Keeping the British Liberal Party flag flying high

The Liberal Party manifesto for the October 1950 general election promised that a Liberal government would set up a Land Bank. This promise was fulfilled by the Agriculture Act 1952 which established a Land Bank. Its functions were the provision of cheap capital and credit for agricultural and development; the import of animal and poultry feeding stuff; the encouragement of regional marketing and co-operative machine-buying and reclamation of marginal land. [1]

In 1953 the Liberal-Socialist Labour coalition government introduced the principle of equal pay for women and men in the non industrial civil service, to be implemented over five years from 1954. However both parties were opposed to married women with young children working outside the home.

[1] This was in the Liberal Party manifesto for the February 1950 general election in OTL. See http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/man/lib50.htm under the heading 'The Nation's Food and Land'.
 
I love the timeline, but, OTL, Wilson wanted homosexuality decriminalised and appointed Wolfenden to chair knowing that he shared a like commitment, his own son having committed suicide when about to be outed over his own sexuality. His motives (indeed both their motives) were benign, but he was setting up (or fixing) a committee to deliver the result he wanted.
Lord Eustace Percy was not a politically adroit man and is much more likely to be a neutral chair and, if he did push for liberalisation, likely to antagonise parts of his committee and the press rather than bring it with him. Do you envisage a slower more gradual removal of legal disabilities on gay people? A more modest incremental change in the legal position?
 
I love the timeline, but, OTL, Wilson wanted homosexuality decriminalised and appointed Wolfenden to chair knowing that he shared a like commitment, his own son having committed suicide when about to be outed over his own sexuality. His motives (indeed both their motives) were benign, but he was setting up (or fixing) a committee to deliver the result he wanted.
Lord Eustace Percy was not a politically adroit man and is much more likely to be a neutral chair and, if he did push for liberalisation, likely to antagonise parts of his committee and the press rather than bring it with him. Do you envisage a slower more gradual removal of legal disabilities on gay people? A more modest incremental change in the legal position?

I'm glad you love this timeline.

In OTL the committee chaired by John Wolfenden was appointed by a Conservative government in 1954. The Sexual Offences Act 1967 was ten years after the committee reported and recommended the decriminalisation of homosexual behaviour between consenting adults in private. In this TL the committee chaired by Lord Eustace Percy will make its report in 1955, which will be either after, or months before, the next general election, for which I don't yet know the date or the result. However I'm inclined to have this TL's equivalent of the OTL Sexual Offences Act 1967 sometime in the late 1950s or early to mid 1960s. Among the members of the Percy Committee were a Conservative MP and a Liberal MP, and Mary Stocks who was a Socialist Labour senator. [1]

In October 1954 Spotlight, the flagship British Broadcasting Trust (BBT) current affairs television programme, produced by Anthony Wedgwood Benn, devoted an hour long episode to the issue of homosexual law reform. It included interviews with men who revealed that they were homosexuals and had been imprisoned for homosexual offences. In these interviews the identities of the men were kept hidden. There was a huge reaction to the programme, both for and against.

[1] Here is her biography in our TL: http://www.women.qmul.ac.uk/virtual/women/atoz/stocks.htm.
 
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Looked it up and you entirely right! My memory obviously at fault. Apologies!
Must have been Churchill or Eden, not Wilson. But the principle remains, from a book I read on the committee some years ago, it was "fixed" by whoever recommended the appointments to produce a specific set of recommendations. Policy based evidence making you might say. Conclusions were, as I said before, sensible and humane but committee largely set up to reach a predetermined result. Yours sounds like a more "genuine" committee of investigation so possibly might continue to regard homosexuality as a mental illness, despite (in all probability, most of the law enforcement and legal evidence pro decriminalisation and the Security Service keen to reduce chances of blackmail) recommending decriminalisation. Quite a lot of the medical evidence before Wolfenden inclined that way.
 
