Part 1-The Rise of Chamberlain
These Radicalised Isles; What if Joseph Chamberlain Became Prime Minister?
Part 1- The Rise of Chamberlain
By the 1880s the Liberal party, despite the apparent veneer of success, was harbouring a major split between two rival factions- the radicals and the moderate 'Whig' faction, with divergent views about whether the Liberals should pursue a policy of a radical transformation of Britain through universal male suffrage and broad sweeping reform or continue on a more moderate path. This split did not erupt into open conflict broadly due to the influence of Gladstone, who combined fiery, impassioned popular appeals such as in the Midlothian speeches. But this conflict could not stay concealed forever. The departure of Gladstone in 1884 was broadly anticipated (it was nearly 9 years after he had officially retired, after all), and driven by his declining health- a stroke forced his hand. His successor, William Harcourt, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, was also broadly expected, but he lacked the same ability to reconcile the rival factions and was attacked for having little of the charisma of his predecessor. Hartington was also seen as a probable candidate, but was not picked over his too overtly pro-Whig status and his inability to reconcile the radicals, and Harcourt was seen as a more unifying choice. The steady liberal consensus between the Peelites, Whigs and Radicals, however, would begin to unravel.
William Harcourt, Prime Minister 1884-86. His failure to reconcile divergent factions of the party or to handle the Irish Crisis have been cited by major historians as the primary reason behind the takeover of the Liberal Party by the Radical Faction and the resulting split of the Whigs.
Prime Minister Harcourt faced a challenging set of circumstances upon coming into office. Gladstone had left broadly unresolved the growing questions over the shape of the future governance of Ireland and over the franchise. In 1874 Parnell's party regarding Irish Home Rule had swept away the raft of Liberal MPs in Ireland and demanded full home rule for Ireland, a demand that was unacceptable to vast swathes of the Liberal party. The response to this had been fuddled through the administrations . Shocking murders in Phoenix park in 1882 by the Irish National Invincible had touched the government on a personal level- Hartington's elder brother had been murdered- and had led to the implementation of the Coercion Act. But the continuing agitation in Ireland as well as the large parliamentary influence of the Home Rule advocates meant that Ireland remained a live issue, with the Whig faction agitating for no compromise. Harcourt did cautiously continue negotiations with Parnell in line with the policy of his predecessor, but with much less vigour or commitment. The continuing debate about the franchise was also a thorn in Harcourt's side. A moderate improvement in the size of the franchise and more equitable distribution of seats was unveiled by Harcourt in 1884. However, Harcourt's abrasive and uncompromising manner meant that he broadly ignored concerns from the radicals that this was too much of a concession and he should go bolder, leading to their resignations, including of Joseph Chamberlain. Chamberlain used his new status on the background to go on a national campaign advocating for universal male suffrage, and even lords abolition, in a set of measures dubbed 'the unauthorised programme of the Liberal Party'- proposing sweeping educational and land reform, graduated taxation, universal male suffrage and universal, free-at-the-point-of access education. The resulting heated debate about the franchise brought, like the Midlothian campaign, renewed vigour to the radical faction of the liberal part- The National Liberal Federation, an outlet run by Chamberlain, saw explosive increases in membership with the success of the 'unauthorised programme'. With that increase came local strength, and more power over the selection of candidates, tilting power and public opinion towards the radical faction.
Despite the outcry that it didn't go far enough, the radicals voted in favour of the bill because it was 'better than no reform at all' although they pressed Harcourt to go further and the bill did pass. But Harcourt in the process had alienated the radical faction and was thus increasingly reliant on the Whig faction and the influence of Hartington was on the rise, with many accusing Harcourt of being a mere puppet. As such, it was very difficult for Harcourt to strike a deal with Parnell as the anti-Irish sentiment dominated among the Whig faction, and a lot of radicals too, such as Chamberlain himself, were opposed to any large concessions to the Irish, especially Home Rule. The Home Rule MPs ran out of patience and helped to vote through a budget amendment, which under confidence conventions forced Harcourt to resign and trigger a general election. The situation became markedly worse for Harcourt with the 1885 election. The campaign itself brought out all the worst qualities in Harcourt- a terrible campaigner, he constantly drew negative comparisons to the charisma of Gladstone. Chamberlain was running a shadow campaign concurrently, calling for much greater reform than the Harcourt sanctioned one, and aggressively backed candidates signing up. Harcourt raged privately against his lack of appeal compared to the insurgent campaign of Chamberlain, even though they were nominally in the same party- Chamberlain opted not to split as a takeover seemed more in sight.
