"A Great Third Party"

This is a reboot of my previous TLs of this that I didn't like and never got the opportunity to edit. I hope you like this, it's more detailed on all the minor going ons and I've researched much more for it now.

“A Great Third Party” – A British Political TL

It could be argued that the first true political fascist to gain a seat in the House of Commons was in fact the well-known Henry Beamish. A devout anti-semite, he stood against two other candidates whom included the Conservative candidate Harry Greer and the independent Edward Backhouse. The latter was a renowned member of the ‘Peace by Negotiation Party’, and had previously tried to win the seat of Stockton-on-Tees, though his pro-peace attitude had been given a hostile reception. Henry Beamish seemed to jump on the opportunity to scorn Backhouse, and hostile crowds broke up Backhouses meetings numerous times. It has been speculated that due to a pro-peace candidate standing in Clapham, Henry Beamish gathered more votes due to his extreme anti-German views. In the end Henry Beamish had won 47% of the vote, compared to Harry Greer whom gathered 43% of the vote. The pro-peace candidate came third on a minor 1% of the vote. Andrew Bonar Law believed that the constituency could be won back though in the general election later in the year, though when it came to it, Henry Beamish came back to the Commons with 52% of the vote, and increase by 5%, disallowing Sir Arthur du Cros back into politics.

Beamish became well known in the House of Commons for being an ultra-Nationalist and for generally stirring up trouble among members to the point at which such language was used that he was forced out of the house numerous times. He was notorious for debating heavily with Zionists, especially Alfred Mond (a liberal).

History of British Fascism, 1918 – 1939: T. P. Linehan

In the election of 1918 the various main parties were very split, though the Coalition Conservatives under Andrew Bonar Law gained the most amount of seats, while the Coalition Liberals were the only other party to gain seats in the triple-digits. Though there are a few other parties and certain independents that should not be forgotten about in this ‘coupon’ election. For example, the National Party under Henry Croft put up 26 candidates, of which 12 managed to win seats, another 4 managed to split the Conservative vote to allow an independent, two Labour and one Liberal MP into the Commons. The National Party was a mildly xenophobic, right wing, nationalistic party that advocated tariff-reform.

Another party (or individual really) was Christabel Pankhurst who won the seat of Smethwick for the Women’s Party, a political suffragette movement. She managed to beat two candidates, a labour candidate and an independent labour candidate. Their vote split and thus allowed Pankhurst to win a seat in the Commons. She was the first female MP in Parliament, and this was shown to be a huge success for the suffragette movement.

Another notable individual to in fact regain their seat in Parliament was Horatio Bottomley. He had previously been a Liberal MP until he was sent to jail for fraud charges, though he ran in 1918 as an independent candidate. He beat his Coalition Liberal opponent by around eight and a half thousand votes, and thus the extremely patriotic politician paved his way back into the Commons.

The National Party and other Minor Political Parties in early 20th century British Politics: J. M. Hazlett

In the Parliament between 1918 and 1922 there were, as per usual, numerous by-elections held. Though during this period, one political party was created that stood out and that actually managed to win four seats in Parliament. This was the ‘Anti-Waste League’, created by Lord Rothermere in retaliation to what was seen as government over-spending. Though throughout its lifetime it also became increasingly anti-Communist and a more patriotic party.

Another minor group was the ‘Independent Parliamentary Group’, which was created by Horatio Bottomley, MP for Hackney South as an independent. Numerous MPs joined the group, and it supported several parliamentary candidates. The most successful candidate was Murray Sueter, who joined the Anti-Waste League though stayed on as a member of the group. Also another candidate supported by the ‘IPG’ was John Nicholson, who was beaten by Reginald Applin, an Anti-Waste League candidate.

Another interesting by-election event was that the National Party, whom still had 12 MPs in Parliament, only stood one candidate. This was in 1922, in the Cambridge by-election, when Eric Geddes resigned due to criticism as Transport Minister. In this by-election an extreme patriot, George Makgill (secretary for the British Empire Union group) stood as a National Party candidate against a Coalition Conservative candidate, a Labour candidate and a Liberal candidate. Makgill came first by just 100 votes, beating Sir George Newton. George Makgill would go on to keep this seat even after the next election that was coming very soon.

