The decline of the Liberal party in the heart of England: the Liberals in Leicestershire, 1914-24

Abstract

This article uses the county of Leicestershire to examine the decline of the Liberal party from the outbreak of the First World War to the debacle of 1924, when they were reduced to forty M.P.s. It argues that while the crisis of December 1916 was the beginning of the split within the party, this was not inevitably permanent. It was the ‘Coupon’ election of 1918 that widened the division and brought about a political realignment which changed the electoral landscape. The article shows that at the crucial formative period of the greatly enlarged electorate, Liberalism was divided at the grass-roots, enabling the success of the Conservative and Labour parties.