The results of the 1885 election were a disaster for Harcourt's fragile control over the party. The Liberals won 303 seats, a loss of 49, and the Conservatives won 263- the Irish Parliamentary Party also had a very strong showing, winning 86 seats. This left the Liberals some 34 seats short of a majority. Harcourt was invited to form a minority government, but was deeply unstable. Empowered by the poor showing Chamberlain stepped up the pressure; Harcourt, however, lacked the negotiating abilities to properly reconcile the factions and in an abortive meeting with Chamberlain lost his temper and forced Chamberlain to leave. Harcourt wished to strike a deal with Parnell to secure his government, but this was made difficult by Harcourt's reliance on the anti-Irish Whigs, including Hartington, who by now exerted such influence that many radicals lambasted the Prime Minister as his puppet. The result of this was a swift return to the ballot box in 1886. Emboldened by the apparently faltering Harcourt, Chamberlain upped the ante, but the appearance of disunity as well as the continual personal unpopularity of Harcourt made for another difficult campaign for the Liberals.
In 1886 the Liberals were swept out of power and conservative majority government under Lord Salisbury took its place. The conservatives won 347 seats, enough to give them a narrow majority, whilst the Liberals sunk to 238. Despairing, Harcourt resigned the leadership. Although he expected the leadership to go to Hartington, Hartington- and the Whig faction- were by this point in the minority and massively unpopular in the Liberal Party- many Liberals, including more moderate minded MPs, thought that the over caution of the Hartington-Harcourt government had doomed it, and that the Liberal Party must reconnect with its roots and popular liberalism by embracing the radical faction if it was to win power again. Chamberlain worked tirelessly to offer concessions to uncertain MPs and signalled he was willing to work in a more reconciliatory manner, which was enough to give him the Liberal leadership instead of Hartington. Hartington and the Whigs were horrified, seeing Chamberlain as a dangerous radical. The Whigs did not accept this change in leadership, described as a 'coup by the nutters and the crackpots' , and quit the Liberal party altogether, with Hartington as its leader along with 37 other MPs, hoping to force the Liberals to change course. This, however, only served to crystallise the radical takeover of the Liberal party, entrenching Chamberlain and the radicals in power. By 1890, the situation had become hopeless for the Whig faction, and they agreed- reluctantly- to enter an electoral pact with the conservatives in the next elections.
Chamberlain used his leadership to continue to advocate for broad liberal radical priorities- including education for all, universal male franchise and safer working conditions with better remuneration. The continued growth of the NLF hurt Salisbury, who was increasingly seen as out of touch with the need for sweeping changes, a mere relic of a bygone era- his government was embarrassed further when Parnell was acquitted at trial. Chamberlain himself equivocated on the Irish issue, continuing to reject home rule but embracing an awkward half-way house which involved limited extensions of self-government without giving it comprehensive rights. He combined this with a break from Gladstone on foreign policy, embracing a more jingoistic, expansionist and aggressive approach to empire and even an imperial parliament- this annoyed some of his colleagues but delighted others, and helped to distract from his awkward stance on Ireland. By the time the 1892 election rolled around, the newly enfranchised voters under the 1884 act were receptive to Chamberlain's messages of radical reform and remuneration for workers, even dubbed 'socialism' by Chamberlain before he became leader- the barnstorming campaign contrasted with the sluggish campaign of Salisbury, who was seen as elitist and out of touch. As such, the Liberals returned to power in the 1892 election, winning 337 seats, one more than needed for a majority, to the Conservative-Whig 249. Reluctantly, Queen Victoria called upon Joseph Chamberlain to be Prime Minister, and he became Prime Minister on August 11th 1892.
Prime Minister Joseph Chamberlain. His tenure began with apparent promise for radical change of British society, but his jingoism, power-hungriness and racist attitudes to empire has dogged his legacy.
Joseph Chamberlain's rule began with apparent hope for a brighter, more optimistic future. However, even in the early days Chamberlain's own insatiable lust for power and apparent intoxication with the ideas of jingoism, an imperial federation and expansion of empire were evident, and would become increasingly evident as crises hit in Ireland and abroad, with terrible and dire consequences. A new, more radicalised, and unsettling era in British politics had begun.
-------- POD ---------
POD here is that Gladstone suffers a stroke in 1884, forcing him into retirement a decade earlier than the OTL (he was 75 and already announced he was resigning ten years earlier, and most of his colleagues thought he was about to resign at the time). The consequence of this, Joseph Chamberlain becoming PM, does interesting things to the Time line, not only because of the more radical conception at home, but because of Chamberlain's utterly abhorrent views abroad (many of you will be familiar with him as the architect of the Second Boer War OTL), so fair warning that this time line isn't going to be very hopeful- Chamberlain was an extreme racist who called for 'white superintendence' and a violent expansion in Britain's colonial holdings and rejected attempts to scale back the empire. He was also in favour of forming an 'imperial parliament' with the dominions and joining in alliance with Germany against France and was a dangerous megalomaniac. So this POD effectively chucks a grenade into British history, and I shall attempt to write up the fallout!
