The Fall of Lloyd George: The Political Crisis of 1922

334 Pages·1973·32.215 MB·English

by  Michael Kinnear (auth.)

THE FALL OF LLOYD GEORGE
By the same author
The British Voter: An atlas and survey since 1885
THE FALL OF
LLOYD GEORGE
The Political Crisis of 1922
MICHAEL KINNEAR
Palgrave Macmillan
© Michael Kinnear 1973
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1973 978-0-333-07884-6
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
without permission.
First published 1973 by
THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
London and Basingstoke
Associated companies in New Y ark Dublin
Melbourne johannesburg and Madras
SBN 333 07884 5
ISBN 978-1-349-00522-2 ISBN 978-1-349-00520-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-00520-8
For Mary, David, Andrew and Sara
Contents
List of Illustrations vm
~~Th~ m
Preface x1
Acknowledgements xv
1 Lloyd George and political change, 1919-22 1
2 Liberals and Conservatives in the early twenties 28
3 The Conservative constituency parties and the
Coalition 63
4 The Conservative M.P.s and the Coalition 74
5 The ebb of coalition 92
6 The Carlton Club Meeting 120
7 The uncertain trumpet : political confusion in early
November 1922 135
8 The general election of 1922 155
9 Lloyd George and Welsh politics after 1918 175
10 The victory of the second eleven 196
Appendix I: The Carlton Club Meeting, 19 October
1922 221
Appendix II: Liberal-Conservative co-operation in
the 1922 election 243
References 256
Bibliography 274
Index 305
List of Illustrations
1 Lloyd George in 1921 page 12
David Low, LG & Co (1922)
2 Lloyd George in 1919 facing page 48
Bert Thomas, The World, 8 March 1919
3 Winston Churchill 49
Bert Thomas, The World, 22 March 1919
4 H. H. Asquith 49
Spy, Vanity Fair, 14 July 1904
5 Austen Chamberlain 80
Bert Thomas, The World, 12 July 1919
6 Sir George Younger 80
Radio Times-Hulton Picture Library
7 Andrew Bonar Law 81
Bert Thomas, The World, 26 April 1919
8 The Earl of Birkenhead 81
Bert Thomas, The World, 19 April 1919
9 Lloyd George on the eve of the Carlton Club meeting
David Low, LG & Co (1922) page 118
List of Tables
1 Seats won, 1918-29 36
2 Occupations of Conservative M.P.s, 1922 77
3 Diehard voting in Parliament, 1919-22 83
4 Reasons given by Conservative M.P.s for ending the
Coalition 87
5 Types of contest in 1922 143
6 Number of M.P.s with majorities under 1000, 1918-70 152
7 Religion and politics in Wales, 1920 180
8 War service and politics in Wales, 1920 180
9 Occupation and politics in Wales, 1920 181
10 Results of the 1922 election 196
Preface
This book examines one of the most significant crises in the
political restructuring of Britain after the First World War.
Before the war, Liberals and Conservatives had vied for power,
while after the 'red letter' election of 1924, the polarisation was
effectively between Labour and Conservatives. In the inter
vening decade the balance of probability favoured the emergence
of a three-party system, but this system failed to develop pri
marily because of serious tactical mistakes by the chief Conser
vative supporters of Lloyd George's Coalition in 1922, and also
because of mistakes by the Liberal leaders over a slightly longer
period.
Most of the material for this book comes from contemporary
sources which were unaffected by the hindsight which afflicts
historians of the period. Details well known to many people in
1922 faded from the historical record because they did not fit
in with what happened later. The result has been that proposals
for extended coalition which were noised about in the early
1920s have often been dismissed by historians as will-o' -the
wisps. Only an examination of public opinion can indicate
whether the historians or the party leaders of 1922 assessed the
situation correctly.
It is normally very difficult, if not impossible, to sample past
public opinion, but fortunately the crisis of 1922 was fought
in the open. Lloyd George was overthrown by a meeting
attended by several hundred Conservative M.P.s, and those
M.P.s outlined their views of the Government, of Lloyd George
and of the general subject of coalition, to their constituents.
On the Liberal side, many local associations were split over the
leadership; and both Conservatives and Liberals exposed their
problems in the local newspapers. In preparing this book, the
author consulted more than 250 newspapers which covered