Irish Protestant Home Rule Association was founded in Belfast in the Castle Restaurant in Donegall Place on 21 May 1886 to support Gladstones Home Rule bill for Ireland among members of the various Protestant faiths, following a defeat in the House of Commons.
123-860: On 23 June 1886, the inaugural meeting of the Dublin branch of the Irish Protestant Home Rule Association held in the Central Hall, Westmoreland St., Dublin. The Association was founded following a split in the Liberal Party in Ulster among those who supported home rule (Gladstonian Liberals) and the larger number who were Liberal Unionist who formed the Ulster Liberal Unionist Association Its membership and support came from Liberal Protestants and Trade Unionists. Sometimes
246-529: A Land Bill and opposed Chief Secretary William Edward Forster 's tactics of lethal force and mass imprisonment. In April 1881, Gladstone's government introduced the Irish Land Act, but Charles Stewart Parnell encouraged tenants to withhold rents. As a result, Parnell and other leaders were imprisoned in Kilmainham Gaol on 13 October 1881. Chamberlain supported the imprisonment and used it to bargain
369-486: A Reform Act in 1867 , nearly doubling the electorate from 1,430,000 to 2,470,000. The Liberal Party won the 1868 election . Chamberlain was active in the election campaign, praising Bright and George Dixon , a Birmingham MP. Chamberlain was also influential in the local campaign in support of the Irish Disestablishment bill. In the autumn of 1869, a deputation headed by William Harris invited him to stand for
492-669: A Second Home Rule Bill in February 1893. Although the Bill passed the House of Commons, the Lords rejected Home Rule by a huge margin. With his party divided, Gladstone prepared to dissolve Parliament on the issue of the House of Lords' veto, but was compelled to resign in March 1894 by his colleagues. He was replaced by Lord Rosebery , who neglected the topic of Home Rule. Chamberlain continued to form alliances with
615-522: A Unitarian . Though he had joined the Liberal Unionists late on, he was more determined to maintain their separate status in the alliance with the Conservatives, perhaps hoping and wishing that he would be able to refashion the combination under his own leadership at a later date. Chamberlain's stroke in 1906 robbed him of this chance, though he remained involved in political life until 1914. Though
738-604: A "monopoliser and a dictator" while the Liberals had campaigned against their High church Tory opponents with the slogan "The People above the Priests". The city's municipal administration was notably lax with regards to public works and many urban dwellers lived in conditions of great poverty. As mayor, Chamberlain promoted many civic improvements, promising the city would be "parked, paved, assized, marketed, gas & watered and 'improved'". The Birmingham Gas Light and Coke Company and
861-478: A Board of Trade Bankruptcy Department for inquiring into failed business deals and subjecting patents to Board of Trade supervision. Chamberlain also sought to end the practice of over-insuring coffin ships , but despite endorsements by Tory Democrats Lord Randolph Churchill and John Eldon Gorst , the government was unwilling to grant Chamberlain its full support and the Bill was withdrawn in July 1884. As President of
984-498: A Liberal, in the 1880s, he had been one of their sternest critics. Also, in an age when religious identification still mattered, Chamberlain was not a member of the established Church of England but belonged to the minority Unitarians . Chamberlain could, perhaps, have led the Unionists despite these drawbacks, but in July 1906 he suffered a stroke, which left him physically crippled. He remained semi-politically active and continued as
1107-437: A combined sum of £1,350,000, creating Birmingham Corporation Water Department , having declared to a House of Commons Committee that "We have not the slightest intention of making profit... We shall get our profit indirectly in the comfort of the town and in the health of the inhabitants.” Despite this noticeable executive action, Chamberlain was mistrustful of central authority and bureaucracy, preferring to give local communities
1230-495: A direct part in these meetings, and there seemed to be no other Liberal statesman who could reunite the party. Within a few months the talks were over, though some Liberal Unionists, including Trevelyan, later rejoined the Liberal Party soon after. The failed talks of 1887 forced the Liberal Unionists to continue to develop their links with the Conservatives. In Parliament, they supported the Salisbury administration, though they sat on
1353-461: A faithful supporter of his political ambitions and eased his acceptance into upper-class society in the second half of his career. They had no children. She survived Chamberlain, to later marry, in 1916, Anglican clergyman William Hartley Carnegie (1859–1936). Chamberlain became involved in Liberal politics, influenced by the strong radical and liberal traditions among Birmingham shoemakers and
SECTION 10
#17330851306111476-479: A new class division to British party politics. Scholars since 1970 have dropped this class conflict approach. They see the Liberal Unionists as motivated primarily by ideology not class. For example, W. C. Lubenow finds no correlation between Liberal MPs' class background and their position on home rule. Jonathan Parry and T. A. Jenkins have separately argued that Gladstone's domineering leadership, his intense religiosity and his pandering to public opinion alienated
1599-707: A new road, ( Corporation Street ), through Birmingham's overcrowded slums. Overriding the protests of local landlords and the commissioner of the Local Government Board's inquiry into the scheme, Chamberlain gained the endorsement of the President of the Local Government Board , George Sclater-Booth . Chamberlain raised the funds for the programme, contributing £10,000 himself. However the Improvement Committee concluded that it would be too expensive to transfer slum-dwellers to municipally built accommodation, and so
1722-465: A number of Radical reforms as well. Between 1888 and 1889, democratic County councils were established. By 1891, measures for the provision of smallholdings had been made, and the free, compulsory education was extended to the entire country. Chamberlain wrote, "I have in the last five years seen more progress made with the practical application of my political programme than in all my previous life. I owe this result entirely to my former opponents, and all
