This story is all based on the point of divergence starting with the 1917 Speaker's Conference, which recommended implementing proportional representation in British general elections. In the event, this was defeated in the Commons. The point of divergence is that Lloyd George backs the reform, winning over enough for it to be included in the Representation of the People Act 1918. And thus the story goes.
Chapter I: The Goat
The play begins on December 14th, 1918.
This was the day of the Khaki Election, arguably the first great realigning election. Its name was fitting; every town from Wolverhampton to Waterford was populated with the crowds of uniformed ex-servicemen, some with missing limbs, some blinded. It was an omnipresent reminder of the Great War, which had ended just a month earlier. Ten percent of the workforce lay dead; 723,000 men, with triple that number wounded. No city in Britain would be spared the sight of crippled beggars on their streets. Yet victory, wholly unexpected when it came, was met with euphoria, celebrated according to legend with open copulation in the streets.
In this shadow came the first general election since 1910. This election would be a first for many reasons, not least because of a particular piece of legislation passed earlier in the year. The Representation of the People Act 1918, often known simply as the Fourth Reform Act, which brought the franchise to all men over 21, women over 30, and replaced Britain’s electoral system, an antiquated and unfair model called First Past the Post which inflated the seat count of the big parties and deflated that of the smaller ones, with a new proportional model known as the Single Transferable Vote, replacing Britain's 707 constituencies with 141 5-member ones, leaving 705 seats available.
The man at the front of it all was Britain’s wartime leader, David Lloyd George, whom Conservatives referred to as “the Goat.” Lloyd George, still with near dictatorial wartime powers, was a hero, the man who won the war. He had become Prime Minister in 1916, widely thought the best chance of bringing victory, replacing his rather ineffective Liberal predecessor, Herbert Asquith. Despite his own personal triumph, Lloyd George’s Liberal Party were in dire straits. The expansion of the franchise to many working class men in 1867 and 1884 had gradually begun to squeeze the party, and the Liberals were split in two between those supporting Asquith and those behind the Goat. Those supporting Asquith even sat on the Opposition benches. This split was finalised in the 1918 Maurice debate, effectively a vote of no confidence in Lloyd George in which Asquith himself, still technically leader of a single unified party, and many Liberals opposed the Prime Minister. The vote failed, and so did any cohesion within the Liberals. They were, in all but name, two parties.
The Khaki Election itself demonstrated the vast changes in Britain. 705 seats were available in the Commons, with 353 needed for a majority. The Conservatives, under a Canadian called Andrew Bonar Law, came first with 283 seats. To the shock of many, and dismay of those Liberals and Conservatives who had reluctantly approved proportional representation, Labour roared to second place. They leaped from 42 seats to 163, a remarkable achievement. The Labour leader, William Adamson, a Baptist Scottish miner from Fife, later wrote of his “giddy, childlike euphoria” at the realisation that it would be he standing at the despatch box at the head of His Majesty’s Opposition. Those Liberals who had stood behind David Lloyd George came in third place, with 113 seats, while 99 seats went to Asquith’s allies. In Ireland, the radical Sinn Féin captured nearly half of the 105 seats available, 50, while the Irish Unionists won 26, and the Irish Parliamentary Party won 20. The number of unionist and separatist MPs from Ireland were virtually equally split, but it hardly mattered when it came to Ireland’s future. Smaller parties such as the National Democrats won 13 while the National Socialists (a centre-left social democratic party, despite its name), won MPs in all four constituencies they stood in, among them Jack Jones, later described as “the wittiest man in the Commons.”
The nature of proportional representation meant that seats were given even to those parties who won a fraction of a percentage of the vote. Nine parties won a single seat, most famously the Women’s Party which propelled the internationally famous Christabel Pankhurst into the Commons, where she would remain for almost forty years as one of the five members representing the Staffordshire constituency of Sandwell. Other parties to secure single seats included the left wing Highland Land League, which would eventually morph into the Scottish National Party, coming second in Argyllshire, while the National Association of Discharged Sailors and Soldiers and Socialist Labour also secured single seats. But of course, of far greater significance was the major parties formed.
The Khaki Election is also often known as the Coupon Election, after Lloyd George and the Conservative leader Andrew Bonar Law sent out “coupons” to all those MPs who had supported the wartime coalition. The coupon endorsed them as official representatives of the coalition. Receiving it was widely seen as a sign of patriotism, and condemned those who did not receive it to be regarded as anti-war or pacifists at a time of great patriotism. Not a single Asquith Liberal received one, while plenty of Conservatives did so. The Conservatives did not oppose those Liberals with the coupon, as Lloyd George intended to keep the wartime coalition in place despite irritation among many Conservatives that the Prime Minister had gone against them on the question of electoral reform. Some argued forcefully that the triumph of Labour to second place proved that they were right. Winston Churchill roared that “with one piece of legislation, we have put Bolsheviks within range of Downing Street.” But power was still open to the Conservatives. So it was that, despite the fact that Lloyd George and his allies came third, the election was still an endorsement of the Coalition and thus it would govern.
The new coalition took shape the very next day. Despite the fact that the Conservatives under Bonar Law were the largest party, David Lloyd George was to remain as Prime Minister. All 13 elected MPs from the National Democratic Party and 2 members of Labour also joined the coalition, for an eventual tally of 411 seats, a majority of 167 when taking into account the boycotting Irish MPs.
