Coalition Coupon

Last updated

The Coalition Coupon was a letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the 1918 United Kingdom general election, endorsing them as official representatives of the Coalition Government. The 1918 election took place in the heady atmosphere of victory in the First World War and the desire for revenge on Germany and its allies. Receiving the coupon was interpreted by the electorate as a sign of patriotism that helped candidates gain election, while those who did not receive it had a more difficult time as they were sometimes seen as anti-war or pacifist. The letters were all dated 20 November 1918 and were signed by Prime Minister David Lloyd George for the Coalition Liberals and Bonar Law, the leader of the Conservative Party. As a result, the 1918 general election has become known as "the coupon election".

Contents

The name "coupon" was coined by Liberal leader H. H. Asquith, disparagingly using the jargon of rationing with which people were familiar in the context of wartime shortages. [1]

Text of the letter

The letters all contained the same simple text:

Dear ...

We have much pleasure in recognizing you as the Coalition Candidate for (name of constituency). We have every hope that the Electors will return you as their Representative in Parliament to support the government in the great task which lies before it.

Yours truly,

D. Lloyd George

A. Bonar Law

Some coalition candidates included the wording of the letter in their election addresses. [2]

Recipients

Following confidential negotiations between Lloyd George's coalition Chief Whip, Freddie Guest, and George Younger, chairman of the Conservative Party, over the summer of 1918, it was agreed that 150 Liberals were to be offered the support of the prime minister and the leader of the Conservative Party at the next general election. [3]

According to the figures recorded in Trevor Wilson's book The Downfall of the Liberal Party, 159 Liberal candidates received the coupon. A few of these were Independent Liberals, supporters of Asquith. Of those Liberals receiving the coupon 136 were elected, whereas only 29 who did not receive the coupon were returned to Parliament. [4]

In addition to the Liberal and Conservative candidates who received the coupon, some letters were also sent to Labour supporters of the Coalition (although most were repudiated by the official Labour Party) [5] and some to members of the patriotic, working class party the National Democratic Party.

Impact on Liberal candidates

As Margaret Cole’s memoir of the time makes clear, many competent and patriotic candidates who did not receive the coupon, including sitting Liberal and Labour MPs, found themselves categorised as somehow anti-war or pacifist as a result. [6] Percy Harris, who had been MP for Harborough since 1916 recorded that once the coupon had been allocated to his Conservative opponent it was interpreted as a personal reflection upon him by his constituents who assumed he must have done something wrong for the Liberal Prime Minister to be seen offering his open support to a rival. [7]

Most historians have since agreed that the coupon essentially sealed the fate of those Liberals who were not fortunate enough to receive the Coalition's backing. Those Liberals that Lloyd George chose to abandon were left defenceless against Coalition candidates, who had a full claim on the spirit of national unity and patriotism that characterised Britain's war weary mood following the end of hostilities. [8]

The election result was catastrophic for these Asquithian Independent Liberals, who retained only 13% of their seats in the Coupon election. Only 28 were returned, and even Asquith lost the seat he had held in East Fife since the 1886 general election. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberal Party (UK)</span> Major political party in the United Kingdom from 1859 to 1988

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Conservative Party, in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Beginning as an alliance of Whigs, free trade–supporting Peelites, and reformist Radicals in the 1850s, by the end of the 19th century, it had formed four governments under William Gladstone. Despite being divided over the issue of Irish Home Rule, the party returned to government in 1905 and won a landslide victory in the 1906 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H. H. Asquith</span> Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916

Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith,, generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last Liberal Party prime minister to command a majority government, and the most recent Liberal to have served as Leader of the Opposition. He played a major role in the design and passage of major liberal legislation and a reduction of the power of the House of Lords. In August 1914, Asquith took Great Britain and the British Empire into the First World War. During 1915, his government was vigorously attacked for a shortage of munitions and the failure of the Gallipoli Campaign. He formed a coalition government with other parties but failed to satisfy critics, was forced to resign in December 1916 and never regained power.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1922 United Kingdom general election</span>

The 1922 United Kingdom general election was held on Wednesday 15 November 1922. It was won by the Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Andrew Bonar Law, which gained an overall majority over the Labour Party, led by J. R. Clynes, and a divided Liberal Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1918 United Kingdom general election</span>

The 1918 United Kingdom general election was called immediately after the Armistice with Germany which ended the First World War, and was held on Saturday, 14 December 1918. The governing coalition, under Prime Minister David Lloyd George, sent letters of endorsement to candidates who supported the coalition government. These were nicknamed "Coalition Coupons", and led to the election being known as the "coupon election". The result was a massive landslide in favour of the coalition, comprising primarily the Conservatives and Coalition Liberals, with massive losses for Liberals who were not endorsed. Nearly all the Liberal MPs without coupons were defeated, including party leader H. H. Asquith.