Part 1- The Rise of Chamberlain
By the 1880s the Liberal party, despite the apparent veneer of success, was harbouring a major split between two rival factions- the radicals and the moderate 'Whig' faction, with divergent views about whether the Liberals should pursue a policy of a radical transformation of Britain through universal male suffrage and broad sweeping reform or continue on a more moderate path. This split did not erupt into open conflict broadly due to the influence of Gladstone, who combined fiery, impassioned popular appeals such as in the Midlothian speeches. But this conflict could not stay concealed forever. The departure of Gladstone in 1884 was broadly anticipated (it was nearly 9 years after he had officially retired, after all), and driven by his declining health- a stroke forced his hand. His successor, William Harcourt, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, was also broadly expected, but he lacked the same ability to reconcile the rival factions and was attacked for having little of the charisma of his predecessor. Hartington was also seen as a probable candidate, but was not picked over his too overtly pro-Whig status and his inability to reconcile the radicals, and Harcourt was seen as a more unifying choice. The steady liberal consensus between the Peelites, Whigs and Radicals, however, would begin to unravel.
William Harcourt, Prime Minister 1884-86. His failure to reconcile divergent factions of the party or to handle the Irish Crisis have been cited by major historians as the primary reason behind the takeover of the Liberal Party by the Radical Faction and the resulting split of the Whigs.
Prime Minister Harcourt faced a challenging set of circumstances upon coming into office. Gladstone had left broadly unresolved the growing questions over the shape of the future governance of Ireland and over the franchise. In 1874 Parnell's party regarding Irish Home Rule had swept away the raft of Liberal MPs in Ireland and demanded full home rule for Ireland, a demand that was unacceptable to vast swathes of the Liberal party. The response to this had been fuddled through the administrations . Shocking murders in Phoenix park in 1882 by the Irish National Invincible had touched the government on a personal level- Hartington's elder brother had been murdered- and had led to the implementation of the Coercion Act. But the continuing agitation in Ireland as well as the large parliamentary influence of the Home Rule advocates meant that Ireland remained a live issue, with the Whig faction agitating for no compromise. Harcourt did cautiously continue negotiations with Parnell in line with the policy of his predecessor, but with much less vigour or commitment. The continuing debate about the franchise was also a thorn in Harcourt's side. A moderate improvement in the size of the franchise and more equitable distribution of seats was unveiled by Harcourt in 1884. However, Harcourt's abrasive and uncompromising manner meant that he broadly ignored concerns from the radicals that this was too much of a concession and he should go bolder, leading to their resignations, including of Joseph Chamberlain. Chamberlain used his new status on the background to go on a national campaign advocating for universal male suffrage, and even lords abolition, in a set of measures dubbed 'the unauthorised programme of the Liberal Party'- proposing sweeping educational and land reform, graduated taxation, universal male suffrage and universal, free-at-the-point-of access education. The resulting heated debate about the franchise brought, like the Midlothian campaign, renewed vigour to the radical faction of the liberal part- The National Liberal Federation, an outlet run by Chamberlain, saw explosive increases in membership with the success of the 'unauthorised programme'. With that increase came local strength, and more power over the selection of candidates, tilting power and public opinion towards the radical faction.
Despite the outcry that it didn't go far enough, the radicals voted in favour of the bill because it was 'better than no reform at all' although they pressed Harcourt to go further and the bill did pass. But Harcourt in the process had alienated the radical faction and was thus increasingly reliant on the Whig faction and the influence of Hartington was on the rise, with many accusing Harcourt of being a mere puppet. As such, it was very difficult for Harcourt to strike a deal with Parnell as the anti-Irish sentiment dominated among the Whig faction, and a lot of radicals too, such as Chamberlain himself, were opposed to any large concessions to the Irish, especially Home Rule. The Home Rule MPs ran out of patience and helped to vote through a budget amendment, which under confidence conventions forced Harcourt to resign and trigger a general election. The situation became markedly worse for Harcourt with the 1885 election. The campaign itself brought out all the worst qualities in Harcourt- a terrible campaigner, he constantly drew negative comparisons to the charisma of Gladstone. Chamberlain was running a shadow campaign concurrently, calling for much greater reform than the Harcourt sanctioned one, and aggressively backed candidates signing up. Harcourt raged privately against his lack of appeal compared to the insurgent campaign of Chamberlain, even though they were nominally in the same party- Chamberlain opted not to split as a takeover seemed more in sight.
