How significant was The First World War in the Labour Party's rise to second-party status?

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Student No: 200368899        --        19:02:06

How significant was The First World War in the Labour Party’s rise to second-party status?

 

The formation of the Labour Party was a conglomeration of labour interests in various Trade Unions, and socialist societies of the 19th century at a time when Britain was at the height of its industrial expansion.  The prevailing struggle for labour representation in Parliament saw, in the first quarter of the 20th century, the unprecedented growth of parliamentary representation for the British workforce in the form of the Labour Representation Committee, or as it later became known, The Labour Party.  The First World War acted as a catalyst transforming Labour from third-party insignificance to the leading opposition in the House of Commons as well as a rapidly growing force in local politics.  Although it is clear that Labours transformation to second party status advanced as a result of the 1914-1918 War, it is equally clear that there were other forces at work determining Labours replacement of the Liberal Party as the leading opposition in British Politics indefinitely.

The effects of The Great War upon the British political landscape were substantial and provide a significant explanation for the changing face of British politics after 1918.  The Great War was a turning point for British society and the rest of the world in as much as it was the first instance in modern times whereby the concept of ‘total war’ was experienced.  Total War in the context of the First World War in Britain brought with it compulsory military service in 1916, which pushed the final number of men serving in the army in 1918 up to 4.5 million.  With the absence of manpower on the home front, women were called to the workplace to fill the void and the ‘war economy’ saw the Government initiate a program of nationalization on the major production industries to maximise efficiency and product indexes.  The human sacrifice displayed by the British population during The First World War did not go unnoticed by Parliament and the post war National Government did not waste time reforming the franchise in 1918.  The Representation of the People Act enfranchised almost all adult males over 21, regardless of class and lodging, and for the first time saw the vote given to adult women aged over 30.  Historians Matthew, McKibbin and Kay see the Fourth Reform Act as crucial to the rapid rise of the Labour Party, but Laybourn points out that timing was the key stating “it is simply nonsense to assume that all those male voters who were disfranchised before 1914 would have voted labour if they had had the opportunity.”  Laybourn points out that “the First World War was responsible for significant political and social change” creating the correct environment for Labour after 1918, and that enfranchisement merely reflected these changes.

The Fourth Reform Act was “the biggest working class enfranchisement ever to be legislated in Britain.”  It saw the electorate swell from 7 million to 21 million and Gordon Phillips believes that “a considerable majority of these new voters were drawn from the working class, and were at least within Labours reach.”  Labour increasingly emphasised their link with the working class, and their close affiliation with the rapidly expanding Trade Unions during the war gave them primary consideration for newly enfranchised working class voters after 1918. Labours success in catching the working class vote after the war coincided with the Liberals inability to appeal to a new and diverse electorate.  Furthermore at the 1924 election Macdonald manipulated the “Liberal-Conservative combination” as he called it, which “highlighted the inconsistency of the Liberals political stance.”  The Liberals failure to distance themselves from the Tory’s at the 1924 election demonstrated not only that they were a party increasingly affiliated with the right, but also that they were swiftly and inevitably becoming the third party of opposition to Labour who had fought all their elections independently since 1918.  Working class voters became disillusioned with the Liberals after the War due to the Lloyd George backing of the Conservative Coalition in 1918, and Liberal support for the Conservatives in 1924, fuelling their views that some Liberals were becoming incorporated with the right.  Indeed, as Laybourn points out, the working class became evermore “attached to the political ambitions of the Labour party” who rapidly became the main party of the left.  Phillips agrees, “Perhaps more than anything [Labour’s electoral progress] was owed to the party’s working class character”

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The notion that the Fourth Reform Act was the key reason for Labour growth after 1918 would be a misinformed viewpoint to subscribe to.  Michael Hart elaborates on this in his article “the Liberals, the War and the franchise” where he points out that areas of “low enfranchisement” before 1918, such as Birkenhead, Manchester, Cardiff and Swansea, still remained Liberal Majorities after 1918.  So what else allowed the Labour Party to consolidate itself as the new opposition?  A possible answer is apparent in the following statement; “After 1918 Labour was the party best able to exploit industrial unrest and ...

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