A Riot in Birmingham and the Death of David Lloyd George: A Timeline from December 1901

pipisme

The five Irish Nationalist MPs for constituencies outside the Irish Free State did not join the National League. Joseph Devlin (Belfast Falls), Jeremiah MacVeagh (Down South), and T.P. O'Connor (Liverpool Scotland) joined the Labour Party. Patrick Donnelly (Armagh South), and Michael Johnston (Down East) joined the Liberal Party.

The Kilmarnock by-election on 6 December 1923 was a Labour gain from Liberal. The Burnley by-election on 28 February 1924 was held for Labour by Margaret Bondfield. Labour held Holland-with-Boston in the by-election on 31 July 1924. The new Labour MP was Hugh Dalton. Winston Churchill returned to the House of Commons as Liberal MP for Carmarthen in the by-election on 14 August 1924.
 

pipisme

In the budget which the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Walter Runciman, presented to the House of Commons on 21 April 1925, was the following tax: a tax of 20% on the increment value of vacant land valued below £50 per acre, from the date of valuation (22 April 1925) to the date of sale.
 

pipisme

Other new taxes and tax changes in the 1925 budget were the following: a tax of half a pence in the pound on the capital value of undeveloped land, except agricultural land; taxes on ground rents and mineral royalties; estate duty was raised from 20% to 40% on estates over £2 million (down from £1 million); and duties on spirits and tobacco were increased; a tax allowance of £15 for every child under 16 years old, payable on incomes below £750 a year.

The budget was welcomed by the Labour and Liberal parties, though not by right-wing Liberals. It was bitterly opposed by the Conservative Party. The Finance Bill which incorporated the budget, having passed through the House of Commons, was rejected by the House of Lords on second reading on 16 June 1925. Although they said they would pass the bill if the Liberals received a mandate for it in a general election.

On 18 June, Charles Masterman announced in the House of Commons that a general election would be held on Thursday 16 July, Parliament would be dissolved on 25 June, and assemble after the election on 21 July.
 

pipisme

Britain had not returned to the gold standard. Walter Layton was the Liberal government's chief economic adviser. Born in 1884, he was educated at King's School. London and Trinity College, Cambridge. During the Great War he was Munitions Representative for Britain on missions to Russia and the USA. He was a fellow of Caius College, Cambridge, an economics lecturer at London University, and editor of the Economist . He was Liberal candidate for Burnley in the 1923 general election.

The election was fought on the budget, and the Liberal Party defended the government's record since it was elected in April 1923. The Addison Housing Act 1923, named for Christopher Addison, the Minister of Health, gave a subsidy of £8 per house for forty years, for houses built for rent at controlled rents.
 
Last edited:

pipisme

The Leasehold Reform Act 1924 gave occupiers of houses held on lease the right to purchase their freehold at a fair price. The Agriculture Act 1925 gave credit facilities to farmers, and government assistance for co-operative marketing for farm produce.

The Liberal Party election manifesto affirmed its commitment to Free Trade. It promised that a Liberal government would give women the vote on the same terms as men. That is to all women aged 21 and over. It would reduce class sizes in elementary schools, and give substantial more additional provision for pupils over 14 years, with maintenance allowances where suitable. It would enable public acquisition of all mineral rights, and provide government assistance in building power stations. Towns would be given powers to acquire at fair prices all land likely to be needed in the future for housing, open spaces, and other purposes connected with the health and welfare of their people.

A Liberal government would build new planned industrial towns. It would establish a system of land tenure for farmers which would combine the advantages of ownership and tenancy without their disadvantages. It would free agricultural labourers from poverty and lack of opportunity. The Liberal Party believes in the co-operation of all engaged in industry, investor, manager and worker, and the fair distribution of profits. (1)

(1) The Liberal Party Manifesto, except in respect of votes for women, is taken from the party's manifesto for the 1924 general election in OTL. See http://www.libdemmanifesto.com/1924/1924-liberal-manifesto.shtml.
 

pipisme

During the Great War the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Andrew Bonar Law, imposed duties on imported goods. These were removed by Walter Runciman in 1923. The Conservative manifesto for the 1925 general election promised to reimpose them. The Conservative election campaign denounced the budget as confiscatory, socialistic and dangerous to economic prosperity.