The results of the 1885 election were a disaster for Harcourt's fragile control over the party. The Liberals won 303 seats, a loss of 49, and the Conservatives won 263- the Irish Parliamentary Party also had a very strong showing, winning 86 seats. This left the Liberals some 34 seats short of a majority. Harcourt was invited to form a minority government, but was deeply unstable. Empowered by the poor showing Chamberlain stepped up the pressure; Harcourt, however, lacked the negotiating abilities to properly reconcile the factions and in an abortive meeting with Chamberlain lost his temper and forced Chamberlain to leave. Harcourt wished to strike a deal with Parnell to secure his government, but this was made difficult by Harcourt's reliance on the anti-Irish Whigs, including Hartington, who by now exerted such influence that many radicals lambasted the Prime Minister as his puppet. The result of this was a swift return to the ballot box in 1886. Emboldened by the apparently faltering Harcourt, Chamberlain upped the ante, but the appearance of disunity as well as the continual personal unpopularity of Harcourt made for another difficult campaign for the Liberals.
In 1886 the Liberals were swept out of power and conservative majority government under Lord Salisbury took its place. The conservatives won 347 seats, enough to give them a narrow majority, whilst the Liberals sunk to 238. Despairing, Harcourt resigned the leadership. Although he expected the leadership to go to Hartington, Hartington- and the Whig faction- were by this point in the minority and massively unpopular in the Liberal Party- many Liberals, including more moderate minded MPs, thought that the over caution of the Hartington-Harcourt government had doomed it, and that the Liberal Party must reconnect with its roots and popular liberalism by embracing the radical faction if it was to win power again. Chamberlain worked tirelessly to offer concessions to uncertain MPs and signalled he was willing to work in a more reconciliatory manner, which was enough to give him the Liberal leadership instead of Hartington. Hartington and the Whigs were horrified, seeing Chamberlain as a dangerous radical. The Whigs did not accept this change in leadership, described as a 'coup by the nutters and the crackpots' , and quit the Liberal party altogether, with Hartington as its leader along with 37 other MPs, hoping to force the Liberals to change course. This, however, only served to crystallise the radical takeover of the Liberal party, entrenching Chamberlain and the radicals in power. By 1890, the situation had become hopeless for the Whig faction, and they agreed- reluctantly- to enter an electoral pact with the conservatives in the next elections.
Chamberlain used his leadership to continue to advocate for broad liberal radical priorities- including education for all, universal male franchise and safer working conditions with better remuneration. The continued growth of the NLF hurt Salisbury, who was increasingly seen as out of touch with the need for sweeping changes, a mere relic of a bygone era- his government was embarrassed further when Parnell was acquitted at trial. Chamberlain himself equivocated on the Irish issue, continuing to reject home rule but embracing an awkward half-way house which involved limited extensions of self-government without giving it comprehensive rights. He combined this with a break from Gladstone on foreign policy, embracing a more jingoistic, expansionist and aggressive approach to empire and even an imperial parliament- this annoyed some of his colleagues but delighted others, and helped to distract from his awkward stance on Ireland. By the time the 1892 election rolled around, the newly enfranchised voters under the 1884 act were receptive to Chamberlain's messages of radical reform and remuneration for workers, even dubbed 'socialism' by Chamberlain before he became leader- the barnstorming campaign contrasted with the sluggish campaign of Salisbury, who was seen as elitist and out of touch. As such, the Liberals returned to power in the 1892 election, winning 337 seats, one more than needed for a majority, to the Conservative-Whig 249. Reluctantly, Queen Victoria called upon Joseph Chamberlain to be Prime Minister, and he became Prime Minister on August 11th 1892.
Prime Minister Joseph Chamberlain. His tenure began with apparent promise for radical change of British society, but his jingoism, power-hungriness and racist attitudes to empire has dogged his legacy.
Joseph Chamberlain's rule began with apparent hope for a brighter, more optimistic future. However, even in the early days Chamberlain's own insatiable lust for power and apparent intoxication with the ideas of jingoism, an imperial federation and expansion of empire were evident, and would become increasingly evident as crises hit in Ireland and abroad, with terrible and dire consequences. A new, more radicalised, and unsettling era in British politics had begun.
-------- POD ---------
POD here is that Gladstone suffers a stroke in 1884, forcing him into retirement a decade earlier than the OTL (he was 75 and already announced he was resigning ten years earlier, and most of his colleagues thought he was about to resign at the time). The consequence of this, Joseph Chamberlain becoming PM, does interesting things to the Time line, not only because of the more radical conception at home, but because of Chamberlain's utterly abhorrent views abroad (many of you will be familiar with him as the architect of the Second Boer War OTL), so fair warning that this time line isn't going to be very hopeful- Chamberlain was an extreme racist who called for 'white superintendence' and a violent expansion in Britain's colonial holdings and rejected attempts to scale back the empire. He was also in favour of forming an 'imperial parliament' with the dominions and joining in alliance with Germany against France and was a dangerous megalomaniac. So this POD effectively chucks a grenade into British history, and I shall attempt to write up the fallout!