1845-456: A partner with Joseph Nettlefold . During the business's most prosperous period it produced two-thirds of all metal screws made in England, and by the time of Chamberlain's retirement from business in 1874 it was exporting worldwide. In July 1861 Chamberlain married Harriet Kenrick, the daughter of holloware manufacturer Archibald Kenrick, of Berrow Court, Edgbaston , Birmingham ; they had met
1968-474: A party of disaffected Liberals. Though not numerous, the Liberal Unionists boasted having the vast bulk of the old Whig aristocracy within their ranks, as represented by the stolid "old money" Duke of Devonshire. Another example is Frederick Leveson-Gower . The Duke of Devonshire's political partner, the Radical Joseph Chamberlain, was from a very different "new money" background, a businessman and
2091-402: A series of Round Table Conferences to resolve the Liberal Party's Irish policy. Chamberlain hoped an accord would enable him to claim the Liberal leadership and influence over the Conservatives. Although a preliminary agreement was made concerning land purchase, Gladstone was unwilling to compromise further, and negotiations ended by March. In August 1887, Lord Salisbury invited Chamberlain to lead
2214-477: A series of meetings with their former Liberal colleagues. Led by Chamberlain and Sir George Trevelyan , the Round Table Conference was an attempt to see if reunion of the Liberal Party was possible. Despite some progress (and Chamberlain's statement that they were united on ninety-nine out of a hundred issues), the problem of Home Rule for Ireland could not be resolved. Neither Hartington nor Gladstone took
2337-706: A standard bearer of radical liberalism against the Whigs, his adherence to the alliance against the Gladstonian Liberals came as a 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. This allowed Chamberlain and his immediate allies to distance themselves from
2460-460: A successful shoe manufacturer, and Caroline (1806–1875), daughter of cheese (formerly beer) merchant Henry Harben. His younger brother was Richard Chamberlain , later also a Liberal politician. Raised at Highbury , a prosperous suburb of North London, he was educated at University College School 1850–1852, excelling academically and gaining prizes in French and mathematics. The elder Chamberlain
2583-666: A villain, shouting "Judas!" and "Traitor!" as he entered the House of Commons. Unable to associate decisively with either party, Chamberlain sought concerted action with a kindred spirit from the Conservative Party, Chancellor of the Exchequer Lord Randolph Churchill . In November 1886, Churchill announced his own programme at Dartford , borrowing much from Chamberlain's, including smallholdings for rural labourers and greater local government. The next month, Churchill resigned as Chancellor over military spending; when
SECTION 20
#17330851306112706-613: Is as much the duty of the State to see that the children are educated as to see that they are fed", and attributing the success of the US and Prussia to public education. The Birmingham Education League evolved into the National Education League , which held its first Conference in Birmingham in 1869 and proposed a school system funded by local rates and government grants, managed by local authorities subject to government inspection. By 1870,
2829-453: The "Khaki Election" in 1900 . In 1903, he resigned from the Cabinet to campaign for tariff reform (i.e. taxes on imports as opposed to the existing policy of free trade with no tariffs). He obtained the support of most Unionist MPs for this stance, but the Unionists suffered a landslide defeat at the 1906 general election . Shortly after public celebrations of his 70th birthday in Birmingham, he
2952-485: The Birmingham and Staffordshire Gas Light Company were locked in constant competition, in which the city's streets were continually dug up to lay mains. Chamberlain forcibly purchased the two companies on behalf of the borough for £1,953,050, even offering to purchase the companies himself if the ratepayers refused. In its first year of operations the new municipal gas scheme made a profit of £34,000. The city's water supply
3075-560: The Colonial Office and eventually appointed him President of the Local Government Board . Their personal relationship worsened after a dispute over the amount to be paid to Collings, Chamberlain's Parliamentary Secretary , although Chamberlain still hoped that he could alter or block Gladstone's Home Rule proposal in Cabinet and renew his scheme for National Councils, but the topic was never discussed. On 13 March 1886, Gladstone's proposals for Ireland were revealed. Chamberlain argued that
3198-637: The Conservative Party in opposition to Irish Home Rule . The two parties formed the ten-year-long coalition Unionist Government 1895–1905 but kept separate political funds and their own party organisations until a complete merger between the Liberal Unionist and the Conservative parties was agreed to in May 1912. The Liberal Unionists owe their origins to the conversion of William Ewart Gladstone to
3321-514: The Fortnightly Review , he coined the slogan of the "Four F's: Free Church, Free Schools, Free Land and Free Labour". In another article, "The Liberal Party and its Leaders", Chamberlain criticised Gladstone's leadership and advocated a more Radical direction for the party. In November 1873 the Liberal Party swept the municipal elections and Chamberlain was elected mayor of Birmingham. The Conservatives had denounced his Radicalism and called him
3444-652: The House of Commons , Chamberlain began to organise the Radical MPs into a coherent parliamentary group, with the intent to displace Whig dominance of the Liberal Party. Early difficulties within Parliament led Chamberlain to favor a grassroots approach instead, organising local chapters as the foundation of an effective national movement. To gain footing for the Radicals, Chamberlain sought to close ranks with Gladstone to profit from
3567-454: The House of Lords ' powers, Salisbury remarked that "Mr. Chamberlain will return from his adventure with a broken head if nothing worse." In 1885, Chamberlain sought to "utterly destroy the Whigs, and have a Radical government before many years are out." To that end, Chamberlain and Sir Charles Dilke privately presented their resignations to Gladstone on 20 May, after the Cabinet had rejected Chamberlain's proposed Irish plan and his scheme for