The Independent Liberal Party is a name used for the Parliamentary Liberal Party created in 1918 and led by H. H. Asquith, in opposition to the Coalition government led by the Liberal David Lloyd George. The Coalition candidates were marked at the 1918 election by the Coalition Coupon. In fact, the parliamentary party was not independent from the Liberal Party, of which it formed part. Rather, it was independent of Lloyd George. It was sometimes known by the epithet the Wee Free Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Stanton</span> British politician

Charles Butt Stanton was a British politician, who served as an Member of Parliament (MP) from 1915 to 1922. He entered Parliament by winning one of the two seats for Merthyr Tydfil at a by-election on 25 November 1915 caused by the death of Labour Party founder, Keir Hardie. After the two-member Merthyr Tydfil seat was divided into two single member seats, Stanton focused on the Aberdare division, which he won at the 1918 general election, but lost at the 1922 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Pringle (Liberal MP)</span> British Liberal Party politician

William Mather Rutherford Pringle was a Liberal Party politician in the United Kingdom who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1910 to 1918 and again from 1922 to 1924.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trevelyan Thomson</span> British politician

Walter Trevelyan Thomson was a British Liberal Member of Parliament, iron and steel merchant and soldier.

The 1920 Horncastle by-election was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Horncastle in Lincolnshire on 25 February 1920. The seat had become vacant when the sitting Coalition Unionist Member of Parliament, William Weigall, who had held the seat since 1911, resigned upon being appointed Governor of South Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vivian Phillipps</span>

Henry Vivian Phillipps was a British teacher, lawyer and Liberal politician.

The Aberdeenshire and Kincardine Central by-election was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire Central on 16 April 1919.

The 1920 Middleton and Prestwich by-election was a by-election held on 22 November 1920 for the British House of Commons constituency of Middleton and Prestwich in Lancashire.

The Maurice Debate was a debate in the British House of Commons which took place on 9 May 1918, during the First World War. A senior British Army officer, Major-General Sir Frederick Maurice, alleged that the War Cabinet had misled Parliament about troop strengths on the Western Front. The leader of the Liberal Party, H. H. Asquith, took up the allegations and attacked Prime Minister David Lloyd George, also a Liberal. The debate ripped apart the Liberal Party. While Asquith's attack was ineffective, Lloyd George vigorously defended his position, treating the debate like a vote of confidence. He won over the House with a powerful, if misleading, speech, rebutting all of Maurice's allegations. The debate did not cause the profound split in the Liberal Party, but did make it more visible and harder to heal. The main results were to strengthen Lloyd George, weaken Asquith, end public criticism of overall strategy, and strengthen civilian control of the military.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryland Adkins</span> English politician

Sir William Ryland Dent Adkins was an English barrister, judge and Liberal politician.

The Carlton Club meeting, on 19 October 1922, was a formal meeting of Members of Parliament who belonged to the Conservative Party, called to discuss whether the party should remain in government in coalition with a section of the Liberal Party under the leadership of Liberal Prime Minister David Lloyd George. The party leadership favoured continuing, but the party rebels led by Bonar Law and Stanley Baldwin argued that participation was damaging the party. The meeting voted decisively against the Coalition, which resulted in its collapse, the resignation of Austen Chamberlain as party leader, and the invitation of Law to form a Government. The Conservatives subsequently won the general election with an overall majority.

The National Liberal Party was a liberal political party in the United Kingdom from 1922–23. It was created as a formal party organisation for those Liberals, led by Prime Minister David Lloyd George, who supported the Coalition Government (1918–22) and subsequently a revival of the Coalition, after it ceased holding office. It was officially a breakaway from the Liberal Party. The National Liberals ceased to exist in 1923 when Lloyd George agreed to a merger with the Liberal Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Barton (British politician)</span> British politician

Sir Andrew William Barton was a British Liberal politician and businessman.

The 1917 Aberdeen South by-election was a parliamentary by-election for the House of Commons constituency of Aberdeen South comprising the local government wards in the southern part of the city of Aberdeen. The by-election took place on 3 April 1917.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Johnstone</span> Scottish politician

Joseph Johnstone was a Scottish Liberal politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1920 Camberwell North West by-election</span>

The 1920 Camberwell North West by-election was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Camberwell North West in the South London district of Camberwell on 31 March 1920.

References

  1. Wilson, Trevor (1966). The Downfall of the Liberal Party . Cornell University Press. p.  139.
  2. Roy Douglas, History of the Liberal Party: 1895–1970, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1971, p. 121
  3. Morgan, K. O. (1971). "Lloyd George's Stage Army: The Coalition Liberals, 1918–1922". In Taylor, A. J. P. (ed.). Lloyd George: Twelve Essays. Hamish Hamilton. p. 227.
  4. Wilson, op cit p. 393
  5. Powell, David (2004). British Politics, 1910–1935. Routledge. p. 80.
  6. Margaret Cole, Women of Today, Nelson & Sons, 1938 republished by Read Books, 2007, p. 126
  7. Percy Harris, Forty Years In and Out of Parliament, Andrew Melrose, 1949 p .76
  8. The 1918 coupon election, Liberal Democrat History Group website, 2008: http://www.liberalhistory.org.uk/item_single.php?item_id=58&item=history Archived 2010-07-29 at the Wayback Machine
  9. The Times, House of Commons 1919, Politico's Publishing, 2004, p. 10