Chapter 5 ‘Co-operation’ in the constituencies

The rising panic within the Coalition Liberal camp, partly as a result of Beaverbrook’s self-publicised shenanigans, did not prevent the maintenance of good harmony between the parties across most of the country at the local level. As Chris Wrigley has argued in his overview chapter on the history of Conservative-Liberal coalitions in British politics: ‘the Conservative Party’s rank and file and many MPs have not liked coalitions. They have suffered them in the hope that they serve to thwart Labour … or as staging posts between opposition and majority Conservative administrations’.¹ In 1922 both issues were at stake and, even beyond the ranks of Scottish and Lancashire Conservatives, there were party members who remained convinced of the need for continued co-operation, and Coalition Liberals prepared to meet them half-way.

For example, Coalition Liberal MP Hilton Young in Norwich appealed to Conservatives to back him against the Labour Party who he described as ‘The real enemy’.² He, and George Roberts (patriotic Labour) also faced a possible challenge from Asquithian Liberals. Similarly, in East Leicester there was a keen desire between Conservatives and Coalition Liberals to work together. The seat had been won for the Coalition Liberals in 1918, but at the by-election in 1922 caused by Sir Gordon Hewart’s³ entry into the House of Lords as Lord Chief Justice, the seat had fallen to the Labour candidate, partly because of the intervention of Ronald Allen⁴ for the Asquithian Liberals. There was an eagerness to ensure that Labour did not retain the seat at the general election. The desire for co-operation at Leicester East was noted in the national press:

Cooperation is a real thing in Leicester. Since the last election there has been an excellent relationship between the local Unionists and the Liberal followers to Mr. Lloyd George, and regret is expressed that it has been found necessary for the leaders to part company. The rank and file, however, show no disposition to embark on what they regard as a fratricidal conflict, and there is evidence of understanding, if not of actual formal compact.⁵

The desire to keep Labour out of Leicester East was seemingly shared by the Asquith Liberals, as Ronald Allen was persuaded that Leicester South and a straight fight against the Conservative candidate, might be a better bet.

The same desire for co-operation could be found in many other constituencies where Liberalism and Conservatism faced a strong challenge from the Labour Party. At Camborne in 1918, as a seat in which no coupon was issued, the Asquithian Liberal Francis Acland had beaten the Labour candidate by just 532 votes. Following the election, the Lloyd George Liberals and Conservatives of the constituency had come together to express their desire to secure for the next election a joint candidate more wholeheartedly in support of the principle of continued coalition under Lloyd George.⁶ As Acland made plans to stand for the Tiverton constituency the Lloyd George Liberals and Conservatives made plans to search for a new candidate. With the hard rock mining industry in and around Camborne and Redruth going through considerable difficulties, there was a good chance that Labour could break through at the polls. The selection of Sir William Beddoe Rees, Welsh non-conformist and architect, satisfied both camps, especially as he agreed to financially support both the Liberal and Conservative Associations.⁷ As the election got underway in the constituency, Sir John Green was careful to signal to local Conservatives that ‘local arrangements’ would continue in a seat where the Conservatives seemingly had no chance:

I daresay it is likely that what was known as the Coalition Liberal candidate will remain the candidate of the Camborne Division … If so, I have no doubt that the Unionists of the division will loyally abide by their past decision to give him their support … I hardly think the two forces will run separately in this division seeing that you have two other candidates – Mr. Leif Jones [Asquithian Liberal], who wants us all to drink tea, and the Labour candidate, who wants to nationalise almost everything.⁸

The one difficulty was that Beddoe Rees had already agreed to ‘jump ship’ and stand in Bristol South which was closer to his home and business interests in South Wales. Fortunately, an even better candidate had been found for the mining seat in the form of Captain Algernon Moreing, previously MP for Buckrose in Yorkshire, who was named as Coalition Liberal candidate for the division on 26 October.⁹ As a mining engineer with a distinguished war record, Moreing came across as a very credible candidate who could understand and represent the difficulties facing the mine owners and the miners. His pockets were deep enough to ensure financial support for both constituency associations.¹⁰

In some seats where the Conservatives were considered to have a good chance of taking the seat the sense of fair play and personal loyalties of the local party leadership limited the challenges facing sitting Coalition Liberal MPs. For example, in East Dorset where Freddie Guest faced the challenge of an unofficial ‘Conservative’ candidate secured by Beaverbrook, the local Conservative Association refused to endorse the press baron’s man. Guest had hinted strongly that he would support a future Bonar Law government if that was the outcome of the election, and the window of his party office in Poole displayed portraits of both Lloyd George and Bonar Law.¹¹ To many members of the local association it made no sense to split the anti-socialist revolt by endorsing a carpet-bagger outsider. Their resolve was underlined by a letter from Sir George Younger to the effect that without the support of the local association Beaverbrook’s candidate would receive no official party endorsement at either local or national level.¹²