3690-603: The Irish Unionist Party and the separately organized Ulster Unionist Council in 1905, later formally to become the Ulster Unionist Party . Outside Scotland and the English city of Birmingham , many local Liberal Unionists and Conservatives had already formed joint constituency associations in the previous decade. In May 1912 the formal merger of the Conservatives and Liberal Unionists was finally accomplished to form
3813-586: The Programme and used the slogan " Three Acres and a Cow " to endorse the cause of the rural labourers, offering to make smallholdings available to them by using funds from local authorities. Chamberlain's campaign attracted large crowds and enthralled the young Ramsay MacDonald and David Lloyd George , but disturbed leading Liberals like George Goschen , who called it the "Unauthorised Programme". The Conservatives denounced Chamberlain as an anarchist, with some even comparing him to Dick Turpin . In October 1885, as
Irish Protestant Home Rule Association - Misplaced Pages Continue
3936-672: The Second Afghan War , and the Anglo-Zulu War , he supported Disraeli's purchase of Suez Canal Company shares in November 1875. At this stage of his career, Chamberlain was eager to see the protection of British overseas interests but placed greater emphasis on a conception of justice in the pursuit of such interests. On 31 May 1877, the National Liberal Federation (NLF) was founded at Bingley Hall , with Gladstone offering
4059-473: The Third Gladstone ministry in 1886 in opposition to Irish Home Rule . He helped to engineer a Liberal Party split and became a Liberal Unionist, a party which included a bloc of MPs based in and around Birmingham. From the 1895 general election the Liberal Unionists were in coalition with the Conservative Party , under Chamberlain's former opponent Lord Salisbury. In that government Chamberlain promoted
4182-651: The Town Council ; and in November he was elected to represent St. Paul's Ward. Chamberlain and Jesse Collings had been among the founders of the Birmingham Education League in 1867, which noted that of about 4.25 million children of school age, 2 million children, mostly in urban areas, did not attend school, with a further 1 million in uninspected schools. The government's aid to Church of England schools offended Nonconformist opinion. Chamberlain favoured free, secular, compulsory education, stating that "it
4305-501: The Whig faction of the party and had been expected to split from the Liberal Party anyway, for reasons connected with economic and social policy. Some of the Unionists held extensive landed estates in Ireland and feared these would be broken up or confiscated if Ireland had its own government, while Hartington had suffered a personal loss at the hands of Irish Nationalists in 1882 when his brother
4428-850: The Workmen's Compensation Act 1897 . He was Secretary of State for the Colonies , promoting a variety of schemes to build up the British Empire in Asia, Africa, and the West Indies. He had major responsibility for causing the Second Boer War (1899–1902) in South Africa and was the government minister most responsible for the war effort. He became a dominant figure in the Unionist Government's re-election at
4551-462: The " Adullamites ", Liberals who had opposed the extension of the franchise in 1866 but had mostly come back to the main party after the Conservatives had passed their own electoral reform bill in 1867. In the end it did not matter what the Liberal Unionists were called, the schism in the Liberal Party grew wider and deeper within a few years. The majority of Liberal Unionists, including Hartington, Lord Lansdowne , and George Goschen , were drawn from
4674-424: The 1884 County Franchise Bill, Chamberlain famously declared that Salisbury was "himself the spokesman of a class — a class to which he himself belongs — who toil not neither do they spin ." In response, Salisbury branded Chamberlain a "Sicilian bandit" and Stafford Northcote called him " Jack Cade ". When Chamberlain suggested that he would march on London with thousands of Birmingham constituents to protest against
4797-672: The 23-year-old daughter of United States Secretary of War William Crowninshield Endicott , while leading a British delegation to Washington, D.C., to resolve the Newfoundland fisheries dispute in 1887. He described her as "one of the brightest and most intelligent girls I have yet met." Before he left the United States in March 1888, Chamberlain proposed, and they married at St John's Episcopal Church in New York City, wearing white violets rather than Chamberlain's trademark orchid. Mary became
4920-755: The Association was referred to as the Irish Protestant Home Rule Union or Irish Protestant Home Rule League . One of the founders was Portadown Liberal Thomas Shillington , a losing candidate in the 1885 election in North Armagh. The trade unionist Alexander Bowman served as its secretary, other members included Prof. Charles Hubert Oldham who managed the southern branch of the IPHRA. The association held meetings around Ireland, which were addressed by Protestant members of civic society including clergy of
5043-567: The Board of Trade in the Second Gladstone ministry (1880–85). At the time, Chamberlain was notable for his attacks on the Conservative leader Lord Salisbury , and in the 1885 general election he proposed the "Unauthorised Programme", which was not enacted, of benefits for newly enfranchised agricultural labourers, including the slogan promising "three acres and a cow". Chamberlain resigned from
Irish Protestant Home Rule Association - Misplaced Pages Continue
5166-626: The Board of Trade, Chamberlain took a special interest in Ireland. Chamberlain strongly opposed the Irish Home Rule movement on the belief that home rule would lead to the eventual break-up of the empire; he declared, "I cannot admit that five millions of Irishmen have any greater right to govern themselves without regard to the rest of the United Kingdom than the five million inhabitants of the metropolis ". In an effort to quiet agitation in Ireland through appeasement, Chamberlain supported calls for
5289-481: The Board of Trade. Between 1880 and 1883, the government was preoccupied with Ireland, the Transvaal , and Egypt . Chamberlain introduced bills for the safer transportation of grain, for enabling municipal corporations to establish electricity supplies, and for ensuring a fairer system of payment for seamen. After 1883, Chamberlain was more productive and expanded the scope of his authority; he introduced bills establishing
