Carlton Club Meetings (1911)

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The Carlton Club meeting , on November 13, 1911, was a formal meeting of MPs from the British Conservative Party . It took place in the eponymous Carlton Club in London , to elect the new chairman of the conservative party faction in the House of Commons after the resignation of party chairman Arthur Balfour . Balfour had given up his party leadership in early November 1911 after strong party criticism of his leadership style. Due to a stalemate between the two leading candidates Austen Chamberlain and Walter Long , internal negotiations and agreements between party managers and the leading candidates took place in the run-up to the meeting. As a result of these agreements, the compromise candidate and clear outsider Andrew Bonar Law was chosen as the new chairman of the conservative parliamentary group.

The Carlton Club, traditional meeting place for Conservative MPs

background

Since the death of Benjamin Disraeli in 1881, the leadership of the "Tories" was firmly in the hands of the House of Cecil ; first Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury , determined the fate of the party and then, since 1902, his nephew and previous adjutant Arthur Balfour . In December 1905 (as the last Prime Minister to date), he had voluntarily resigned the affairs of state due to internal upheavals in the conservative party and handed it over to the Liberal Party . The Liberals immediately called lower house elections , in which the Conservative Party suffered a heavy defeat. While the Liberals won 397 seats, the Conservatives fell back to just 156 seats. Not only did they lose many voters in their previous strongholds (such as south-east England, Lancaster and London), their share of voters in the British working class and middle class also collapsed. Even its chairman Arthur Balfour lost his parliamentary seat in East Manchester, which he had held since 1885. However, he was able to move back into the House of Commons some time later through a by-election in the City of London. In contrast, the liberals were now able to govern with a clear majority and began an extensive legislative program, which was fiercely opposed by the conservatives. With the help of their traditional majority in the House of Lords, the Conservatives blocked most of the liberal bills they had previously passed in the House of Commons . This led to the violent disputes over the so-called People's Budget 1909/1910: Due to the conservative blockade in the upper house, the liberal Asquith government tried to circumvent this with the help of a trick; traditionally, financial and budgetary issues were the very domain of the lower house and were not challenged by the upper house. The Liberals therefore bundled all of their legislative proposals into one large law, the annual draft budget. However, this draft budget was also blocked by the House of Lords, whereupon Prime Minister Asquith called new elections to break the stalemate and bring about a decision. The Conservatives lost two more general elections in 1910 ( January 1910 and December 1910 ) and the upper house, traditionally dominated by the Tories, lost its right of veto in the Parliament Act of 1911.

Arthur Balfour now came under the crossfire of criticism within his party. In particular, his handling of the crisis surrounding the Parliament Act provoked bitter criticism from his party's right wing. A circle around Lord Halsbury had called for total opposition regardless of all possible implications for the House of Lords; This wing was, in contrast to the moderate "Hedgers" (German: slackers), because of its uncompromising attitude as "Ditchers" or "Die-hards" (derived from the English phrase die in the last ditch , German about: fight to the bitter end ). Halsbury's group found increasing support for their demands in the conservative press. Under the slogan " BMG - Balfour must go " (German: Balfour must go), Lord Halsbury and other well-known Tories like FE Smith and Edward Carson agitated against Balfour's leadership. In addition, two members of Balfour's own family, Lord Hugh Cecil and Lord Robert Cecil, joined this group. Balfour himself showed himself to be relaxed for a long time, at least in public, but in September 1911 at a meeting in his Scottish country house the Chief Whip Lord Balcarres and the party manager Arthur Steel-Maitland to recognize that he would consider resigning. On October 7, 1911, the hardliners of the party formed the so-called Halsbury Club , which clearly had the objective of forcing Balfour to resign. Balfour himself informed Lord Lansdowne , leader of the Conservatives in the House of Lords, at the end of October that he was now determined to resign in order to prevent a possible break in the party. On the afternoon of November 8, 1911, Balfour announced his resignation to the public during an appearance in his constituency, City of London .

Unclear succession plan

At first there was absolute uncertainty about Balfour's successor, as there was no formal procedure for selecting a successor. In the opposition role, the leadership of the conservative party was divided between the leaders of the parliamentary groups in the upper house and lower house. In the past, the previous chairmen in the lower house were nominated by the recognized leader of the conservative party. This either sat in the House of Lords and thus selected his adjutant in the House of Commons (as Lord Salisbury had done with Balfour) or crowned his successor in this way. Only in 1846 had there been an open election, in which, however, Lord George Bentinck had been elected without an opposing candidate. On the one hand, Balfour had been the Conservative parliamentary group leader in the House of Commons, but as the last remaining former Conservative Prime Minister, he was also the natural leader of the party as a whole. A consensus quickly found within the conservative leadership circle was now to select Balfour's successor for the parliamentary group chairmanship in the lower house at a meeting of all conservative MPs. Balcarres therefore ordered all Conservative MPs (Members of Parliament) to meet at short notice at the Carlton Club on the following Monday, November 13, 1911. The Carlton Club, founded in 1832 by Tory peers , has long been the traditional private and social meeting place for the members of the Conservatives. By the mid-19th century, the Carlton Club had served as the headquarters of the Conservative party and had been the starting point for parliamentary initiatives by conservative backbenchers on several occasions.