The Importance of By-Elections Between Elections: H. L. Lawd
 
In the years during and after the Great War, numerous anti-Socialist and anti-Communist groups began to appear in Britain, these were mostly ran by Conservatives, fascists or private business owners. One of these was the British Empire Union; this had been founded in 1916 and was previously called the Anti-German Union (founded in 1915). It was an extremely patriotic party that believed the Labour party would “Bolshevise Britain”; it was also ‘associated with the anti-Semitism of Leopold Maxse’. Alongside this it advocated tariff-reform, and in the post-war years the group worked alongside Henry Croft’s ‘National Party’ in lobbying for tariff-reform.

Another group worth mentioning is the British Workers League. It was created in 1916, and was described as a “patriotic labour” group and was staunchly against socialism. In 1918 it was recreated into the National Democrat and Labour Party, a political party that gained 9 seats in the 1918 General Election.

The last major anti-Socialist organisation worth mentioning is the Middle Class Union that was set up in 1919 (and changed its name to the National Citizens Union in 1921). Lord George Askwith founded this in order to try and safeguard property after the number of working class people allowed to vote had increased by the Reform Act of 1918. Lord Robert Cecil even described the group as people trying to “protect their interests… and secure property… from revolution and extreme Labour demands”.

Anti-Socialism in Early 20th Century Britain: T. P. Linehan

On the 19th of October, at 2am the results of the Newport by-election were given. As was expected by the Conservative party, the result was a victory for the Labour party. Thus, at the Carlton Meeting later in the day, there was a real battle among the MPs present. Some argued that the results showed that the coalition with the Liberal Party was in fact the only way to keep the Labour Party out of government. Others retaliated and made the point that if it had not been for the independent, John Nicholson, who was supported by the ‘Independent Parliamentary Group’, the Conservative vote wouldn’t have been split and thus Labour would’ve lost in all likelihood. After numerous Conservative politicians were heard the MPs all voted on whether to break up the coalition or not.

The results were 153 for the break-up, 121 for the coalition. Thus the Conservative MPs in one fell swoop had decapitated the government, though all things considered the results were quite close, and this showed the splits in the Conservative party that would plague it after the next General Election.

History of the Conservative Party: J. Charmley

Almost as soon as the Conservative Party’s split from the Coalition was announced, Henry Croft and Lord Rothermere held a meeting about the future of their individual parties. Lord Rothermere knew that his party was based on the corruption and over-spending of the Coalition government under David Lloyd-George. Without this coalition he knew the future of the party was questionable, there had already been talk of the MPs joining the Conservative party. But, the Anti-Waste League was also anti-Communist and a patriotic party with Conservative views. The National Party had many Conservative views also, though some further right (not in the fascist territory though). It was also a nationalist party, and thus the futures of the two parties were set down. On October 21st the Anti-Waste League fused with the National Party into a new party that kept the name ‘National Party’. The MPs of both parties were happy with this and thus no MPs actually left for the Conservative Party except one MP, whom was convinced to stay in the party through monetary funds (this was Reginald Applin, MP for Westminster Abbey since 1921).

The leader of this party, still Henry Croft, met with Horatio Bottomley of the ‘Independent Parliamentary Group’. They came to an agreement, in that while the two wouldn’t merge at all, they would have their own ‘alliance’ throughout the election, in which they wouldn’t put up candidates in constituencies the other was placing candidates in, though they would encourage voters in those constituencies to vote for each other. This was helpful for both parties, as the National Party appealed mainly to Conservatives, while the ‘IPG’ appealed more to Liberals (given Horatio Bottomley’s own background as a Liberal MP). Thus they could gain votes from at least two sides of the political spectrum with each other’s help.

The National Party and other Minor Political Parties in early 20th century British Politics: J. M. Hazlett
 
Results of the 15th November 1922 General Election, 616 Seats

Conservatives – 292 seats (Andrew Bonar Law)

Labour – 148 seats (John Robert Clynes)

Liberal – 66 seats (Herbert Henry Asquith*)

National Liberal – 50 seats (David Lloyd George)

National Party – 39 seats (Henry Page Croft) – Patriot Alliance

Independent Parliamentary Group – 3 seats (Horatio William Bottomley) – Patriot Alliance

Communist Party – 3 seats (Vacant)

Others – 15 seats

*While the Liberal Party gained seats, H. H. Asquith in fact lost in his constituency to a Labour candidate.