5412-617: The British delegation to resolve a fisheries dispute between the United States and Newfoundland . The visit to the United States renewed his enthusiasm for politics and enhanced his standing with respect to Gladstone. Upon his return to Britain, Chamberlain and Radicalism experienced new political success. He extracted his supporters from the Liberal Party and created the Liberal Unionist Association in 1888, associated with his National Radical Union. The Salisbury ministry implemented
5535-571: The Chief Secretaryship, but Gladstone appointed Sir George Otto Trevelyan instead. Nevertheless, Chamberlain maintained an interest in Irish affairs and proposed to the Cabinet an Irish Central Board that would have legislative powers for land, education and communications, which was rejected by the Whigs in Cabinet on 9 May 1885. Early in the Gladstone ministry, Chamberlain unsuccessfully suggested
5658-509: The Conservative Party and thus became Prime Minister in 1937, told an audience how proud he was of his Liberal Unionist roots. This isn't surprising. Neither Neville or Austen actually stood for Parliament as 'Conservative' candidates. Their local political association in Birmingham preferred to call themselves Unionist rather than Conservative during this time and campaigned as such. The Unionist label privately suited Neville Chamberlain as well. He confided to his own family how he always regarded
5781-525: The Conservative Party refused to stand for fear of splitting an established Liberal vote and letting in the Labour Party. Since then, many adaptations of the play have kept this brief mention of the obscure political party. However, in the 2002 film version which starred Judi Dench , Colin Firth , Rupert Everett and Reese Witherspoon – the lines were dropped yet episodes and characters in an earlier version of
5904-548: The Conservative and Unionist Party, now usually called the Conservative Party . Although by 1912 the political distinctions between the two parties had long ceased to have any real meaning, they had been a residual 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
6027-475: The Conservative mainstream rallied around Salisbury, Churchill's career was effectively ended, and so too was Chamberlain's hope of creating a powerful cross-party alliance of Radicals. The appointment of George Goschen to succeed Churchill isolated Chamberlain further and symbolised the strong relationship between non-Radical Liberal Unionists and the Conservatives. In January 1887, Chamberlain, Trevelyan, Harcourt, John Morley and Lord Herschell participated in
6150-511: 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 Chamberlain hoped would be called National to include the parties of the National Government coalition in the 1930s. Iain Sharpe argues that for many years historians largely ignored the party or mentioned it as introducing
6273-446: The Conservatives and contemplated similar co-operation with the Whigs. His resignation was made public on 27 March 1886. Immediately after his resignation from Cabinet, Chamberlain launched a ferocious campaign against Gladstone's Irish proposals. His motivations combined imperial, domestic, and personal themes: imperial because the proposal threatened to weaken Parliament's control over the United Kingdom, domestic because they downplayed
SECTION 50
#17330851306116396-498: The Conservatives. Chamberlain became concerned about the threat of socialism during this period, although the Independent Labour Party had only one MP, Keir Hardie . He sought to divert collectivist energy toward Unionism and continued to propose radical reforms to the Conservatives. In his 1893 "Memorandum of a Programme for Social Reform", Chamberlain made a number of suggestions to Salisbury, including old age pensions,
6519-606: The Exchequer , Salisbury offered the position to Goschen, by far the most conservative of the leading Liberal Unionists. After consulting Hartington, Goschen agreed to join the Conservative government and remained Chancellor for the next six years. While the Whiggish wing of the Liberal Unionists cooperated informally with the Conservative Government (and supplied it with a cabinet minister), the party's Radical Unionist wing held
6642-416: The Federation and the techniques of American political machines , with Chamberlain serving the role of a political boss . Chamberlain joined the Liberal denunciations of the government's foreign policy in the 1880 general election , and Gladstone returned as prime minister. Despite having sat in Parliament for only four years, Chamberlain hoped for a Cabinet position, and told Sir William Harcourt that he
6765-408: The House of Lords as a crossbencher . In the 1906 general election , the Liberal Unionists (both Free Traders and Tariff Reformers) shared the same fate as their Conservative allies, with a big reduction in their parliamentary strength. They now numbered only 23 MPs (or 25 according to other calculations) in a combined Unionist alliance of just 157 in the new House of Commons – though in Birmingham
6888-412: The League had more than one hundred branches, mostly in cities and peopled largely by men of trades unions and working men's organisations. William Edward Forster , vice-president of the Committee of Council on Education, proposed an Elementary Education Bill in January 1870. Nonconformists opposed the proposal to fund church schools as part of the national educational system through the rates. The NEL
7011-432: 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. After 1886, it was the Conservatives who enjoyed this position and they received a huge boost with their electoral and political alliance with
7134-422: The Liberal Unionist Association, an ad hoc alliance to demonstrate the unity of anti-Home Rulers. Meanwhile, to distinguish himself from the Whigs, Chamberlain founded the National Radical Union to rival the NLF. During its second reading on 8 June, the Home Rule Bill was defeated by the combined opposition of Chamberlain radicals, Conservatives, and Whigs. In all, 93 Liberals voted against Gladstone. Parliament
7257-448: The Liberal Unionist and Conservative candidates won all the seats available. 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 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
7380-407: The Liberal Unionist party disappeared as a separate organisation in 1912, the Chamberlain legacy helped keep the industrial powerhouse of Birmingham from returning to the Liberal Party and would only be changed in 1945 in the Labour Party electoral landslide of that year. It also remained a profound influence on Chamberlain's sons Austen and Neville Chamberlain , who, when he was elected leader of
