Acceso usuarios
Gavin Freeman
This essay challenges the conventional wisdom concerning the impact of the 1918 Reform Act on the Liberal Party. It was not the extension of the franchise or any other feature of the act that led to the downfall of the Liberal Party. Instead, it was the division between Asquith and Lloyd George and the resulting ‘Coupon election’ of 1918 which severely harmed the Liberals, and the provisions of the act only caused difficulties for the Liberal Party in the context of the split. This essay explores the four facets of the 1918 Reform Act (the enlarged franchise, the redistribution of constituencies, the new registration system, and the method of election), and examines how these affected the Liberal Party. The response of the Liberal elite to these changes is found to be wanting, with the leadership of Asquith particularly criticized. It was the failure of the party leaders to engage with the changed circumstances, and particularly the ways in which they viewed the new electorate, that disadvantaged the Liberals. The coincidental timing of the act, when the Liberals were at their most divided for a generation, provides the most persuasive explanation of why they struggled while the Labour and Conservative Parties prospered under the new system.