British Political Facts 1900 - 1994: D. Butler

After the general election of 1922, the new National Party managed to more than triple its seat number from 12 to 39 seats. This was seen as a huge success for the party, and also helped show how important newspapers were in elections (with Vice-President Lord Rothermere’s Daily Mail being of huge help). With the seats won all being previous Conservative seats, these victories alongside the split voting that occurred only allowed for a minority Conservative government to form. Not long after this success in the election Lord Beaverbrook threw his support behind the National Party, especially after one of its official policies had become tariff-reform and free trade within the Empire.

Alongside this, the other member of the ‘Patriot Alliance’, the Independent Parliamentary Group managed to win 3 seats. While not a huge success, they did manage to split the vote in Paisley and thus force H. H. Asquith out off Parliament once again. He wouldn’t re-enter the House of Commons again, though he was given a peerage late in December of 1922.

The National Party and other Minor Political Parties in early 20th century British Politics: J. M. Hazlett

After the 1922 general election, the Conservative party faced a problem. While they had a majority in the House of Commons, though they were only a minority government, having 22 seats short of a majority government. Andrew Bonar Law knew that the Conservative party would likely lose a vote-of-no-confidence, and thus a new election would have to be called. He was worried about the possible growth of the Labour party through this. Initially he considered going to David Lloyd George again, with whom he could try and form another coalition with. Though he put this idea aside, due to the fact that the last election was called because of the cancellation of the previous coalition with the Liberals.

Thus Bonar-Law was faced with two more options, either continue in a minority government and hope to survive a vote-of-no-confidence, or he could try and rally the National Party to his side. He didn’t care much for the first option, thus he contacted Henry Page Croft, leader of the National Party. On the 17th November the two held a meeting, in which they put forward different possibilities. Bonar-Law, not wishing to go into a coalition with the National Party suggested that in return for pro-tariff reform Bills in Parliament that the National Party help vote down any votes-of-no-confidence against the Conservatives. While Croft requested a full-blown coalition between the two parties, in which certain National Party politicians would take part in the cabinet. In return this would stop any potential rebels in the National Party from voting down a vote-of-no-confidence.

The meeting went on for at least two hours, during which time various politicians from both parties were drawn into the meeting to explain their own opinions on the matter. The general consensus from each party was to agree with their own leaders, which didn’t help the situation much. Though there were around 30 MPs who actually advocated a coalition with the National Liberals, these were all free traders within the Conservative party. Their opinions were barely taken into account though and the meeting still focused on a deal between the Conservatives and the National Party. By evening the meeting was drawing to a close, Croft had been beaten and Bonar-Law managed to win. They wouldn’t be in an official alliance, though in return for more pro-tariff legislation, the National Party would vote down any votes-of-no-confidence against the Conservative government.

History of the Conservative Party: J. Charmley

Henry Beamish, whom as we spoke about earlier had won in the 1918 general election, managed to actually increase his majority in this election to that of around 700 votes. While this may not sound like much, for a man such as Beamish this was quite extraordinary. Though one possible reason for his success was that he declared himself a ‘National Independent’, thus making himself seem more inclined towards the National Party, which stated it had no connection with Beamish. It was after this election that it seemed that Beamish managed to build up a good reputation within the constituency of Clapham, even as an independent.

History of British Fascism, 1918 – 1939: T. P. Linehan

In conclusion, I have written this book so that people may not forget all the good my father did in his early years, and that his life was cut-short before he could bring the National Liberals the full glory they deserved under him. As although I do not agree with his values, he was a great man and I believe as leader of the National Liberals could’ve made them a great party again. And while his final week on Earth was a painful week, I must admit that I am happy that it ended when it did. No man should face that much pain, and at the age of eleven no son should have to see their father go through such pain.

R.I.P. Winston L. Churchill; 30 November 1874 – 20 November 1922

Epilogue of ‘Churchill: The True Story’: R. F. E. Churchill
 
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After the National-Conservative agreement was created, Parliament seemed to stabilise again. Though there were previously underlying problems in the Conservative party that now began to surface. Numerous free traders within the party didn’t agree with this sudden pro-tariff agreement being made between the National Party and the Conservative party. They began to speak out openly against the new governments position of tariff reform, and rebelled against the party multiple times. These problems became severe when Bonar-Law resigned from office of Prime Minister on the 22nd May 1923.