7503-404: The Liberal Unionists were initially the more dominant group in their alliance with the Scottish Conservatives against the Liberals. From the start, there was tension within the Liberal Unionists between the moderate Whigs, such as Devonshire, and the more radical Chamberlainites. While both factions opposed Home Rule, there was little else that united them, and a separate Liberal Unionist identity
SECTION 60
#17330851306117626-441: 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 (and also party) but it
7749-430: The Radical programme, and personal because they weakened his own standing in the party. On 9 April, Chamberlain spoke against the Irish Home Rule Bill in its first reading. Chamberlain's chances of displacing Gladstone as party leader declined dramatically and in early May, the National Liberal Federation declared its loyalty to Gladstone. On 14 May, Chamberlain attended a meeting of Liberal Unionists , from which arose
7872-404: The Unionist Free Trade League (also called the Free Food League) which included a sizeable minority of Conservative Members of Parliament (MPs) including, for a few months, Conservative MP Winston Churchill before he too defected to the Liberals in 1904. Most of them eventually left the party while Devonshire ended his political career estranged from both main parties and appears to have sat in
7995-471: The Unionist alliance, but especially with the Devonshire section of the Liberal Unionists. Rejecting tariff reform, Devonshire and other supporters of Free Trade left the Liberal Unionist Association in May 1904 in protest. Chamberlain took over the party's leadership, but this did not 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
8118-420: The anti-Home Rule Whigs and Conservatives. While saying little about the topic publicly, Chamberlain privately damned Gladstone and Home Rule to colleagues, believing that maintaining the Conservatives in power for a further year would make the Irish question easier to settle. Chamberlain declined Gladstone's offer of the office of First Lord of the Admiralty ; Gladstone in turn rejected Chamberlain's request for
8241-448: The basis that it could result in subsidising Church of England schools with local ratepayers ' money. As a self-made businessman, he had never attended university and had contempt for the aristocracy. He entered the House of Commons at 39 years of age, relatively late in life compared to politicians from more privileged backgrounds. Rising to power through his influence with the Liberal grassroots organisation, he served as President of
8364-405: The campaign came to a close, Chamberlain visited Gladstone at Hawarden Castle to reconcile their respective electoral programmes. The meeting, although good-natured, was largely unproductive, and Gladstone neglected to tell Chamberlain of his ongoing negotiations with Parnell over Irish Home Rule. Chamberlain was informed their existence by Henry Labouchere , but, did not press the issue, unsure of
8487-417: The catchy slogan, " Home rule means Rome rule ." The 1886 election left the Conservatives as the largest party in the House of Commons, but without an overall majority. The leading Liberal Unionists were invited to join the Conservative Lord Salisbury 's government. Salisbury said he was even willing to let Hartington become Prime Minister of a coalition ministry but the latter declined. In part, Hartington
8610-429: The cause of Irish Home Rule (i.e. limited self-government for Ireland). 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 instatement of Home Rule for Ireland and so reform the 85 years of union . Some Liberals believed that Gladstone's Home Rule bill would lead to independence for Ireland and
8733-435: The central role in winning the Second Boer War. He is most famous for setting the agenda of British colonial, foreign, tariff and municipal policies, and for deeply splitting both major political parties. Future Prime Minister Winston Churchill remarked that despite never being prime minister, Chamberlain "made the political weather". Chamberlain was born on Camberwell Grove in Camberwell to Joseph Chamberlain (1796–1874),
8856-556: The city's improvement earned Chamberlain the allegiance of the so-called Birmingham caucus for the rest of his public career. His biographer states: Chamberlain was invited to stand for election as an MP by the Sheffield Reform Association, an offshoot of the Liberal Party in the city, soon after starting as mayor. Chamberlain's first Parliamentary campaign in 1874 was a fierce one; opponents accused him of republicanism and atheism and even threw dead cats at him on
8979-521: The compromises in the legislation, voted against the government, and the bill passed the House of Commons with support from the Conservatives. Chamberlain campaigned against the Act, and especially Clause 25, which gave school boards of England and Wales the power to pay the fees of poor children at voluntary schools, theoretically allowing them to fund church schools. The Education League stood in several by-elections against Liberal candidates who refused to support
9102-478: The course of his career. He was the father, by different marriages, of Nobel Peace Prize winner Austen Chamberlain and of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain . Chamberlain made his career in Birmingham , first as a manufacturer of screws and then as a notable mayor of the city. He was a radical Liberal Party member and an opponent of the Elementary Education Act 1870 ( 33 & 34 Vict. c. 75) on
9225-510: The creation of National Councils in England, Scotland, and Wales. The resignations were not made public, but the opportunity came for Chamberlain to present his Radicalism to the country after the Gladstone budget failed on 8 June , triggering a new general election with a dramatically expanded, redistributed electorate. In July 1885, Chamberlain wrote the preface to the Radical Programme ,
9348-433: The details of the accompanying Land Purchase Bill should be made known in order for a fair judgment on Home Rule. When Gladstone stated his intention to give Ireland a separate Parliament with full powers to deal with Irish affairs, Chamberlain resolved to resign and wrote to inform Gladstone of his decision two days later. In the meantime, Chamberlain consulted with Arthur Balfour over the possibility of concerted action with
9471-517: The dissolution of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , which they could not countenance. Seeing themselves as defenders of the Union, they called themselves "Liberal Unionists", although at this stage most of them did not think the split from their former colleagues would be permanent. Gladstone preferred to call them "dissentient Liberals" as if he believed they would eventually come back like