The budget and policies of the Liberal govermment had largely stolen the Labour Party's thunder. The Labour Party election manifesto promised the following policies which a Labour government would implement: A capital levy; nationalisation of electricity supply, the mining industry, railways and canals; an Agricultural Wages Board: and a large increase in cottages in rural areas at low rents. In education, new achools, smaller class sizes, more qualified teachers, more free places in schools and university scholarships, Both the Labour and Liberal manifestos pledged a Royal Commission on the Licensing Laws, and votes for women at 21 on the same terms as men.
 

pipisme

In their general election manifestos, both the Labour and Liberal promised to reduce the maximum term of a parliament from seven to five years.

On election day, 16 July 1925, polling stations were open from 8 am to 8 pm. Turnout was reported to be fairly heavy. The electoral register was only three months old.

The first result declared was Salford South. It was a Labour gain from Conservative. Anderson Montague Barlow, Postmaster-General from 1917 to 1923, lost his seat. As the results came in, Labour and Liberal gained seats from Conservative, with Liberal taking more seats than Labour. Liberal and Labour each took seats from each other, but there were more Liberal gains from Labour, than Labour gains from Liberal. When all the seats had been declared the number of seats in the House of Commons was as follows (April 1923 general election):
Liberal: 258 (168)
Labour: 196 (160)
Conservative: 163 (286)
Independents: 2 (3)
Independent Liberal: 1 (1)
(Sinn Fein: 71, Irish Nationalist: 8, Irish Labour: 4)
( Constitutionalist: 1, Scottish Prohibition: 1)
( Independent Conservative: 4)
-----------------------
Total: 620 (707)
---------------------
It was the best ever Labour result, and the best Liberal and the worst Conservative result since the 1906 general election.
 
Last edited:

pipisme

The number of MPs fell from 707 to 620 because 78 territorial seats and three university seats in Ireland were lost because of the creation of the Irish Free States. In Northern Ireland, six seats were abolished: Antrim Mid, Armagh Mid, Down Mid, and three in Belfast: Cromac, Pottinger, and St. Anne's. The city still elected six MPs.

Two cabinet ministers in the Conservative government of 1917 to 1923, lost their seats to the Liberals. William Bridgeman, Home Secretary in Oswestry, and Arthur Griffith-Boscawen, President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries in Dudley. Besides Montague Barlow, junior ministers who lost their seats were: Henry Betterton, Parliamentary Secretary Ministry of Labour, Rushcliffe to Liberal; Neville Chamberlain, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Health, Birmingham Ladywood to Labour; Walter Elliot, Under-Secretary of State for Health Scottish Office, Lanark to Labour.

Sir Oswald Mosley had been elected as an Independent for Harrow in the 1923 general election. In May 1924 he joined the Labour Party. Harrow would never elect a Labour MP, so he stood in the most marginal Conservative seat in Birmingham, which was King's Norton, in the south of the city, which had a Conservative majority of 3.7%. His wife, Lady Cynthia Mosley, campaigned with him. He was elected with a majority of 7.1%. Herbert Morrison gained Hackney South for Labour from Liberal, but Hugh Dalton lost Holland-with-Boston to Liberal. Harold Macmillan failed to be elected as Conservative MP for the Liberal seat of Stockton-on-Tees.

Compared with the 1923 general election, the Liberals took 82 seats from Conservative, 22 from Labour, and one each from Independent Conservative, Irish Nationalist and Scottish Prohibition. Labour gained 41 seats from Conservative, 14 from Liberal and three from Irish Nationalist. The Tories gained four seats from Liberal, three from Independent Conservative, and one each from Irish Nationalist, Labour and Independent.

Compared with the 1923 election, Labour gained four seats in Birmingham, one in Bristol, one in Cardiff, four in Glasgow, one in Leeds, one in Leicester, five in Liverpool (four from Conservative and one from Irish Nationalist), ten in London, one in Manchester, two in Norwich, one in Plymouth, two each in Salford and Sheffield and one in Wolverhampton. Most Liberal gains were in rural constituencies: including two each in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, eight in Cheshire, one each in Cornwall, Derbyshire, Devon and Dorset, three in Essex, two in Gloucestershire, two in Kent, two in Leicestershire, one in Norfolk, two in Northamptonshire, one in Shropshire, two in Somerset, two in Suffolk, one in Warwickshire. However they took two seats in Edinburgh, five in London, two in Liverpool, and four in Manchester.