It was Stanley Baldwin whom was called for by King George V, and he was made the Prime Minister. Though a heavy weight fell on the poor mans shoulders, as he’d inherited leadership of a party that was coming apart rapidly. Baldwin came under fire from both sides of the Conservative party, with each side wanting Baldwin to take firm action for their views. Baldwin himself was a believer in tariff reform, though he initially tried to keep the Conservative party united, making small concessions to either side.

Though ultimately Baldwin failed, the National party threatened to end the deal between them and the Conservative party if Baldwin wouldn’t make pro-tariff legislation. At which point Baldwin crumbled, and was forced to make tariff-reform one of the primary policies of the Conservative party. At this point, the damage had gone too far. In a secret meeting on the 6 June 1923 numerous free-trade Conservative politicians and supporters met to discuss the future of the Conservative party. It was decided that the free traders simply couldn’t be involved in a party that advocated tariff-reforms as one of its primary policies, in a unanimous vote of the MPs present at the meeting, the free-trade section of the Conservative party chose to split away from the main party and create a separate party.

In the same meeting it was decided who would take over as leader of the new party, the politicians threw ideas out, trying to figure out a worthy leader. Eventually they decided that Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby, would be placed as leader of the new party. This is due to his role in the cabinet during the Great War, and his 14 years experience as an MP until 1906. On the same day, all politicians that had attended the meeting contacted Stanley Baldwin to tell him of their resignations from the Conservative Party to create the ‘Free Conservative’ party. In total 30 MPs left the Conservative party.

Soon after all of the Conservative party learnt of this development, and it seemed all MPs looked to Baldwin to see what would be his next move. Many in the party didn’t think he was up for the job, seeing as how less than a month into his leadership of the party and nation he couldn’t even keep his own party united. Though he stayed on as leader nonetheless, though he faced a huge problem. The Conservative party was again in trouble of being voted out in a vote-of-no-confidence, as they were 13 seats short of a majority. It wasn’t conceivable that the Conservative party have an agreement with another party, though Baldwin didn’t want to have to suffer the embarrassment of a vote-of-no-confidence. Thus he called for an election on the 22nd July 1923.

History of the Conservative Party: J. Charmley

After the election was called by Stanley Baldwin, the National Party moved quickly. Both Lords Rothermere and Beaverbrook worked together as newspaper magnates to put the case forward for tariff-reforms and free trade within the British Empire. Also in each paper the manifestoes of the National Party were in nearly every copy in the run-up to the election, thus allowing millions of people to scan over their manifesto and beliefs and influence their votes. Alongside this Stanley Baldwin and Henry Croft made an agreement that neither party would put up candidates in a constituency where the other was placing a candidate. Thus ensuring that in numerous constituencies the candidate’s votes wouldn’t be split. Thus, in the magnate’s papers the constituents were encouraged to vote for the Conservative party (not the Free Conservative party) if no National candidate was standing there.

The Independent Parliamentary Group also got heavily involved, with the same alliance that Horatio Bottomley and Henry Croft made before being used here again. This party was to stand in predominantly National Liberal areas. This was due to the National Liberal deal with the ‘Free Conservative’ party that was to be used against the tariff-reform policies of the Conservatives and Nationals. The Liberal party under Sir John Simon refused to work with the Conservatives, whether they endorsed free trade or not. The IPG would try to split numerous National Liberal votes so as to allow pro-tariff candidates win the election.

The National Party and other Minor Political Parties in early 20th century British Politics: J. M. Hazlett

While chaos seemed to be raging in the main political world, a relatively unknown woman created the first avowedly fascist organisation. She went by the name of Miss Rotha Lintorn-Orman, and the organisation was called 'British Fascisti'. While it had next-to-no influence in the political world, it did show that fascism had come to Britain in a rather disorganised fashion. At first there were signs that Henry Beamish would run as British Fascisti candidate in the next election, though he turned down the invitation by Lintorn-Orman and continued as an independent. Though he did say privately he would stay in contact with her and vote on numerous issues in a way that would best fit the British Fascisti policies.