9594-405: The election (though he soon managed to return to parliament after a conveniently-arranged by-election). It was possible that at this stage Chamberlain could have become leader of all the surviving Unionists (at least all those in favour of tariff reform) and force Balfour to resign. However, even protectionist Tories were reluctant to choose Chamberlain as their leader, not having forgotten how, as
9717-558: The exclusively Tory Carlton Club ), the party still continued to maintain a separate identity and to raise their own funds. Their 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 Liberal Unionists managed to stay strong in the south-west of England, the West Midlands (the centre of Chamberlain's power base), and especially in Scotland, where
9840-615: The extension of the franchise; the Prime Minister deferred until 1884, when the Liberals proposed a Third Reform Bill which gave the vote to hundreds of thousands of rural labourers. Chamberlain and the Radicals campaigned to capture the new voters with public meetings, speeches and articles written in the Fortnightly Review . The Third Reform Act of 1884 was followed by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 , negotiated by Gladstone and Conservative leader Lord Salisbury . During debate on
9963-528: The first behaves like and is a thorough gentleman. Of the other, it is better not to speak." The general election was dominated by Home Rule, and Chamberlain's campaign was both Radical and intensely patriotic. The Unionist alliance took 393 seats in the House of Commons and a comfortable majority. Chamberlain did not enter the Unionist government , aware of Conservative hostility and not wishing to alienate his Radical base. The Liberal mainstream cast Chamberlain as
10086-474: The first campaign handbook in British political history. It endorsed land reform , more direct taxation, free public education, the disestablishment of the Church of England , universal male suffrage, and greater protection for trade unions. Chamberlain drew inspiration from his friend Frederick Maxse 's 1873 pamphlet The Causes of Social Revolt . Chamberlain's proposal to separate free education for every child from
10209-649: The future Prime Minister Neville in 1869, Ida in 1870, Hilda in 1871 and Ethel in 1873. The teaching of these four children was taken on by their elder half sister, Beatrice, who was destined to make her mark as an educationalist. On 13 February 1875 Florence gave birth to their fifth child, but she and the child died within a day. Though a Unitarian during his lifetime, the experiences Chamberlain endured with losing both wives in childbirth resulted in him losing personal faith, rejecting religious creeds and not requiring religious adherence of any of his children. Chamberlain met his third wife, Mary Crowninshield Endicott,
10332-487: The inaugural address, Chamberlain as its president, and Birmingham politicians playing a dominant part in its organisation. The NLF enhanced Chamberlain's party influence and gave him a national platform. Through the NLF, Chamberlain tightened party discipline and campaigning, enlisted new party members, organised political meetings and published posters and pamphlets. Contemporary commentators drew often-disparaging comparisons between
10455-528: The informal Kilmainham Treaty in 1882. Under the informal agreement, the government released Parnell in return for his co-operation in implementing the Land Act. Forster resigned, but his successor, Lord Frederick Cavendish , was murdered by members of the Irish National Invincibles on 6 May 1882, leaving the treaty almost useless. Many, including Parnell, believed that Chamberlain would be offered
10578-529: The insult, creating anxiety for the Liberals, he apologised publicly. Upon his election, Chamberlain resigned as mayor and was introduced to the House of Commons by John Bright and Joseph Cowen . On 4 August 1876, Chamberlain made his maiden speech during a debate on elementary schools, using his experience on the Birmingham School Board. He spoke for twenty minutes on the maintenance of clause 25 with Disraeli present. Almost immediately upon entry to
10701-556: The land was leased as a business proposition on a 75-year lease. Slum dwellers were eventually rehoused in the suburbs and the scheme cost local government £300,000. The death rate in Corporation Street decreased dramatically – from approximately 53 per 1,000 between 1873 and 1875 to 21 per 1,000 between 1879 and 1881. During Chamberlain's tenure of office, public and private money was used to construct libraries, municipal swimming pools and schools. Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
10824-483: The leader's increasing popularity and harness popular opposition to Disraeli's aggressive foreign policy, beginning with outrage over Ottoman atrocities in Bulgaria and the resulting Russo-Turkish War . Chamberlain joined Gladstone in arguing Disraeli's policy diverted attention from domestic reform, but unlike many Liberals, Chamberlain was not an anti-imperialist; although he berated the government for its Eastern policy,
10947-604: The leadership of the Unionist Party in the Commons. 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, Bonar Law was elected unopposed by Unionist Members, and Austen Chamberlain would have to wait ten years for his chance to lead
11070-484: The long tradition of social action in Chamberlain's Unitarian church . There was pressure to redistribute parliamentary seats to cities and to enfranchise a greater proportion of urban men. In 1866, Earl Russell 's Liberal administration submitted a Reform Bill to create 400,000 new voters, but the bill was opposed by the " Adullamite " Liberals for disrupting the social order, and criticised by Radicals for not conceding
11193-570: The main Protestant denominations. In 1892 the Association issued a letter indicating that it was Anti-Parnellite . Liberal Unionist The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party . Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain , the party established a political alliance with
11316-529: The main body of Liberal Unionism (and their Conservative allies) and left open the possibility that they could work with the Liberal Party in the future. In 1889 the National Radical Union changed its name to the National Liberal Union and remained a separate organisation from the main Liberal Unionist Council. Historian Robert Ensor reports that after 1886, Gladstone's main Liberal Party