Successor candidates

The natural successor candidates were Edward Carson, Austen Chamberlain and Walter Long . Carson immediately declared, however, not to run.

Austen Chamberlain represented Joseph Chamberlain's positions as the son of Joseph Chamberlain . In the past few years he had been one of the leading supporters of Lord Halsbury and at the same time stood for the Liberal Unionists who u. a. advocated a reform of tariffs and against home rule in Ireland and at this point were almost entirely merged with the Conservative Party. He could count on the support of many customs reformers. Chamberlain also had the support of many notable grandees of the Conservatives.

Walter Long, an impulsive man with little understanding of economic issues, was a typical representative of old rural England, which for a long time not only formed the backbone of the Tories, but also served as Long's supporters. This consisted largely of the numerous backbenchers of the party. In the debate about the Parliament Act, Long was rather aloof from the hardliners around Lord Halsbury and spoke out against protectionism . While Chamberlains represented the progressive wing of the party, Long represented the right wing of the party.

As the third - and clear outsider - Andrew Bonar Law surprisingly decided to run on Thursday, November 9th. Law saw himself as hopeless in this election; The main purpose of his candidacy was to express his higher ambitions and to bring himself into play as a possible candidate for a subsequent vacancy in the future.

Previous calculations and agreements in the management circle

Due to the late candidacy of the outsider Bonar Law, the outcome of the election appeared completely uncertain in advance. While Bonar Law had only about 40 supporters among the approximately 280 members of the House of Commons, the remaining votes were roughly evenly divided between Chamberlain and Long. A personal enmity between Long and Chamberlain made the situation more difficult. Both Long and Chamberlain were determined to keep the other from winning. Although Long was denied personal qualifications for a leading role, he had ample support and appeared to be a favorite; Several Longs supporters announced in advance that, should Long, contrary to expectations, be eliminated in the first ballot, they would support Andrew Bonar Law in a subsequent runoff election. Conversely, Chamberlain was also inclined to install Bonar Law rather than Balfour's successor in order to prevent Long. Bonar Law himself leaned toward Chamberlain's group in a runoff election. Chief Whip Balcarres was primarily interested in preventing an open bitter dispute between the wings and possible lasting rifts. Therefore, after an informal questioning beforehand, his plan was to persuade the candidate (s) who had no chance to retreat and thus prevent a vote in battle. Unsure of his chances, Chamberlain informed Balcarres on November 10, 1911 that he would withdraw his candidacy in favor of Bonar Law if Long did so too. Balcarres, as negotiator, informed Long about Chamberlain's offer and found Long immediately ready to forego a fight vote as well. To Balcarres' surprise, however, Bonar Law was not immediately ready to endorse this agreement and initially hesitated to take over the chairmanship of the Conservative parliamentary group before a personal meeting with Chamberlain persuaded him to agree.