The percentage votes for each party were (1923 election):
Liberal: 37.2 (28.9)
Conservative: 31.4 (32.5)
Labour: 30.7 (28.7)
Others: 0.7 (9.9).
The turnout was 79.2 % (73.6%)
 

pipisme

The minority Liberal government continued in office. The Prime Minister, Charles Masterman, made only a few changes to his government. The Marquis of Crewe, the Lord President of the Council, resigned and was appointed Viceroy of India. Masterman moved Lord Gorrell from Air Secretary to Lord President, and appointed Murdoch McKenzie Wood as Air Secretary. A.H. Illingworth did not stand for re-election as Liberal MP for Heywood and Radcliffe, so he resigned as Postmaster-General. George Thorne was promoted from Financial Secretary to the Treasury to Postmaster-General, and Donald Maclean was appointed Financial Secretary to the Treasury. Sir William Edge, the Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, lost his Bolton seat to Labour in the general election. He was replaced by Percy Harris who was promoted from Under-Secretary at the War Office. Leslie Hore-Belisha replaced Harris at the War Office.

Parliament re-assembled on 21 July 1925 after the general election. The April 1925 budget passed through the House of Commons. Because there was definitely a mandate for the April 1925 budget, it passed through the House of Lords, enough Conservative Peers having abstained at the request of the party leaders. However 37 voted against. It became law on 13 August 1925, the day Parliament rose for the summer recess. However the House of Lords still had a veto over legislation.
 

pipisme

Tatiana Sanders (formerly Grand Duchess Tatiana Romanov) gave birth to a baby daughter on 12 May 1922. She and her husband, Edward, named her Alexandra after her mother. A second daughter was born on 6 July 1923. Edward and Tatiana named her Nora after his mother. Their third daughter was born on 9 August 1924. They named her Maria, after a sister of Tatiana. Their first son was born on 5 October 1925. They named him Francis after Edward's father. All this time they were living in the Doukhobor agricultural community in south-eastern British Columbia,

In Germany after the federal election in September 1921, Friedrich Ebert, the leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the largest party in the Reichstag, became Chancellor. He continued in office until his death on 28 February 1925.
He was succeeded as Chancellor by Hermann Muller (SPD).
 

pipisme

Olga, Duchess of York, gave birth to a baby boy on 21 February 1922. She and her husband, Albert George, Duke of York, named him Edward. A daughter was born on 14 May 1924. Albert and Olga named her Elizabeth.

Charles I, Emperor of Austria-Hungary, died on 1 April 1922. He was succeeded as Emperor by his son, the crown prince, Otto Franz Joseph von Hapsburg (born 20 November 1912). He took the title Franz Joseph II. His mother, Zita of Bourbon- Parma would be regent until he reached the age of 18.
 
Last edited:

pipisme

There was a general election in Italy in May 1920. The number of seats in the Chamber of Deputies won by each party were as follows (November 1918 general election):
Italian People's Party: 165 (135)
Italian Socialist Party: 159 (184)
Democratic Liberal Party: 58 (n/a)
Italian Liberal Party: 45 (Liberal Union: 38)
Social Democracy: 34 (41)
Reformist Democratic Party: 10 (n/a)
Combatants Party: 9 (19)
Italian Communist Party: 9 (n/a)
Italian Nationalist Association: 8 (n/a)
Italian Republican Party: 6 (4)
Economic Party: 5 (7)
(Liberals, Democrats and Radicals: 64)
(Italian Radical Party: 11)
(Italian Reformist Socialist Party: 5)
--------------------------
Total: 508 (508)
--------------------------
Don Luigi Sturzo, the leader of the Italian People's Party, became Prime Minister at the head of a coalition of his party, the Democratic Liberal Party, the Liberal Party, and Social Democracy, with a total of 302 seats. Giovanni Giolitti !Liberal) resigned as Prime Minister.

The National Fascist Party of Italy was founded in November 1920 with Benito Mussolini as leader (Duce).
 