History of British Fascism, 1918 – 1939: T. P. Linehan
 
Results of the 22nd July 1923 General Election, 616 Seats

Conservatives – 241 seats (Stanley Baldwin) – Tariff-Reform Alliance

Labour – 198 seats (Ramsay MacDonald)

National Party – 56 seats (Henry Croft) – Tariff-Reform Alliance

National Liberals – 36 seats (David Lloyd-George) – Free Trade Alliance

Liberal – 36 seats (Sir John Simon)

Free Conservatives – 25 seats (Edward Stanley) – Free Trade Alliance

Independent Parliamentary Group – 8 seats (Horatio Bottomley) – Tariff-Reform Alliance

Communist Party – 7 seats (Albert Inkpin)

Others – 10 seats

British Political Facts 1900 - 1994: D. Butler

After the General election of 1923, the Conservatives gained the majority in the Commons, though they were a minority yet again. This time though, the stakes were higher. Baldwin knew that Ramsay MacDonald and Sir John Simon could make a coalition and go to King George V to say they could make a government. This would put the Conservatives (and tariff-reform) into opposition, thus Baldwin was forced to make the decision his predecessor couldn’t make. He called for Henry Croft of the National Party and asked him to join the Conservative party in forming a coalition government.

History of the Conservative Party: J. Charmley

Henry Croft and Horatio Bottomley had been discussing the merger of the flourishing National Party and the slow and small Independent Parliamentary Group when Stanley Baldwin contacted Henry Croft. He was asking if the Conservatives and Nationals could create a coalition. Thus talks with Horatio Bottomley were put on hold, while Henry Croft contacted the vice-presidents of his party (jointly Lords Rothermere and Beaverbrook). They consented to such a coalition being created, and thus Henry Croft agreed to the ‘tariff-reform’ coalition. The next day King George V appointed Stanley Baldwin as Prime Minister and a cabinet was created with both Conservatives and Nationals in.

The National Party and other Minor Political Parties in early 20th century British Politics: J. M. Hazlett

Stanley Baldwin’s ‘Tariff’ Cabinet

Stanley Baldwin (C) – Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons
Lord Cave (C) – Lord Chancellor
Lord Curzon of Keddleston (C) – Lord President of the Council
Lord Rothermere (N) – joint Leader of the House of Lords
Henry Croft (N) – Home Secretary
Austen Chamberlain (C) – Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
Lord Beaverbrook (N) – Secretary of State for the Colonies
Leo Amery (C) – Secretary of State for War
Lord Peel (C) – Secretary of State for India
Lord Londonderry (N) – Secretary of State for Air and joint Leader of the House of Lords
Sir John Gilmour (C) – Secretary of State for Scotland
Sir Philip Lloyd-Graeme (C) - President of the Board of Trade

British Political Facts 1900 - 1994: D. Butler

Now that the ‘tariff’ Coalition was in government, Stanley Baldwin had to begin to pass legislation on tariff-reform. Though it didn’t take long for the National Party and very pro-Tariff Conservative MPs to realise that Stanley Baldwin in fact was quite lukewarm on the subject of tariff-reform. They felt rather cheated that an election had just been fought over the basic idea of tariff-reform and now they had a Prime Minister whom wasn’t particularly pro-tariff anymore than most average Conservative MPs.

Thus the pro-Tariff Conservative cabinet members met to discuss the future of Stanley Baldwin’s role in government, and they decided quite quickly that one of them should challenge him to the leadership. In the end they chose Austen Chamberlain, and thus on the 10th August 1923 Austen Chamberlain officially challenged Stanley Baldwin to the leadership of the Conservative party. Though in a shock move, Stanley Baldwin in fact stepped down and advised the King to appoint Chamberlain as Prime Minister. It’s been said that at the time Baldwin was tired after having taken over a party that split and being forced to go into a Coalition. He stayed on as a regular MP though; he was even appointed the Lord President of the Council, Lord Curzon was re-appointed as Secretary of State for India. Lord Peel was made the Minister for Health. Thus Austen Chamberlain took over as Prime Minister. He kept his cabinet job of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, though made Neville Chamberlain (his brother) the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

History of the Conservative Party: J. Charmley
 
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I am very much enjoying reading this TL. Here are some comments and questions.

Surely Horatio Bottomley would not have been elected an MP in 1918 after being imprisoned for fraud charges?

In OTL Hugh Dalton was the Labour candidate in the Cambridge by-election in March 1922.

The vote by Conservative MPs at the Carlton Club meeting on 19 October 1922 of 153 to 121 for leaving the Coalition was closer than in OTL when it was 187 to 87. In OTL the Tories won the Newport by-election so it was Labour winning that by-election in this TL which caused an increase of support for the Coalition compared with OTL.

