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National Party | |
|---|---|
| Founder | Oliver Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill Sir Richard Cooper, 2nd Baronet Henry Page Croft |
| Founded | August 1917 |
| Ideology | Germanophobia |
| Political position | Right-wing tofar-right |
TheNational Party was a short-lived British political party created in August 1917 as aright-wing split from theConservative Party.[1]
The party was formed at the height of the First World War, by theLiberal Unionist peerLord Ampthill, SirRichard Cooper and SirHenry Page Croft. Its members took a particularlyxenophobic line on the war and were also strongly opposed to the sale of honours. This was reflected in their aims, as outlined in the party'smanifesto:[1]
Several Conservative MPs joined the party, including ColRichard Hamilton Rawson,Alan Burgoyne,Douglas George Carnegie, Cooper, Croft,Viscount Duncannon andRowland Hunt. At its peak in 1917, the party had seven MPs and eleven peers.[2]
The newly formed party sought to widen its membership to include "men and women from all parties, not only in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, but throughout the British Empire".[1]Liberal Unionist Party MPEdward Fitzroy and former Liberal MPsEdmund Broughton Barnard andThomas Kincaid-Smith also joined, as didJohn Jenkins, the former premier of South Australia.
The party was supported by the trade unionistJoseph Havelock Wilson of theNational Democratic and Labour Party, though he was never formally a member, as well as the economistsWilliam Cunningham andHerbert Foxwell.[3]
The National Party held public meetings and petitioned the Prime MinisterLloyd George. Its policies included raising theconscription age to fifty and introducing conscription toIreland,[4] the closing of German banks and businesses in the UK, the internment of enemy aliens, a guaranteed price for home-grown cereals, protectionism for British industry and counter air-raids against German towns.
The close links the National Party alleged to exist between heads of companies and government departments which gave them contracts were attacked. In June 1918 its headquarters in King Street, London, and a number of regional offices were raided by military officers and government officials when the party came into possession of leaked documents.[5]
The National Party had policies to help the working class because "if you wish for a patriotic race, you must aim at a contented people, reared under healthy conditions...and with full scope for advancement". One of its slogans was "no restriction in wages in return for no restriction of output". Occasionally, it co-operated with theNational Democratic and Labour Party. It publishedNational Opinion from 1918 until 1923.[6]
Whilst it encouraged working-class support, the party had a core of wealthy and upper-class members. The initial signatories of the declaration were heavily drawn from the aristocracy, senior businessmen, and the professional officer class, with very little working-class representation.[7]
At the 1917 annual general meeting of theTariff Reform League, aprotectionist organisation linked with a faction of the Conservative Party, an attempt was made to merge the league with the National Party. This led to angry scenes, and the motion was eventually withdrawn. The chairman of the League, Lord Duncannon, resigned and announced he was joining the new party.[8]
The National Party's first electoral contest was in October 1917, whena by-election was called due to the death of the sitting member of parliament forIslington East. There was a political truce between the parties of the wartime coalition government, and the seat was expected to be filled without a contest. However, the party nominatedEdmund Broughton Barnard, chairman of theMetropolitan Water Board to oppose the government candidate,Edward Smallwood. A third candidate, A Baker, was supported by the right-wing MPNoel Pemberton Billing and theVigilante Society. The party did poorly, Barnard finishing in a distant third place with 513 votes (10.8%).[9] The party held its inaugural meeting two days later and the president,Lord Beresford, declared himself "delighted" with the result which "would have the effect of putting more grit into those who were fighting" for the party.[10]
The National Party leadership were implacably opposed to the two main parties in parliament: the "defunct" Conservatives and the "discredited"Liberals. Instead they sought to make an alliance with theLabour Party, which they saw as "the great party that was coming".[10] They recognised that the five million working-class men under arms deserved improved conditions and status, and wished to "see what they could do to assist Labour". They also sought to make an alliance with theMerchant Seamen's League, supporting their aims of exacting punishment from the Germans for sinking ships in contravention of international law.[10]
Most of the party's members rejoined the Conservatives before the1918 general election. Its remaining 23 candidates ran against theLloyd George Coalition, two of whom were elected: Croft and Cooper.[11][12] The candidates were supported by theEarl of Bessborough, his son theLord Duncannon, theLord Leith of Fyvie and theDuke of Somerset.
The party received an aggregate total of around 94,000 votes, more than twice the number of votes taken by the fascistNew Party in the 1930s.[13]
A candidate was announced forLeeds North East, Captain W.P. Brigstock, but withdrew without formally being nominated. The sitting member forLudlow,Rowland Hunt, had joined the National Party in 1917 but had rejoined the Conservatives by the time of the election, as hadEdward FitzRoy inSouth Northamptonshire.Richard Hamilton Rawson, the National member inReigate, died shortly before the election, in October, and the party did not stand a candidate in this seat.
The party did not stand a candidate inManchester Rusholme, but put up a candidate for the subsequent1919 Manchester Rusholme by-election. Roger Bowan Crewdson took only 4% of the vote. Its final contest was the1920 Dartford by-election, whereReginald Applin stood as a joint candidate with theIndependent Parliamentary Group, and took 10.9% of the vote.[14]
The 25 results include 12 where the candidates forfeited their deposits by failing to win an eighth of the vote, costing £1500 in total in 1918 this equates to £92,000 in 2023, when adjusted forinflation.
In April 1921 the National Party was disbanded but was revived under the new name of theNational Constitutional Association,[6][15] led byOliver Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill.[16] It held conventions and co-operated with the4th Marquess of Salisbury to help end theLloyd George Coalition.