National Liberal Party (UK, 1922)
The National Liberal Party was a liberal political party in the United Kingdom from 1922 to 1923. 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.
National Liberal Party
19 January 1922
13 November 1923
Coalition Liberals, National Democratic Party
Lloyd George Liberal Magazine
History[edit]
Origin[edit]
The "Coalition Coupon", often referred to as "the coupon", referred to the letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the 1918 general election, endorsing them as official representatives of the Coalition Government. The overdue 1918 general election took place in the heady atmosphere of victory following the First World War and the desire for revenge against Germany and its allies. Receiving the coupon was interpreted by the electorate as a sign of patriotism that helped candidates be elected, while those who did not receive it had a more difficult time as they were sometimes seen as being 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'.
The letters all contained the same simple text:
Legacy[edit]
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.[7] Sir 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.[8]
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.[9]
The election result was catastrophic for these Asquithian Liberals, who were decimated 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.[10] Though the Liberal and National Liberals fought the 1923 election as one party, the political legacy of these earlier divisions would remain under the surface and re-emerge in the British economic and political crisis of 1931.