Chamberlains introduction of Tariff reform in 1903, in which goods imported would have a tax imposed on them unlike in free trade, showed government interference and went against the Liberals views of Free Trade

Fundamentally, the tariff reform not only imploded the Conservative party from the inside, it also ruined the image the public had of the Conservatives, this allowed the Liberals to step in and display a united front.

C) There are many factors that suggest the lack of Social reform by the Conservatives in the years 1900-1905 was the most important factor in explaining why the Liberals were "elected with an immense majority" in 1906. Social reform did have an impact on the voting of the British public. The working class, after the end of the Boer war, became increasingly impatient with the lack of reforms that were going to benefit them; The working people had "come of age" and were now looking for improvements in their living and working conditions. The 1906 election was the first election where the voters didn't have a major distraction, before there had been such subjects as Home Rule and the Boer War. Home Rule had allowed the Conservatives to focus on getting their policy on Home Rule correct to swing voters their way. When the Boer War was occurring, the British public focused more on the foreign policies of the parties rather than Homeland policies. Therefore, when there was no major distraction people tended to focus on what the Government was planning in the way of reforms for them, the public; in the Conservatives case they didn't offer a lot. Where the Conservatives were failing the Liberals took advantage, although their social improvements were extremely vague, they did offer more than the conservatives. Lack of Social reform however weren't the only reason why the conservatives lost out to the Liberals in such a major way.

Another major factor was the Education Act of 1902; this proved to be both Balfour's greatest political achievement and his worst. Arthur Balfour, against the wills of both Joseph Chamberlain and Lord Salisbury, pushed through a bill that proposed major changes to the Education service; school boards that had been set up in the 1980s were to be abolished in favour of LEA's. The education act was, in some ways a success, as it provided the basic ideal for the local administration of education for over 40 years, when the Act was instated the number of schools and pupils increased this was good for national efficiency. Politically, the Education Act didn't help the Conservatives, this was due to the fact that Arthur Balfour was extremely insensitive in the way he handled the religious issues within the Education system. Balfour angered non-conformists by offering rate-aid to CofE and CofW schools, non-conformists began abandoning the Conservative party; this shows that the conservative party were losing votes to the Liberals. Non-conformists began supporting the Liberals again. The education issue not only split the Conservative party along the line which separated Anglicans and Non-Conformists , it also helped to re-unite the Liberal party the non-conformists joined the Liberals in order to quash the act at the next election. Many people see the Education Act as the most important factor in helping the Liberals to win the 1906 election. On the other hand, the many historians believe that Tariff reform was the single most important reason for the Liberals success in 1906.

Tariff reform was first spoken about in a speech made by Joseph Chamberlain in 1903 in Birmingham, he announced that Great Britain should abandon free trade and start imposing taxes on goods imported into England. The taxes would be lower for goods within the empire and fundamentally it would bring the empire together and also protect the British industry from rising giants such as Germany and the U.S.A. when Chamberlain announced tariff reform he took up an issue which wasn't to be resolved within the Conservative Party for the next three decades, this allowed the Liberals to take advantage and launch their own campaign of keeping free trade; this is why many people believed that Tariff reform issue was the most important factor in cementing the Liberals success. The Conservative party weren't helped by the fact that Balfour was a very indecisive leader, he was one of many Mps that "sat on the fence" when asked about his thoughts on Tariff Reform. The indecision of their own leader made many Mps also unsure about their position meaning many left and converted to the Liberal Party. Balfour and Tariff reform, and the impact it had on the Conservatives and their voters, was much like what Gladstone and the Home Rule bill had on the Liberals and their voters; both lost the Parties precious votes and allowed the other to take advantage at that time. The Tariff reform did have a major impact on the way people voted, especially in the working where many people thought that jobs may be lost and that other countries would stop importing goods form England regardless of whether or not they were in the empire.

Tom Cheley 12MH 5/7/2007