The meeting

At noon on November 13, 1911, the meeting took place in the Carlton Club, all of the processes and details of which had now been choreographed in advance by the party managers. Former Minister Henry Chaplin presided over the meeting as chairman . Long was the first to give a brief speech about the reasons for his withdrawal from the candidacy and instead proposed Andrew Bonar Law as the new leader of the party faction. Chamberlain then seconded him in the same way in his own speech. Edward Carson, who had also been traded as a possible candidate, was then dispatched to bring in Bonar Law, waiting in another room, who was received with great applause and unanimously elected by the 232 MPs present. In his speech he swore the party to take a unified stance in the face of the coming parliamentary disputes; He admitted his lack of experience in higher offices and therefore asked those present for their unreserved support for the coming arguments.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Robert Blake: The Conservative Party from Peel to Major. Faber and Faber, London 1997, p. 167.
  2. ^ Roy Jenkins: Mr. Balfour's Poodle. Bloomsbury Reader, London 2012, p. 1.
  3. ^ Robert Blake: The Conservative Party from Peel to Major. Faber and Faber, London 1997, p. 184 f.
  4. ^ ET Raymond: A Life of Arthur James Balfour. Little, Brown and Company, London 1920. p. 157.
  5. ^ Roy Jenkins: Mr. Balfour's Poodle. Bloomsbury Reader, London 2012, p. 9 f.
  6. ↑ Ewen Green: Balfour (20 British Prime Ministers of the 20th Century). Haus Publishing Ltd., London 2006, p. 73 ff.
  7. ^ Roy Jenkins: Mr. Balfour's Poodle. Bloomsbury Reader, London 2012, p. 190.
  8. ^ Roy Jenkins: Mr. Balfour's Poodle. Bloomsbury Reader, London 2012, p. 264 ff.
  9. ↑ RJQ Adams: Bonar Law. Stanford University Press, 1999, p. 54.
  10. ↑ Stephen Bates: Asquith. (20 British Prime Ministers of the 20th Century) . Haus Publishing Ltd., London 2006, p. 68.
  11. ^ Roy Jenkins: Mr. Balfour's Poodle. Bloomsbury Reader, London 2012, p. 221.
  12. ^ Robert Blake: The Unknown Prime Minister: The Life and Times of Andrew Bonar Law, 1858-1923. Eyre and Spottiswoode, London 1955. pp. 71 f.
  13. ^ Sydney H. Zebel: Balfour. A political biography. Cambridge University Press, London 1973. p. 171.
  14. ^ Roy Jenkins: Mr. Balfour's Poodle. Bloomsbury Reader, London 2012, p. 269.
  15. ^ ET Raymond: A Life of Arthur James Balfour. Little, Brown and Company, London 1920. p. 197.
  16. ^ Robert Blake: The Conservative Party from Peel to Major. Faber and Faber, London 1997, p. 193.
  17. ^ Robert Blake: The Unknown Prime Minister: The Life and Times of Andrew Bonar Law, 1858-1923. Eyre and Spottiswoode, London 1955. p. 76.
  18. ^ Seth Alexander Thévoz: Club Government: How the Early Victorian World Was Ruled from London Clubs. IB Tauris, London 2018.
  19. ^ Robert Blake: The Conservative Party from Peel to Major. Faber and Faber, London 1997, p. 137 ff.
  20. ^ Robert Blake: The Conservative Party from Peel to Major. Faber and Faber, London 1997, p. 193 f.
  21. ^ Douglas Hurd, Choose your Weapons: The British Foreign Secretary . Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 2010, p. 260.
  22. ↑ RJQ Adams: Bonar Law. Stanford University Press, 1999, p. 57.
  23. ^ Robert Blake: The Unknown Prime Minister: The Life and Times of Andrew Bonar Law, 1858-1923. Eyre and Spottiswoode, London 1955. p. 72.
  24. ^ Robert Blake: The Unknown Prime Minister: The Life and Times of Andrew Bonar Law, 1858-1923. Eyre and Spottiswoode, London 1955. p. 73.
  25. ^ Robert Blake: The Conservative Party from Peel to Major. Faber and Faber, London 1997, p. 194.
  26. ^ Robert Blake: The Unknown Prime Minister: The Life and Times of Andrew Bonar Law, 1858-1923. Eyre and Spottiswoode, London 1955. p. 77.
  27. ↑ RJQ Adams: Bonar Law. Stanford University Press, 1999, p. 59.
  28. ^ Robert Blake: The Unknown Prime Minister: The Life and Times of Andrew Bonar Law, 1858-1923. Eyre and Spottiswoode, London 1955. pp. 77 f.
  29. ^ Roy Jenkins: Mr. Balfour's Poodle. Bloomsbury Reader, London 2012, p. 270.
  30. ^ Robert Blake: The Unknown Prime Minister: The Life and Times of Andrew Bonar Law, 1858-1923. Eyre and Spottiswoode, London 1955. p. 78.
  31. ^ Robert Blake: The Unknown Prime Minister: The Life and Times of Andrew Bonar Law, 1858-1923. Eyre and Spottiswoode, London 1955. p. 83.
  32. ^ Robert Blake: The Unknown Prime Minister: The Life and Times of Andrew Bonar Law, 1858-1923. Eyre and Spottiswoode, London 1955. p. 84.
  33. ^ Robert Blake: The Unknown Prime Minister: The Life and Times of Andrew Bonar Law, 1858-1923. Eyre and Spottiswoode, London 1955. p. 85.
  34. ↑ RJQ Adams: Bonar Law. Stanford University Press, 1999, p. 64.
  35. ^ Robert Blake: The Unknown Prime Minister: The Life and Times of Andrew Bonar Law, 1858-1923. Eyre and Spottiswoode, London 1955. pp. 85 f.