11439-412: The more secular and rationalist outlook of many Liberals. Ian Cawood portrays the Liberal Unionists as a distinct and vital political force, at least until 1895 when they entered coalition with the Conservatives. 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. The play
11562-538: The official leader of the Liberal Unionists, but his son Austen Chamberlain and Lansdowne effectively acted on his behalf in both the party and the Tariff Reform League. Devonshire died in 1908 but, despite the loss of the party's two most famous standard bearers, the Liberal Unionists were still able to increase their parliamentary representation in the two 1910 general elections to 43 and then 49 MPs. The issue of tariff reform had now become overshadowed by
11685-436: The opposition benches alongside the Liberals. Hostile feelings between the former political colleagues hardened with the return of Gladstone as Prime Minister, following the 1892 general election . Forming a minority government (with Irish Nationalist parliamentary support), the Liberals introduced the second Home Rule bill . Leading the opposition to the Bill were Hartington (now the Duke of Devonshire) and Chamberlain. The Bill
11808-498: The opposition has come from my former friends." In the 1892 general election , Gladstone returned to power with a Liberal-Irish Nationalist coalition. The Liberal Unionists did well in Birmingham and made gains in the neighbouring Black Country , and Chamberlain's son Austen entered the House of Commons unopposed for East Worcestershire . However, the Liberal Unionists were reduced to 47 seats, falling behind in an age of well-organized mass national politics, and Chamberlain's standing
11931-544: The play that Wilde had been encouraged to drop before the play's first performance were re-incorporated. Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal , then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually was a leading imperialist in coalition with the Conservatives . He split both major British parties in
12054-448: The precise nature of Gladstone's offer. The Liberals won a plurality in November 1885 but fell just short of a majority against the Conservatives. The Irish Nationalists held the balance of power between the two parties. On 17 December, Herbert Gladstone revealed that his father, needing Nationalist support, was prepared to implement Home Rule. At first, Chamberlain was reluctant to anger his Radical followers by joining forces with
12177-611: The previous year. Their daughter, Beatrice Chamberlain , was born in May 1862. Harriet, who had had a premonition that she would die in childbirth, became ill two days after the birth of their son, Austen , in October 1863, and died three days later. Chamberlain devoted himself to business while the children were brought up by their maternal grandparents. In 1868 Chamberlain married Harriet's cousin Florence Kenrick, daughter of Timothy Kenrick. Chamberlain and Florence had four children:
12300-474: The provision of home loans to the working class, an amendment to the Artisans' and Labourers' Dwellings Improvement Act 1875 to encourage street improvements, compensation for industrial accidents, reduced train fares for workers, tighter border controls, and shorter working hours. Salisbury was guardedly sympathetic. Chamberlain also wrote an unpublished 1895 play, The Game of Politics , characterising socialists as
12423-415: The religious question was rejected by groups on all sides, including the NLF, Nonconformists, Catholics and more generally, taxpayers. The Programme earned the scorn of Whig Liberals and Conservatives alike. Chamberlain began his election campaign at Hull on 5 August, in front of large posters declaring him to be "your coming Prime Minister." Until the campaign's end in October, he denounced opponents of
12546-422: The repeal of Clause 25. In 1873, a Liberal majority was elected to the Birmingham School Board, with Chamberlain as chairman. Eventually, a compromise was reached with the church component of the school board agreeing to make payments from rate-payer's money only to schools associated with industrial education. Chamberlain espoused enfranchisement of rural workers and a lower cost of land. In an article written for
12669-504: The responsibility to act on their own initiative. In July 1875 Chamberlain tabled an improvement plan involving slum clearance in Birmingham's city centre. Chamberlain had been consulted by the Home Secretary , Richard Assheton Cross , during the preparation of the Artisans' and Labourers' Dwellings Improvement Act 1875 , during Disraeli's social improvement programme. Chamberlain bought 50 acres (200,000 m ) of property to build
12792-523: The revived threat of Home Rule for Ireland, as the Parliament Act 1911 effectively stripped the House of Lords of its ability to veto it, while leaving it with delaying powers. This encouraged a movement to merge the two parties formally at the constituency and national organizational levels, a process speeded up by the election in 1911 of Bonar Law as the new Conservative Party leader. An effective merger had already happened to some extent in Ireland, with
12915-432: The secret ballot or household suffrage. The bill was defeated and the government fell. Chamberlain was one of the 250,000, including the mayor, who marched for Reform in Birmingham on 27 August 1866; he recalled that "men poured into the hall, black as they were from the factories...the people were packed together like herrings" to listen to a speech by John Bright . Lord Derby 's minority Conservative administration passed
13038-551: The speaking platform. Chamberlain came in third—a poor result for a leading urban Radical—and rejected the possibility of standing in Sheffield again. Instead, he stood unopposed for a Birmingham constituency by-election in 1876, after George Dixon resigned. Following his nomination, Chamberlain denounced Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli as "a man who never told the truth except by accident." After Chamberlain came under heavy attack for
13161-529: The united party. Following the merger, the party remained officially distinct in Scotland as the Unionist Party , though its MPs sat with the Conservatives and were part of the Conservative Party in all but name only; the Scottish party finally officially merged with its English counterpart in 1965. The political impact of the Liberal Unionist breakaway marked the end of the long nineteenth century domination by