There were 615 seats in the House of Commons in 1922 and 1923.
Originally posted by TheNordicBrit
While [the Conservative party] had a majority in the House of Commons, though they were only a minority government, having 22 seats short of a majority government

292 Conservatives were elected in the general election on 15th November 1922. That is 16 seats short of a majority government (308 seats).

Did Bonar Law resign as Prime Minister on 22nd May 1923 because of rebellions by free traders in the Conservative party or because of illness as in OTL, or both? Did he die from cancer in October 1923 as in OTL?

Originally posted by TheNordicBrit
The Conservative party was again in trouble of being voted out in a vote-of-no-confidence, as they were 13 seats short of a majority.

There were 292 Conservatives elected in the November 1922 general election, less the 30 Free Conservatives = 262, plus 39 National party = 301, which is 7 short of an overall majority.

Why did the Liberals under Sir John Simon not have an electoral pact with the Free Conservatives in the July 1923 general election?

The Conservative/National coalition formed after the 1923 general election would have 297 seats (241+56). This is eleven seats short of an overall majority. Therefore they would need the support of the IPG and at least three MPs who are listed as 'others'.

Stanley Baldwin would not have held the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer in addition to that of Prime Minister. In OTL no Prime Minister has done so in the 20th century. Also he did not in OTL. When he resigned as Prime Minister he would not have accepted the second rank post of Financial Secretary to the Treasury, which was usually outside the cabinet. If he had remained in the cabinet it would most likely have been as Foreign Secretary or Lord President of the Council.

Why are there two leaders of the House of Lords in Baldwin's cabinet?

Was Neville Chamberlain a member of Baldwin's cabinet.

The Labour party has been doing marginally better in this TL than in OTL, even with the Communist party also doing better.

I am looking forward to reading about the fortunes of the Conservative/National Coalition government with Austen Chamberlain as Prime Minister. Also seeing whether or not the Liberals and National Liberals reunite, and whether the Labour party continues its advance.
 
I am very much enjoying reading this TL. Here are some comments and questions.

Surely Horatio Bottomley would not have been elected an MP in 1918 after being imprisoned for fraud charges?

In OTL Hugh Dalton was the Labour candidate in the Cambridge by-election in March 1922.

The vote by Conservative MPs at the Carlton Club meeting on 19 October 1922 of 153 to 121 for leaving the Coalition was closer than in OTL when it was 187 to 87. In OTL the Tories won the Newport by-election so it was Labour winning that by-election in this TL which caused an increase of support for the Coalition compared with OTL.

There were 615 seats in the House of Commons in 1922 and 1923.

292 Conservatives were elected in the general election on 15th November 1922. That is 16 seats short of a majority government (308 seats).

Did Bonar Law resign as Prime Minister on 22nd May 1923 because of rebellions by free traders in the Conservative party or because of illness as in OTL, or both? Did he die from cancer in October 1923 as in OTL?



There were 292 Conservatives elected in the November 1922 general election, less the 30 Free Conservatives = 262, plus 39 National party = 301, which is 7 short of an overall majority.

Why did the Liberals under Sir John Simon not have an electoral pact with the Free Conservatives in the July 1923 general election?

The Conservative/National coalition formed after the 1923 general election would have 297 seats (241+56). This is eleven seats short of an overall majority. Therefore they would need the support of the IPG and at least three MPs who are listed as 'others'.

Stanley Baldwin would not have held the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer in addition to that of Prime Minister. In OTL no Prime Minister has done so in the 20th century. Also he did not in OTL. When he resigned as Prime Minister he would not have accepted the second rank post of Financial Secretary to the Treasury, which was usually outside the cabinet. If he had remained in the cabinet it would most likely have been as Foreign Secretary or Lord President of the Council.

Why are there two leaders of the House of Lords in Baldwin's cabinet?

Was Neville Chamberlain a member of Baldwin's cabinet.

The Labour party has been doing marginally better in this TL than in OTL, even with the Communist party also doing better.

I am looking forward to reading about the fortunes of the Conservative/National Coalition government with Austen Chamberlain as Prime Minister. Also seeing whether or not the Liberals and National Liberals reunite, and whether the Labour party continues its advance.
IOTL he was elected back to the Commons in his old constituency of Hackney South. Though in my TL he doesn't commit fraud and thus isn't put back in prison.

Correct on the Carlton Club and by-election.

Ah yes, sorry, maths isn't my forte so I will misjudge it sometimes.

