Sir Archibald Salvidge and the Failed Realignment of British Politics, 1918–1922

Abstract

On 19 October 1922, David Lloyd George’s Coalition government fell from office, bringing to an end four years of post-war co-operation between the Conservative Party and his Coalition Liberals. It was a remarkable turnaround in fortunes, as the post-war Coalition had won the 1918 General Election with a notional majority of 333. Over the intervening four years, there had been attempts to make the temporary coalition arrangement a permanent feature of British politics. However, in the final years of the Coalition, the Conservatives became increasingly disenchanted with government policy and with the personality of the Prime Minister. Nevertheless, some Tories fought for the continuation of the Coalition to the bitter end, and one of those politicians was the leader of the Liverpool Conservative Party, Sir Archibald Salvidge. Although Lloyd George’s Coalition government has been extensively examined by historians, the pivotal role that Salvidge played during these years has been overlooked. This article, therefore, provides the first contemporary examination of Salvidge’s efforts to make the Coalition agreement permanent, often against the wishes of both his own party’s rank-and-file and his supporters in Liverpool.