The Hargreaves is long running and popular radio soap opera on the BBT [British Broadcasting Trust]. The first episode was broadcast in January 1950 and there are now [in 2017] three half hour programmes a week, at 7.15 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and an hour and a half long omnibus edition every Sunday morning

It is the story of Sam Hargreaves and his wife Dorothy, who are sheep farmers in the fictional Yorkshire dale of Skeldale, and their children. The nearest village to the farm is the fictional Arnthwaite, some miles north-west of Leeds. The story lines include the Hargreaves daughters-in-law and sons-in-law, neighbouring farmers, people in Arnthwaite and Leeds, and their relationships. The programme has covered a wide range of social issues such as gay and lesbian relationships, transgender issues, pre-marital sex, divorce, rape, domestic violence, eating disorders, immigration and anything else you can think of. There has also been sheep stealing, a fire at the Hargreaves farm, and other agricultural disasters. [1] The BBT uses actors with Yorkshire accents as much as possible and appropriate.

[1] I expect the Hargreaves reminds readers of a well known BBC radio soap opera in OTL.
 
Here are the results of four by-elections between February and April 1953, which were all held by the defending party.

The Canterbury by-election caused by the resignation of John Peter White [Conservative] on 19 January 1953, took place on 12 February. The percentage votes for each candidate were as follows [October 1950 general election]:
Miss Patricia Hornsby-Smith [Conservative]: 54.9 [50.3]
Liberal Party candidate: 35.5 [38.6]
Socialist Labour Party candidate: 9.6 [11.1]
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Conservative majority: 19.4% [11.7%]
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The swing from Liberal to Conservative was 3.85%.

The Stoke-on-Trent North by-election was also held on 12 February. This was caused by the death of Albert Edward Davies [Socialist Labour] on 19 January. The result was as follows:
Mrs Harriet Slater [Socialist Labour]: 41.3% [42.0%]
Liberal Party candidate: 31.2% [33.6%]
Conservative Party candidate: 27.5% [24.4%]
--------------------------------------
Socialist Labour majority: 10.1% [8.4%]
--------------------------------------

The result of the Isle of Thanet by-election held on 12 March, caused by the resignation of Edward Carson [Conservative] in February 1953, was as follows:
William Rees-Davies [Conservative]: 56.2% [52.9%]
Liberal Party candidate: 28.5% [31.1%]
Socialist Labour Party candidate: 15.3% [16.0%]
-------------------------------------
Conservative majority: 27.7% [21.8%]
------------------------------------
There was a swing of 2.95% from Liberal to Conservative.

The Pontefract by-election caused by the death of Tom Smith on 27 February 1953, took place on 14 April. The result was as follows:
Roy Mason [Socialist Labour]: 47.2% [48.3%]
Liberal Party candidate: 33.7% [38.3%]
Conservative Party candidate: 19.1% [13.4%]
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Socialist Labour majority: 13.5% [10.0%]
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The result of the Bosworth by-election on 6 February 1952 caused by the death of George Ward [Liberal] was as follows [October 1950 general election]:
Stephen R. Cawley [Liberal]: 41.3% [45.4%]
Conservative candidate: 32.1% [26.7%]
Socialist Labour candidate: 26.6% [27.9%]
--------------------------------
Liberal majority: 9.2% [17.5%]
-------------------------------
Swing from Liberal to Conservative = 4.75%.
 
The Dorset North by-election caused by the death of Liberal MP, and one time cabinet minister, John Emlyn Jones on 3 March 1952 was held on 4 April 1952. It was a straight fight between Liberal and Conservative. The percentage votes for these parties were as follows [October 1950 general election]:
Colin Grant Campbell [Liberal]: 52.9 [59.3]
Conservative Party candidate: 47.1 [40.7]
------------------------------
Liberal majority: 5.8% [18.6%]
------------------------------
The swing from Liberal to Conservative of 6.4% was probably about the average mid term swing to the opposition party.

Sir Percy Harris who was Liberal MP for Bethnal Green South-west from 1922 to 1946, then for Bethnal Green, died 28 June 1952. He was a former Liberal Chief Whip and a junior minister. The by-election in Bethnal Green took place on 30 July 1952. Gwilym Edwards,the husband of Rosa Bancroft, who was last mentioned in post #1919 on page 96, was selected to be the Socialist Labour candidate. He and Rosa campaigned on the need for a strong Socialist Labour vote to keep the coalition government on its progressive and radical path.