Bonar-Law resigned due to his throat cancer as IOTL, in this TL the underlying disagreement between the tariff reformers and free traders is there, but it comes to a head when Baldwin takes over as leader.

In 1922 the Conservatives hadn't split yet, thus the free traders still count towards the majority of the Conservative party.

The Liberals didn't join the alliance with the Free Conservatives for two reasons. Firstly they still distrusted the Conservatives, as this is the party that was split before with a coalition with the Conservatives this seemed appropriate. Secondly Sir John Simon hasn't settled the Liberal Party's grievances with the National Liberals (Lloyd-George) yet. Unlike Asquith who did IOTL, though Asquith isn't the leader and is now just a peer.

The IPG-National Alliance is still alive, thus they have the 3 there. Obviously there's Henry Beamish, and two other of the 'others' are pro-tariff (one of the others is an 'agriculturist').

IOTL Baldwin was the Chancellor from July- August, when Neville Chamberlain took over from him as Chancellor. Obviously in this TL Neville Chamberlain gains the Chancellorship after Baldwin resigns around the time IOTL that Chamberlain got the post anyway. Also, thank you for letting me know about that post. I didn't really know the post that well, it just didn't seem too important, though I'll change it to something a bit more important. Thank you.

Stanley Baldwin didn't have to joint Lords leaders, but ITTL due to Rothermere's status in the National Party means he needs a post, but other big Tory MPs are given places too. So he's given a join leadership of the Lords.

Neville Chamberlain had the same position as OTL, Minister of Health in this initial cabinet. Though now he's a much more important Minister.

Yes it has, that's due to the Conservative Party having its votes split at the time Labour was gaining more votes as OTL. And in 1923 these gains were just like the OTL ones of a large growth in seats anyway. And yes, the Communist party is doing what it did OTL though in that it's only placing around 6 candidates so far, not much to split the Labour vote initially.

Thank you for the comments :) And I'm glad you're enjoying it, I'm enjoying writing it.
 
With the Conservatives firmly in power, and protectionism seemingly being given a mandate by the people, the Chamberlain Cabinet set the ball rolling on tariff reform. One of the first pieces of legislation to come into the House of Commons was focussed on tariff reform, and was called the ‘Import Duties Act’.

This would impose a 10% tariff on all imports except foodstuffs and raw materials, though it wouldn’t apply to the Dominions, India or Southern Rhodesia. It was sent back-and-forth between the House of Lord and Commons, with members on both sides not managing to come to an agreement. Finally though, the bill came before the House of Commons for the last time, The Commons was near full, and this showed how passionately people felt about the matter. Eventually the voting was finished, and the ballots were counted up. The votes were as follows: Aye – 312, No – 304. Thus the bill was passed, and it was signed the next day, though Austen Chamberlain put it off coming into effect until after the Imperial Conference planned for the 3rd of November had agreed upon the act.

His half-brother, Neville Chamberlain also had Lord Beaverbrook use his wealth from the newspaper industry to create the ‘Empire Marketing Board’, an organisation that was set up in order to promote the buying and selling of ‘Empire products’. It was also to be used in order to help the development of protectionist legislation and tariff reform. Leo Amery was heavily involved in this organisation, and he was one of the biggest supporters of Imperial Preference. This was further helped by Lords Beaverbrook and Rothermere both using their newspapers in order to “persuade consumers to ‘Buy Empire’”. This vastly helped their cause as hundreds of thousands pieces of this propaganda was sent around the nation.

The ‘Free Conservative’ party further distanced itself from the main Conservative party, and continually denounced it. This was done mainly through ‘The Spectator’, under its editor John St. Loe Strachey. The problem for this group was that the Spectator couldn’t compare to the numerous and hugely popular papers owned by ‘Beavermere’ (a term used for the newspaper magnates Lords Beaverbrook and Rothermere).

History of the Conservative Party: J. Charmley

The new General Secretary for the British Communist Party Albert Inkpin had seen the party over double the number of seats that the Communists had in Parliament. While it was only 7 seats, this was still an achievement for such a radical and new party in Britain. Not long after the 1923 general election, Inkpin began to draw up a list of possible candidates in other constituencies in the next general election; he also drew up a list of candidates for future by-elections. He believed that the Communists could outdo Labour in most elections, as he’d seen from the last election when only one candidate wasn’t elected.