13284-417: Was accordingly weakened. Gladstone made no effort to reunite with Chamberlain, and the Liberal Unionists drew closer to the Conservatives. When Hartington took his seat in the House of Lords as the Duke of Devonshire, Chamberlain assumed leadership of the Liberal Unionists in the House of Commons, beginning a productive relationship with Arthur Balfour, Conservative leader in the Commons. Gladstone introduced
13407-455: Was altered or omitted in at least two film versions of the play. In 1952 film version directed by Anthony Asquith (the son of a former British Liberal Prime Minister H. H. Asquith ) Jack answers that he is a 'Liberal' rather than 'Liberal Unionist'. Lady Bracknell's answer remains the same. In 1952 this comment was applicable to the then Liberal Party's precarious political position, whose few remaining MPs were largely in constituencies where
13530-526: Was angered by the absence of school commissions or of free, compulsory education. Chamberlain arranged for a delegation of 400 branch members and 46 MPs to visit the prime minister William Ewart Gladstone at 10 Downing Street on 9 March 1870, the first time the two men had met. Chamberlain impressed the Prime Minister with his lucid speech, and during the bill's second reading Gladstone agreed to make amendments that removed church schools from rate-payer control and granted them funding. Liberal MPs, exasperated at
13653-498: Was considered a danger to public health – approximately half of the city's population was dependent on well water, much of which was polluted by sewage. Piped water was supplied on only three days per week, compelling the use of well water and water carts for the rest of the week. Deploring the rising death rate from contagious diseases in the poorest parts of the city, in January 1876 Chamberlain forcibly purchased Birmingham's waterworks for
13776-399: Was defeated in the House of Lords by a massive majority of Conservative and Liberal Unionist peers. By now all chance of a reunion between the Liberals and Liberal Unionists had disappeared, and it was no great surprise when leading Liberal Unionists joined Salisbury's new administration in 1895 following the heavy electoral defeat inflicted on the Liberal Party. The resulting government
13899-571: Was deserted by practically the entire Whig peerage and the great majority of the upper-class and upper-middle-class Liberals. Gentlemen's clubs that had a Liberal base were deeply split. Ensor notes that "London society, following the known views of the Queen, practically ostracized home rulers". Chamberlain used anti-Catholicism to build a base for the new party among "Orange" Nonconformist Protestant elements in Britain and Ireland. John Bright popularised
14022-465: Was disabled by a stroke, ending his public career. Despite never becoming Prime Minister, he was one of the most important British politicians of his day, as well as a renowned orator and municipal reformer. Historian David Nicholls notes that his personality was not attractive: he was arrogant and ruthless and much hated. He never succeeded in his grand ambitions. However, he was a highly proficient grassroots organiser of democratic instincts, and played
14145-548: Was dissolved, and in the July 1886 general election , the Conservatives and Liberal Unionists, led by Lord Salisbury and Lord Hartington , agreed to an alliance. Chamberlain's position in the alliance was awkward; unlike Hartington, he was intensely mistrusted by and unable to influence the Conservatives, and he was also despised by the Gladstonians. Gladstone himself observed, "There is a difference between Hartington and Chamberlain, that
14268-533: Was enlarged and a number of new parks were opened. Construction of the Council House was begun, while the Victoria Law Courts were built on Corporation Street. The mayoralty helped make Chamberlain a national as well as local figure, with contemporaries commenting upon his youthfulness and dress, including "a black velvet coat, jaunty eyeglass in eye, red neck-tie drawn through a ring". His contribution to
14391-614: 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 MPs 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,
14514-457: Was generally referred to as "Unionist", and the distinction between Conservatives and Liberal Unionists began to dissolve, though the latter were still able to field around 100 candidates for all the subsequent general elections until the December 1910 general election when that total dropped to 75. Though a few Liberal Unionists like Goschen formally joined the Conservatives (by becoming member of
14637-532: Was hard to define in the politics of the late 1890s. Weak local party associations were encouraged to amalgamate with their Conservative allies, though Devonshire's wish to merge fully was rejected by Chamberlain. Despite these tensions, the Liberal Unionists more or less managed to stay together until 1903, when in a surprise move, Chamberlain dramatically launched tariff reform with a speech in his Birmingham political homeland. This departure from Free trade (i.e. no tariff barriers) caused immediate problems within
14760-556: Was killed during the Phoenix Park Murders . The anti-Home Rule Liberals formed a 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 . Chamberlain had briefly taken office in the Gladstone government which had been formed in 1886 but resigned when he saw the details of Gladstone's Home Rule plans. As Chamberlain had previously been
14883-550: Was not able to provide advanced education for all his children, and at the age of 16 Joseph was apprenticed to the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers and worked for the family business (their warehouse having been at Milk Street, London , for three generations) making quality leather shoes. At 18 he joined his uncle's screw-making business, Nettlefolds of Birmingham , in which his father had invested. The company became known as Nettlefold and Chamberlain when Chamberlain became
15006-439: Was prepared to lead a revolt and field Radical candidates in borough elections. Although Gladstone did not hold the NLF in high regard, he was eager to reconcile Chamberlain and other Radicals to the mainly Whig cabinet, and he invited Chamberlain to become President of the Board of Trade on 27 April 1880. After his success in municipal politics, Chamberlain was frustrated at his inability to introduce more creative legislation at
15129-497: 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, and Hartington and Chamberlain uneasily shared the opposition Front Bench with their former colleagues Gladstone and Harcourt . In December 1886, when Lord Randolph Churchill suddenly resigned as Chancellor of
#610389