Why Did the Liberals Win the 1906 General Election by a Landslide free essay sample

Those who see it as a positive win for the Liberals argue it is due to the bringing in on New Liberalism and its plans on Social Reform, at a time when the welfare of the majority of citizens, the working class, was becoming a key concern. The issues that had split the Liberal Party had been put to one side, like Irish Home Rule and The Boer War was over, which meant the party was stronger because there was agreement throughout. They were strongly united over the issue of Free Trade which was very popular among voters, especially working class, as they feared food prices would increase from Tariff Reform. The Liberals also cleverly used the downfalls of the Conservatives and exploited them at this time, for example, they using the Conservatives misjudgements regarding education and licensing and promising Welsh Disestablishment they were able to win the votes of a lot of non-conformists. Another key factor in the Liberals win was the Lib-Lab pact, by making this deal, they tried to ensure a majority vote for the centre and left wing parties which was a smart move. However, others have argued that rather than showing a positive reaction to progressive Liberalism, the result reflected an overwhelming rejection of Conservative policies. The main and perhaps one of the most damaging issue for the Conservatives was the Boer War; though it had originally benefited the Conservatives in 1900, promoting patriotism and helping them win the 1900 election, by 1906 there had been more deaths than Britain expected and it had been much more drawn out. The Boer War also helped unveil the poverty and need for Social Reform by that time, which the Liberals exploited the Conservatives for supposedly neglecting this and by this time the Liberals had healed the splits in their party. Another very damaging issue for the Conservatives was the tariff reform campaign and was probably the Conservative biggest policy misjudgement; when this was introduced in 1903 many voters were very unhappy. Not only working class, but also middle class were worried that this would mean an increase in food prices and feared for their living conditions; furthermore this issue split the Conservatives, and many people do not wish to vote for a split party – this issue had in fact helped reunite the Liberal party, strengthening them and making the Conservatives appear more incompetent. The 1902 Education Act and the 1904 Licensing Act outraged many of the nonconformists and lost their vote for the Conservatives, many of these nonconformists were part of Wales, giving the Liberals an advantage in swinging the vote in marginal constituencies. The nonconformists were also very unpleased over the Chinese Labour Issue; however, this issue also damaged the vote of the trade unionists. They feared that the low working Chinese would be shipped over to Britain, lowering wages, and with unemployment high in 1905 opposition to the issue took votes away from the Conservatives. Again upsetting the trade unionists, was the Taff Vale case, many were outraged at the lack of support of the Conservatives and were encouraged to vote Labour. Many believe that the Liberals promoted Social Reforms to high degrees; however, not many Liberal MPs could be considered Social Radicals. It was more cleverly played that the Liberals exploited the Conservatives’ lack of Social Reforms. Poverty was becoming more and more apparent in Britain and the Liberals used this to say that the Conservatives were neglecting many of the voters and letting this happen, this meant that many working class voters voted for the Liberals and lost any loyalty they may have had for the Conservatives. Lastly, the leadership at this time for the Conservatives was at one of its weakest points at that time, A. J. Balfour had failed to listen to the public’s opinions on many issues, meaning the negative reactions were ignored rather than fixed. He allowed Joseph Chamberlain to issue the tariff reform campaign, a main factor in their loss; and was indirectly responsible to the timing of the 1906 election due to his unusual decision to step down his government. Due to the First Post System, the number of seats is not proportional to the percentage of votes. This means whether the 1906 election was a ‘landslide’ win was questionable. Although the Liberals has an outstanding number of 358 seats in parliament, against a less impressive 157 from the Conservatives, when looking at the percentage of voting the Liberals only scored 49%. This is not the majority vote, however due to the system it is counted by seats. So depending on how it is looked at – the Liberals didn’t win by such a huge amount. However, basing it on the First Post system in place, which counts the number of seats in parliament, the Liberals beat the Conservatives by an incredible amount. In conclusion by focusing on the failings of the previous Conservative government, the Liberals were able to enjoy a wide appeal across the political and social spectrum. The slogan of free trade was a policy that resonated with a broad audience, reluctant to see food prices rise as a result of the Conservative inclination towards tariff reform. The Governments use of forced Chinese labour aroused moral concern, particularly amongst Nonconformists, already incensed by the 1902 Education Act and 1904 Licensing Act. The trade unions were equally disgruntled by the Conservatives failure to reverse the Taff Vale judgement. In this sense, the result can be viewed as much as ‘landslide lose’ for Conservatism as a ‘landslide win’ for Liberalism. If the system had been different, the win may not have been as dynamic, and the Conservatives may have had a slight higher chance. However it can easily be said that the reason for the Liberals landslide win in 1906 was due to the Conservatives huge failure, made up of many poorly judged decisions, rather than a great success in the Liberals’ policies.