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Chapter I: The Goat
The play begins on December 14th, 1918.
This was the day of the Khaki Election, arguably the first great realigning election. Its name was fitting; every town from Wolverhampton to Waterford was populated with the crowds of uniformed ex-servicemen, some with missing limbs, some blinded. It was an omnipresent reminder of the Great War, which had ended just a month earlier. Ten percent of the workforce lay dead; 723,000 men, with triple that number wounded. No city in Britain would be spared the sight of crippled beggars on their streets. Yet victory, wholly unexpected when it came, was met with euphoria, celebrated according to legend with open copulation in the streets.
In this shadow came the first general election since 1910. This election would be a first for many reasons, not least because of a particular piece of legislation passed earlier in the year. The Representation of the People Act 1918, often known simply as the Fourth Reform Act, which brought the franchise to all men over 21, women over 30, and replaced Britain’s electoral system, an antiquated and unfair model called First Past the Post which inflated the seat count of the big parties and deflated that of the smaller ones, with a new proportional model known as the Single Transferable Vote, replacing Britain's 707 constituencies with 141 5-member ones, leaving 705 seats available.
The man at the front of it all was Britain’s wartime leader, David Lloyd George, whom Conservatives referred to as “the Goat.” Lloyd George, still with near dictatorial wartime powers, was a hero, the man who won the war. He had become Prime Minister in 1916, widely thought the best chance of bringing victory, replacing his rather ineffective Liberal predecessor, Herbert Asquith. Despite his own personal triumph, Lloyd George’s Liberal Party were in dire straits. The expansion of the franchise to many working class men in 1867 and 1884 had gradually begun to squeeze the party, and the Liberals were split in two between those supporting Asquith and those behind the Goat. Those supporting Asquith even sat on the Opposition benches. This split was finalised in the 1918 Maurice debate, effectively a vote of no confidence in Lloyd George in which Asquith himself, still technically leader of a single unified party, and many Liberals opposed the Prime Minister. The vote failed, and so did any cohesion within the Liberals. They were, in all but name, two parties.
The Khaki Election itself demonstrated the vast changes in Britain. 705 seats were available in the Commons, with 353 needed for a majority. The Conservatives, under a Canadian called Andrew Bonar Law, came first with 283 seats. To the shock of many, and dismay of those Liberals and Conservatives who had reluctantly approved proportional representation, Labour roared to second place. They leaped from 42 seats to 163, a remarkable achievement. The Labour leader, William Adamson, a Baptist Scottish miner from Fife, later wrote of his “giddy, childlike euphoria” at the realisation that it would be he standing at the despatch box at the head of His Majesty’s Opposition. Those Liberals who had stood behind David Lloyd George came in third place, with 113 seats, while 99 seats went to Asquith’s allies. In Ireland, the radical Sinn Féin captured nearly half of the 105 seats available, 50, while the Irish Unionists won 26, and the Irish Parliamentary Party won 20. The number of unionist and separatist MPs from Ireland were virtually equally split, but it hardly mattered when it came to Ireland’s future. Smaller parties such as the National Democrats won 13 while the National Socialists (a centre-left social democratic party, despite its name), won MPs in all four constituencies they stood in, among them Jack Jones, later described as “the wittiest man in the Commons.”
The nature of proportional representation meant that seats were given even to those parties who won a fraction of a percentage of the vote. Nine parties won a single seat, most famously the Women’s Party which propelled the internationally famous Christabel Pankhurst into the Commons, where she would remain for almost forty years as one of the five members representing the Staffordshire constituency of Sandwell. Other parties to secure single seats included the left wing Highland Land League, which would eventually morph into the Scottish National Party, coming second in Argyllshire, while the National Association of Discharged Sailors and Soldiers and Socialist Labour also secured single seats. But of course, of far greater significance was the major parties formed.
The Khaki Election is also often known as the Coupon Election, after Lloyd George and the Conservative leader Andrew Bonar Law sent out “coupons” to all those MPs who had supported the wartime coalition. The coupon endorsed them as official representatives of the coalition. Receiving it was widely seen as a sign of patriotism, and condemned those who did not receive it to be regarded as anti-war or pacifists at a time of great patriotism. Not a single Asquith Liberal received one, while plenty of Conservatives did so. The Conservatives did not oppose those Liberals with the coupon, as Lloyd George intended to keep the wartime coalition in place despite irritation among many Conservatives that the Prime Minister had gone against them on the question of electoral reform. Some argued forcefully that the triumph of Labour to second place proved that they were right. Winston Churchill roared that “with one piece of legislation, we have put Bolsheviks within range of Downing Street.” But power was still open to the Conservatives. So it was that, despite the fact that Lloyd George and his allies came third, the election was still an endorsement of the Coalition and thus it would govern.
The new coalition took shape the very next day. Despite the fact that the Conservatives under Bonar Law were the largest party, David Lloyd George was to remain as Prime Minister. All 13 elected MPs from the National Democratic Party and 2 members of Labour also joined the coalition, for an eventual tally of 411 seats, a majority of 167 when taking into account the boycotting Irish MPs.
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The other nine seats went to 3 Independents, 4 Co-Operatives, 1 Agriculturalist, and 1 Independent Nationalist. Asquith was able to keep his seat in this timeline, despite being shunted to third place.
