British Statesman and Author was born in Hugh Lupus Grosvenor 1st Duke of Westminster KG ( 13 October 1825 &ndash 22 December 1899) was the son of Richard Grosvenor Sir Henry Morton Stanley, GCB, born John Rowlands ( January 28 1841 &ndash May 10 1904) was a British journalist

The writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stood unsuccessfully twice as a Liberal Unionist parliamentary candidate in 1900 and 1906 for the Scottish seats of Edinburgh Central and Hawick Boroughs respectively. Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, DL (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930 was an Anglo-Scottish Author most noted for his stories about the Also standing in 1906 as a Liberal Unionist was the polar explorer Ernest Shackleton for one of the two member Dundee seats. Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, CVO, OBE, (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922 was an Anglo-Irish explorer who was one of the principal figures of the period Despite his fame - Shackleton lost.

Leo Amery who is best known for his later career as a senior Conservative politician and British Cabinet minister was originally elected as a Liberal Unionist MP for Birmingham South in 1911 in a by-election - mainly because he was a strong supporter of Joseph Chamberlain and Tariff Reform. Leopold Charles Maurice Stennett Amery CH, PC ( 22 November 1873 – 16 September 1955) usually known as Leo Birmingham South was a parliamentary constituency in Birmingham which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the

In popular culture and the media

In Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest there is an exchange between Jack Worthing and Lady Bracknell about his suitability as a match for her daughter Gwendolen. Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900 was an Irish Playwright, Novelist, poet and Author of The Importance of Being Earnest is a play by Oscar Wilde. It premiered on February 14, 1895 at the St

LADY BRACKNELL : [Sternly]. . . What are your polities?

JACK: Well, I am afraid I really have none. I am a Liberal Unionist.

LADY BRACKNELL: Oh, they count as Tories. They dine with us. Or come in the evening, at any rate. . . .

The play was first performed at the Queen's Theatre London on 14 February 1895 and ran for 83 performances. Jack Worthing's declaration that he was in essence apolitical but - if pressed - would say Liberal Unionist was a joke that would have appealed to the audiences that saw the play in that period. As a party that depended on an electoral pact with the Tories to maintain their M. P. s in parliament, the Liberal Unionists had to at least appear to be also 'Liberal' in matters not connected with Home Rule including some measures of promoting reform. To someone like Jack , the Liberal Unionists attempts to be two things at the same time but in different places would have appealed with his double identity ('Well, my name is Ernest in town and Jack in the country' he says in act 1).

Since 1895 the then topical 'Liberal Unionist' reference has caused some problems with later productions of the play. Usually the line is retained - despite its reference to a long dead political issue but it was certainly changed or altered in at least two film versions of the play.

In 1952 film version directed by Anthony Asquith (the son of a former British Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith ) Jack answers that he is a 'Liberal'. The Importance of Being Earnest ( 1952) is a British film adaptation of the play by Oscar Wilde. The Honourable Anthony Asquith ( November 9, 1902 – February 20, 1968) was a respected English Film director. Herbert Henry Asquith 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, KG, PC ( 12 September 1852 &ndash 15 February 1928) served Lady Bracknell's answer remains the same - suggesting the Liberals are virtually identical with the Tories except she won't have them round for lunch. This is an ironical re-reading of the passage which suggests Lady Bracknell agreed with the Marxist Social Democratic Federation and their leader H. Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The Social Democratic Federation (SDF was established as Britain's first organised socialist Political party by H H. Hyndman who thought the same about the two main British parties then. However , in 1952 this comment was oddly true about the then Liberal party whose continued political representation in parliament was largely due to the Conservative party avoid splitting the 'anti-socialist' vote. So perhaps Asquith was making a political point for the 1950s.

Since then - other adaptations of the play for TV or theatre have usually left this brief mention of a largely forgotten political party intact. However in the 2002 film version which starred Judi Dench, Colin Firth, Rupert Everett and Reese Witherspoon - the lines were dropped even though this film re-incorporated episodes and characters in an earlier version of the play that Wilde had been encouraged to drop before the play's first performance. The Importance of Being Earnest is a 2002 film directed by Oliver Parker, based on Oscar Wilde 's classic Comedy of manners play Dame Judith Olivia Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA, (born 9 December, 1934) usually known as Judi Dench, is an English Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September, 1960) is an English film television and stage Actor. Rupert James Hector Everett (born May 29, 1959) is a two-time Golden Globe -nominated English film Actor and ex- Singer Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22 1976 is an Academy Award winning American actress and Film producer, who has established herself as

References

See also

Liberalism is a broad array of related ideas and theories of Government that consider individual Liberty to be the most important political goal This is a partial list of individual contributions to liberal political theory on a worldwide scale This article gives information on liberalism in diverse countries around the world This article gives information on liberalism in diverse countries around the world The term "liberal" in "liberal democracy" does not imply that the government of such a democracy must follow the political ideology of This article gives an overview of liberalism in the United Kingdom. The Unionist Party, referred to as the Scottish Unionist Party outside of Scotland itself was the main centre right political party in Scotland between 1912 Year 1912 ( MCMXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year starting Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar.
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