Last edited:

pipisme

On 14 October 1921 the Fascist blackshirts began their March on Rome. On 15 October the cabinet unanimously endorsed a decree for martial law, which the Prime Minister, Luigi Sturzo, had prepared. But King Victor Emmanuel III refused to sign it the following morning. When Sturzo objected, the king told him that this was the royal prerogative and he did not want to use force against the Fascists. On 17 October, the king appointed Benito Mussolini President of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister). Sturzo and his ministers having resigned. Though Mussolini appointed ministers from the Liberal and People's parties, and Social Democracy to his cabinet, in addition to minsters from the National Fascist Party.
 

pipisme

Prince George Lvov was Prime Minister of Russia until his death on 7/8 March 1925. He was succeeded by Alexander Kerensky. The capital of Russia was moved from Petrograd to Moscow in November 1917. In June 1919, Petrograd changed back to St. Petersburg.

The Russian Tsar was the Grand Duke of Finland. When Nicholas II abdicated in June 1916, Finns considered the personal union with the Tsar to have ended with his abdication, although they recognised the government of Russia as his successor with the authority to appoint a new Governor-General and Senate. In the Finnish parliamentary election on 1 and 3 July 1916 the Social Democratic Party won a 103 out of 200 seats. Oskari Tokoi (Social Democrat) became Prime Minister.

In October 1916, the Autonomy Law was passed by the Finnish Parliament. This stated that it was responsible for all legislation except relating to foreign affairs and war, and only it had the power to dissolve itself. The Russian government did not accept this and refused to sign it into law. They ordered a new parliamentary election, which was held on 2 and 3 January. This resulted in the Social Democratic Party increasing its seats to 107 out of 200, and Tokoi continued in office as Prime Minister.
 

pipisme

In September 1925, the Liberal gvernment appointed a royal commission on the future of the coal industry. It was was chaired by Sir Rufus Isaacs, a former Liberal Attorney-General. It comprised representatives of the coal owners, miners and independent experts. It produced two reports in March 1926. The Majority Report proposed the nationalisation of the coal industry. This was rejected by the Minority Report,

The Coal Industry Nationalisation Bill received its second reading in the House of Commons on 6 May 1926. It was supported by the Labour Party and most Liberals, though 28 Liberal MPs voted against it. It was opposed by the Conservative Party. It passed through all its stages in the House of Commons, but was rejected by the House of Lords on second reading on 17 June 1926. The Lords had the power to veto legislation passed by the Commons.

In April 1926, the Lords vetoed the Plural Voting Bill which abolished the business vote, and university representation in the House of Commons. The Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Bill, which gave the parliamentary and local government franchises to women on the same terms as men, was passed by the Commons and the Lords, and became law in June 1926. The Conservative Party officially supported the bill, but 46 Conservative Peers voted against it on second reading. In the Committee Stage in the Lords, an amendment for the voting age for women to be 25 was defeated. But 61 Conservative Peers voted for it, although their party was officially against it.

The Parliament Act 1926 reduced the maximum term of a parliament from seven years to five years. So the next general election was due no later than 21 July 1930.

On Friday 12 February 1926, the House of Commons debated the second reading of a private members bill introduced by Athelstan Randall, Liberal MP for Thornbury (Gloucestershire). (1) It provided for elections to the House of Commons to be the single transferable vote (STV). The Home Secretary, Sir John Simon, said that the government supported the bill, and would give it parliamentary time. It received a second reading by 212 votes to 186 votes. The breakdown of votes by parties were as follows;
For: Conservative: 25
Labour: 48
Liberal: 136
Others: 3.

Against: Conservative; 78
Labour: 85
Liberal: 23.

The Proportional Representation (Local Elections) Act allowed local councils to use STV for their elections.

(1) In OTL Randall introduced a similar bill in the House of Commons in May 1924. However it was defeated.
 
Last edited:

pipisme

After teceiving its second reading, the Proportional Representation (Parliamentary Elections) Bill was considered in detail by a Committee of the Whole House. Though it had a majority on second reading, only just over a third of MPs voted for it. It was more popular with MPs sitting for urban seats, than for rural seats, because the Single Transferable Vote (STV) would mean large in area constituencies. More rural MPs voted against it than for it.