The percentage votes obtained by each party in the by-election were as follows [October 1950 general election]:
Roy Ian Douglas [Liberal]: 51.5 [58.3]
Gwilym Edwards [Socialist Labour]: 42.1 [35.9]
Conservative Party candidate: 6.4 [4.2]
[Communist Party candidate 1.6]
-------------------------------
Liberal majority: 9.4% [22.4%]
------------------------------
The swing to Socialist Labour from Liberal of 6.5% can partly be explained by there being no Communist candidate and by the significantly high personal vote for Harris.

In OTL the Liberals did comparatively well in Bethnal Green. The polled 30.00% of the vote in the February 1950 general election and 20.67% in the October 1951 general election. Both times they came second to Labour.
 
The Liberal Party manifesto for the October 1950 general election promised that a Liberal government would give the people of Scotland and Wales the opportunity to vote in referendums on whether they wanted elected parliaments for their nations. In a referendum on 30 September 1931 the vote in favour of a Scottish parliament was 51.4% to 48.6% on a turnout of 68.3%. [1] However the bill providing for a Scottish government and parliament was rejected by the House of Lords on 19 February 1932. [2] Following the April 1932 general election, the Government of Scotland Bill was introduced in the House of Commons in Spring 1933, but was defeated on second reading on 25 May by 273 votes to 266 votes. [3] In a referendum on 1 March 1934 a Welsh parliament was rejected by 57.9% to 42.1% on a turnout of 73.5%. [4]

Now twenty or so years later the people of Scotland and Wales were given the opportunity to decide if they wanted parliaments and governments responsible to the parliaments. The questions in the referendums on Thursday 1 October 1953 were as follows:
Should there be a Scottish Parliament as proposed by the government?
Yes
No

Should there be a Welsh Parliament as proposed by the government?
Yes
No

The proposed Scottish and Welsh Parliaments would each be unicameral and would be responsible for all matters except those specifically reserved to the United Kingdom Parliament. They would not have power to raise direct taxation.

[1]See post #139 on page 7.

[2] See post #142 on page 8.

[3] See post #217 on page 11.

[4] See post #219 on page 11.
 
The referendums for a Scottish parliament and a Welsh parliament were held on 1 October 1953. The Liberal Party campaigned in favour of the parliaments and the Conservative Party against. The Socialist Labour Party was officially against, but a large minority, wanted a Scottish parliament, and a considerably smaller minority backed a Welsh parliament. Although Jennie Lee, the Minister of Housing and Local Government, was the only Socialist Labour cabinet minister who campaigned for a Scottish parliament, she had the support of three junior Socialist Labour ministers. The cabinet agreed that ministers would be allowed to campaign on opposing platforms for the referendums. Plaid Cymru and the Scottish Nationalist Party campaigned strongly for parliaments for their respective nations, but they were minor parties and both came fourth place in the October 1950 general election.

The results of the referendums were as follows:
Should there be a Scottish Parliament as proposed by the government?
Yes: 57.2%
No: 42.8%
The turnout was 81.4%.

Should there be a Welsh Parliament as proposed by the government?
Yes: 49.6%
No: 50.4%
The turnout was 76.1%.
 
In the case of Wales, a few more electoral cycles and there might be a parliament, judging by the relatively good result.

Keep it up, pip! :)
 
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The results of the Scottish and Welsh referendums were extensively covered in the press and broadcast media. All the party leaders gave their reactions. The Prime Minister, Megan Lloyd George, said that while she was delighted with the Scottish vote, she was disappointed that the Welsh people had very narrowly voted against a parliament for their nation. The Socialist Labour leader, Clement Attlee, said that the party would come together after the divisions over the referendums. The party in parliament would give full support to legislation establishing the Scottish parliament. The Conservative Party leader, Sir David Maxwell Fyfe, said that while the party respected the result of the referendum in Scotland, it was a proud unionist party and would always fight for the preservation of the United Kingdom. He asked why, when Scotland has its own parliament, should the MP for North Lanarkshire have the right to speak and vote in the House of Commons on matters which would be devolved to that parliament, while the MP for North Norfolk would not be able to do so. This became known as the North Lanarkshire question. He also asked if Scotland should still return 72 MPs to Westminster when it has its own parliament.