The first by-election contested by the Communist Party was in the Whitechapel and St George’s by election in 1923, in which Labour the Liberals and the NPP were contesting the seat. When the results were read out, the Communist party did in fact poll more votes than the Labour party oddly. But they failed to actually win the seat, splitting the vote and allowing previous Liberal MP James Kiley back into Westminster. This result didn’t put Inkpin off, and in fact it seemed to fuel his desire to put candidates up more often. The fact that the Communist party beat the Labour party in votes gave the party a morale-boost.

Communism in Britain: J. P. Cooper

The year 1923 was also the first year an avowedly fascist candidate stood in a British by-election. This was a candidate supported by the British Fascisti in the Berwick-upon-Tweed by-election, Arnold Leese. The Fascist ran a half-hearted campaign, though he came last of the four candidates. He polled just 2.3% of the vote. While this was a heavy loss for the fascists, it was an important event as it was the first proponent of fascism to stand in a British election.

History of British Fascism, 1918 – 1939: T. P. Linehan
 
The Imperial Conference of 1923, the British government suffered a humiliating setback by the Dominions. None of the Prime Ministers of the Dominions who attended wished for Protectionism to occur within the Empire. No matter how much Prime Minister Austen Chamberlain argued for it, in the current climate none of the politicians agreed with him. Though the Australian Prime Minister did see Chamberlain's views, and in a way agreed, he couldn't commit Australia to Protectionism.

After the Imperial Conference had been concluded, the Conservative party suddenly looked very weak. The 1923 General Election had been called to deal with the British attitude towards Protectionism, but now it seemed that in fact the Dominions were telling the British they wouldn't have it. Thus humiliating not only the government, but also the nation. Soon afterwards the National Party cut the Coalition short, and a vote-of-no-confidence was held, which easily defeated the Conservative government. Thus an election was called for, and would be held in January 1924.

History of the Conservative Party: J. Charmley

Not long after the National Party vetoed the Coalition and voted against the current Conservative government Henry Croft and Horatio Bottomley restarted their talks about a merging of both the National party and Peoples League (also known as the Independent Parliamentary Group). These talks had previously been stopped due to the Coalition offer from the Conservatives. While Bottomley and Croft had some different political views, they still agreed a merger would be best in "the national interest".

The merging was formalized in December, in which the MPs of both parties voted on the merging. While some members rebelled, a majority of 50 MPs voted in favour. The dissenting MPs didn't leave the party though, they simply grumbled to themselves about the situation.

The National Party and other Minor Political Parties in early 20th century British Politics: J. M. Hazlett

After the calling of the 1924 General Election, all previous electoral alliances were called off. This meant that the previous reason for the two Liberal parties merging had been dealt with (the National Liberal-Free Conservative Free Trade Alliance). Both Sir John Simon and David Lloyd-George held discussions over the possibility of a merger between the Liberal Party's. The meeting concluded on the 17th December when they agreed upon the merging of the Liberal party's, with Lloyd-George the leader of the party and Sir John Simon the deputy leader.

A History of the Liberal Party in the Twentieth Century: D. Dutton

Results of the 13th January, 1924 General Election, 616 Seats

Labour – 248 seats (Ramsay MacDonald)

Conservatives – 187 seats (Austen Chamberlain)

Liberal Party – 66 seats (David Lloyd-George)

National Party – 66 seats (Henry Croft)

Free Conservatives – 28 seats (Edward Stanley)

Communist Party – 11 seats (Albert Inkpin)

Others – 10 seats

British Political Facts 1900 - 1994: D. Butler
 
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Surely the results given should be for the general election in January 1924, not 22nd July 1923. What date in January 1924 was the general election?

So Labour and Liberals have a narrow overall majority (248+66=314). It looks like Ramsay MacDonald will become Prime Minister. Interesting whether or not he forms a coalition with the Liberals with Liberals in the cabinet. I would expect Clynes, Henderson and Snowden to be in his cabinet.
 
Surely the results given should be for the general election in January 1924, not 22nd July 1923. What date in January 1924 was the general election?

So Labour and Liberals have a narrow overall majority (248+66=314). It looks like Ramsay MacDonald will become Prime Minister. Interesting whether or not he forms a coalition with the Liberals with Liberals in the cabinet. I would expect Clynes, Henderson and Snowden to be in his cabinet.
Ah yes, sorry about that. Forgot to change the date.

And we'll see the Liberals in the Cabinet, though for how long... Who knows?
 
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