The Origins of the National Liberal Federation

Abstract

-ff_HE National Liberal Federation, or caucus, as it was popularly I known, is regarded by students of British politics as the source of modern popular party organization. In the I870's and i88o's it revolutionized the practice of politics and nullified many of the results expected from the general extension of the suffrage. Yet little attention has been paid to the origins of the federation. thesis of Moise Ostrogorski, developed in an article entitled The introduction of the caucus into England,, and repeated in his elaborate work Democracy and the organization of political parties,2 has generally been accepted without criticism. Ostrogorski's argument ran as follows: In I867 the house of lords amended Disraeli's Reform Bill to ensure minority representation in the four largest English boroughs. Where three members were to be chosen, electors received two votes, so that a minority concentrating on a single candidate would have a fair chance to win one of the seats. Liberals determined to secure all three seats for their borough. even division of their strength among three candidates required an elaborate organization, which did not exist in the old Liberal party. Electors in each ward were carefully instructed as to which two of the three candidates to support. plan succeeded. Liberal vote was divided evenly, and three Liberals were returned in i868. new organizationthe caucus-failed to carry the school board elections of i870 but was revived inl I873 by Joseph Chamberlain and Francis Schnadhorst to gain control of the municipal council. usefulness of the caucus in parliamentary elections led to the extension of the Birmingham Plan throughout the country. Many large or 400's,) were established on a representative basis, especially after the defeat of the Liberals in 1874. When Disraeli's Eastern policy gave an opportunity for national agitation against the Conservative government, the unanimity with which Liberals lent their support suggested the idea of a permanent national organization. As a result, a conference of Liberal associations at formed the National Liberal Federation in I877. Ostrogorski's explanation attempted to account for the two distinctive features of the caucus-the local associations, formed on a representative basis, and the permanent national federation, ready to agitate on any issue of political consequence. former was derived, Ostrogorski contended, from the opposition in to minority representation; the latter, from the ambitions of Chamberlain at the time the Eastern question was a major issue. thesis was simple, but it exaggerated the importance of minority representation and was mistaken in regarding opposition to Disraeli's Eastern policy as the cause of the national organization. It is true that the minority representation clauses of the Reform Act of I867 led to increased activity in Birmingham, I Political science quarterly, VIII (I893), 2873I6.