Gwynfor Evans, the president of Plaid Cymru, the Welsh Nationalist Party, said that while he was very disappointed with the result of the referendum in Wales, the party would keep on fighting for a Welsh parliament as the first step towards an independent Wales. He attacked the Socialist Labour Party as having betrayed the people of Wales. In the last month over seven thousand people had joined the party, many of whom had resigned from the Socialist Labour Party in disgust at their party's opposition to a Welsh parliament. Robert McIntyre, the leader of the Scottish National Party, said that a Scottish Parliament was only the first step in the journey to an independent Scotland.

The consensus among political commentators was that the first elections to the Scottish parliament would be held sometime in the spring of 1955. The new session of Parliament would begin on 27 October, with the Scottish Parliament Bill being debated in the House of Commons in November and December 1953, and perhaps in the following January after the Christmas recess. It would then go to the Senate, but elections to that body being held on 3 March 1954, it would be dissolved about four weeks previously. After the elections the Senate would sit for three or four weeks before rising for the Easter recess. Easter Sunday was 18 April 1954. So much of the Scottish Parliament Bill would not be debated by the Senate until May, and perhaps June, 1954. With the bill not becoming law until May or June 1954, the spring of 1955 was the earliest feasible time for the first election to the Scottish Parliament.

I have calculated the votes in the Sottish and Welsh referendums using the electorate in Scotland and Wales for the general election in May 1955 in OTL. In Scotland this was 3,387,536. The turnout in the referendum was 81.4% which would be 2,757.454. The vote for a Scottish parliament was 57.2% which is 1,577, 264. The vote against of 42.8% is 1,180,190. The majority for was 397,074.

The OTL electorate in Wales was 1,801,217. The turnout in the referendum was 76.1% which would be 1,370,726. The vote against a Welsh parliament was 50.4% which is 690,846, while the vote for was 49.6% which was 679,880. The majority against was 10,966.

Of course these would not have been the actual votes in the referendums but they would have been within thousands, or the low tens of thousands, of them.

In the October 1950 general election in this TL there were 38 Conservative MPs elected in Scotland, 17 Liberal and 17 Socialist Labour.
 
The results for the Scottish and Welsh referendums were counted by parliamentary constituencies. In Scotland 44 constituencies voted for a Scottish parliament and 28 voted against. Those which voted for were in Glasgow, though the safe Tory seats of Cathcart, Hillhead and Pollok voted against, most of the central belt and the highlands and islands, though Orkney and Shetland voted against. Those constituencies which vote against were those on the border, the Tory constituencies of Ayrshire North and Bute, and Renfrewshire South, and the north-east, except for Aberdeen North. Edinburgh was divided with four constituencies voting for and three against.

In Wales 17 constituencies voted for and 20 voted against. Those which voted voted were in the north, west and south-west, and safe Socialist Labour constituencies in Glamorgan such as Aberdare, Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda. The three Cardiff constituencies voted against as did those in Monmouthshire, and those bordering England, though Wrexham voted for.
 
The House of Commons debated the second reading of the Scottish Parliament Bill at the end of November 1953. It was a long and complex piece of legislation. It set out the powers of the Scottish parliament and listed those areas of policy which were reserved to Westminster. It provided for a Scottish government headed by a Chief Minister which would be responsible to the unicameral parliament. The members of the Scottish Parliament [MSPs] would be elected under the Additional Member System, with 73 constituency MSPs [the 72 Westminster parliamentary constituencies plus one MSP each for Orkney and for Shetland] and 48 list MSPs elected in eight regions with six members for each region, making a total of 121 MSPs. The eight regions were as follows: Central Scotland, Edinburgh and Lothian, Glasgow, Highlands and Islands, North-East Scotland, South Scotland, Strathclyde, and Tayside.
 
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