Abstract
The author shows how, for the Liberals in some areas, the Progressive Alliance meant coalition with organised labour; it did not mean acceptance of a national programmatic Labour Party. The Liberals viewed the arrangement as a natural development of an already strong Liberal–trade union relationship; it was not an admission of support for the idea of independent labour representation. This chapter illustrates that the political culture of some industrial districts was such that the Labour Party faced an uphill task in supplanting the Liberals as a natural ‘ally’ of the local workforce.
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Notes
- 1.
63, 61, 62 and 59% respectively.
- 2.
Staffordshire Sentinel, 3 May 1902.
- 3.
See J. M. Bellamy and J. Saville, Dictionary of Labour Biography, Vol. 4 (London, 1977), p. 193. The National Democratic Federation was formed in 1900 in an attempt to promote unity between radicals and trade unionists. In 1903, it attempted to affiliate to the LRC but this was refused because of alleged Liberal ties.
- 4.
See Staffordshire Sentinel, 3 May 1902.
- 5.
Staffordshire Sentinel, 14 July 1902.
- 6.
Staffordshire Sentinel, 13 October 1906.
- 7.
See R. Gregory, Miners and British Politics, pp. 168–173.
- 8.
See H. Pelling, Social Geography of British Elections, 1885–1910 (London, 1967), pp. 270–274 and R. Whipp, Patterns of Labour: Work and Social Change in the Pottery Industry (London, 1990), p. 181.
- 9.
For example, in 1904, the President of the North Staffordshire Trades and Labour Council (John Welsh) suggested his organisation should disaffiliate from the LRC. The proposal was defeated by twenty-four votes to sixteen; see Staffordshire Advertiser, 4 December 1904.
- 10.
Smith argues that the contention that there was ‘more Methodism than Marxism’ in early Labour politics is misguided; Methodism, in fact, had much less of a role than is commonly assumed; see Smith, Religion and the Rise of Labour (Keele, 1993), pp. 166–167. In this region, however, Methodism was fundamental to early Labour politics. High profile Labour representatives such as Albert Stanley, for example, continued to preach at the Bethesda Chapel; see Staffordshire Advertiser, 7 March 1908.
- 11.
Biographical details from J. M. Bellamy and J. Saville, Dictionary of Labour Biography, Volume 3 (London, 1976), pp. 109–111.
- 12.
See R. Gregory, Miners and British Politics, p. 168.
- 13.
The Liberals had initially believed it would be more appropriate for Edwards to stand in North West Staffordshire since there were more miners in that area, but he had refused; ibid., p. 168.
- 14.
See Staffordshire Sentinel, 1 and 16 January 1906.
- 15.
Staffordshire Sentinel, 21 December 1905.
- 16.
See M. Pugh, The Tories and the People (Oxford, 1985) p. 118.
- 17.
Staffordshire Sentinel, 2, 4 and 16 January 1906.
- 18.
Throughout the campaign, prominent local Liberals regularly supported Ward on his election platforms. The Liberal candidate for Leek, R. Pearce, for example, gave Ward significant support, as did the local Liberal agent H. Leese.
- 19.
Staffordshire Sentinel, 2 January 1906.
- 20.
See Staffordshire Sentinel, 4th January 1906.
- 21.
On labour questions in general, it appears that the sitting member’s record was out of step with the character of the constituency. He had voted against the Shop Hours Bill, had contributed to the defeat of the Railway Accidents Prevention Bill and had declared that he supported the Taff Vale decision; see Staffordshire Sentinel, 6 January 1906.
- 22.
By which he meant that it was inconsistent for a man to pay into a trade union then vote for someone who believed it acceptable that the ‘great capitalist monopolies’ could take the money the union had accumulated for benevolent purposes away.
- 23.
Staffordshire Sentinel, 2 January 1906.
- 24.
Coghill had also voted against his party in opposing the Irish Land Bill.
- 25.
See Staffordshire Sentinel, 2 January 1906.
- 26.
Ibid.
- 27.
Ibid.
- 28.
Staffordshire Sentinel, 2 January 1906.
- 29.
Ibid.
- 30.
Ibid.
- 31.
See Staffordshire Advertiser, 20 January 1906.
- 32.
See Staffordshire Advertiser, 2 January 1906.
- 33.
Ibid.
- 34.
Ibid.
- 35.
Ibid.
- 36.
See Staffordshire Advertiser, 30 October 1909.
- 37.
Ibid.
- 38.
Staffordshire Advertiser, 20 November 1909.
- 39.
Edwards had also initially declined to sign the Labour constitution though his refusal generated less debate; for local Labour opposition to Ward, see Staffordshire Advertiser, 8 January 1910.
- 40.
Staffordshire Advertiser, 8 January 1910.
- 41.
See Staffordshire Sentinel, 3 January 1910.
- 42.
Ibid.
- 43.
Staffordshire Advertiser, 8 January 1910.
- 44.
For Edwards on the constitutional question see Staffordshire Sentinel, 17 January 1910.
- 45.
See Staffordshire Sentinel, 6 January 1910.
- 46.
Edwards was a great admirer of Lloyd George and spoke about him regularly in his speeches, suggesting that he very much remained a Liberal at heart. Ward, by contrast, mentioned neither him nor any other Liberals.
- 47.
Ibid.
- 48.
Many of his meetings were noticeable for an identifiable element of dissent, i.e. booing and disruptions.
- 49.
See Staffordshire Advertiser, 8 January 1910.
- 50.
Ibid.
- 51.
See Staffordshire Advertiser, 1 January 1910.
- 52.
Ibid.
- 53.
See Staffordshire Sentinel, 6 January 1910.
- 54.
He outlined a long list of facts showing how the navy had been neglected under the Liberal administration; see ibid.
- 55.
See Rittner’s figures on the declining exports of pottery; Staffordshire Advertiser, 8 January 1910.
- 56.
Staffordshire Advertiser, 15 January 1910.
- 57.
Ibid.
- 58.
Staffordshire Advertiser, 8 January 1910.
- 59.
See Staffordshire Sentinel, 6 January 1910 and Staffordshire Advertiser, 8 January 1910.
- 60.
The turnout rate was 87.1% compared to 83.4% in 1906.
- 61.
The turnout rate was 88.8%. In 1906, it had been 84.8%.
- 62.
Staffordshire Advertiser, 22 January 1910.
- 63.
See Staffordshire Advertiser, 14 May 1910.
- 64.
See Staffordshire Sentinel, 2 December 1910.
- 65.
See Ward election advertisement in ibid.
- 66.
See Edwards’s election address, Staffordshire Sentinel, 2 December 1910; the address was published jointly with those of Ward, Wedgwood, Stanley and Pearce presumably in an effort to cut costs.
- 67.
See C. Wrigley, ‘Labour and the Trade Unions’ in K. D. Brown, The First Labour Party, p. 147.
- 68.
See Staffordshire Sentinel, 29 November 1910.
- 69.
Staffordshire Sentinel, 2 December 1910.
- 70.
Ibid.
- 71.
See joint Unionist election address, Staffordshire Sentinel, 2 December 1910.
Bibliography
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Gregory, R., The Miners and British Politics, 1906–1914 (Oxford, 1968).
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Staffordshire Advertiser
Staffordshire Sentinel
Whipp, R., Patterns of Labour: Work and Social Change in the Pottery Industry (London, 1990).
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Wolstencroft, S. (2018). The Complexities of Progressive Cooperation: Lib-Labism and Electoral Politics in Stoke-on-Trent, 1903–1910. In: The Progressive Alliance and the Rise of Labour, 1903-1922. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75744-5_5
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