A Labour amendment to replace STV with the alternative vote was heavily defeated, with the Conservatives and Liberals voting against it. On 9 March 1926, a Conservative amendment for general elections to be by STV only in cities and London boroughs which elected three or more MPs, as well as the nine university seats which elected MPs by STV, was passed by 276 votes to 128 votes. By elections would continue to be by FPTP, as they were in the university seats. The amendment was not reversed in the Report Stage, or in the Lords. The bill passed through all its stages in the Commons and the Lords, and became law on 22 April 1926. With effect from the next general election, in 147 territorial constituencies and nine university constituencies, a total of 156, would be by STV. Elections in the other 464 constituencies elections would continue to be by FPTP.
 
Last edited:

pipisme

Sir Evelyn Cecil resigned as Conservative MP for Birmingham Aston to enable William Bridgeman, Home Secretary from April 1920 to July 1923 and who lost his Oswestry seat to the Liberals in the July 1925 general election, to return to the House of Commons. The by-election took place on 20 October 1925. The percentage votes received by each party were (July 1925 general election):
William Bridgeman (Conservative): 46.3 (49.6)
Labour: 35.1 (32.0
Liberal: 18.6 (18.4)
---------------------------------------------
Conservative majority: 11.2 (17.6)
---------------------------------------------

The Peterborough by-election was also held on 20 October. This was caused by the sudden death of David Boyle (Liberal) on 14 August 1925. The percentage votes for each candidate were:
Richard Winfrey (Liberal): 37.6 (36.6)
Conservative: 32.3 (34.6)
Labour: 30.1 (28.8)
----------------------------------
Liberal majority: 5.3 (2.0)
---------------------------------
Winfrey was born in 1902. His father was a Liberal MP until he retired at the general election.
 

pipisme

The by-election in Eccles caused by the death of John Buckle, was held on 29 January 1926. The percentage votes for each candidate were as follows:
Ellen Wilkinson (Labour): 47.8 (42.9)
Conservative: 28.3 (29.7)
Liberal: 23.9 (27.9)
--------------------------------------
Labour majority: 19.5 (13.2)
--------------------------------------

The by-election in Darlington caused by the death of William Edwin Pease (Conservative), took place on 17 February 1926. The percentage votes were:
Henry Betterton (Conservative): 39.5 (35.6)
Labour: 36.6 (33.8)
Liberal: 23.9 (30.6)
------------------------------------------
Conservative majority: 2.9 (1.8)
-----------------------------------------
Betterton was Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour in the last Government. He lost Rushcliffe to the Liberals in the general election.

There were two by-elections on 23 February 1926. Bothwell in Lanarkshire caused by the death of John Robertson (Labour), and Bradford South caused by the death of Herbert Henry Spencer (Liberal). The percentage votes were :
Bothwell:
John Biggar (Labour and Co-operative): 63.8 (62.2)
Conservative: 30.4 (30.9)
Liberal: 5.8 (6.9)
----------------------------------------------------
Labour and Co-op majority: 33.4 (31.3)
---------------------------------------------------
Bradford South:
Philip Guedalla (Liberal) : 47,2 (48.2)
Labour: 39.1 (36.7)
Conservative: 13.7 (15.1)
-----------------------------------
Liberal majority: 8.1 (11.5)
------------------------------------
Guedalla was born in 1889 and educated at Rugby School and Baliol College, Oxford. He was President of the Oxford Union Society in 1911. He qualified as a barrister in 1913. During the Great War he served as legal adviser to the Contracts Department, War Office and Ministry of Munitions. He lost his Derbyshire North-East seat to Labour in the 1925 general election.
 

pipisme

Mehmed VI became Sultan of the Ottoman Empire on 4 July 1918, following the death of his father, Mehmed V. (1) He reigned until his death on 16 May 1926, when he was succeeded by his first cousin, Abdulmejid II. Because the Ottoman Caliphate was not abolished, Mehmed and Abdulmejid were also caliphs.

The Grand Viziers (Prime Ministers) were as follows:
Ahmed Izzal Pasha: October 1917 to November 1917
Ahmed Levak Pasha: November 1917 to March 1919
Damat Ferid Pasha: March 1919 to September 1923. He resigned because of illness, and died on 6 October 1923.

(1) This was as in OTL.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Top