Chapter 1

Question 1

How many seats did the Liberal hold following the 1906 election?

Answer 1

401

Question 2

How many seats did the Conservatives hold following the 1906 election?

Answer 2

157

Question 3

Why did the Boer War help the Conservatives win the election in 1900?

Answer 3

Patriotic support for the government and the issue split the Liberal Party

Question 4

Why did the Boer War contribute to the Conservatives electoral defeat in 1906?

Answer 4

The war lasted longer and cost far more lives and money. Civilians in concentration camps and malnutrition of British citizens caused a scandal

Question 5

Why was the 1902 Education Act controversial?

Answer 5

Non-conformists were outraged that their taxes may be spent on schools they objected such as CofE schools

Question 6

Why was the 1904 Licensing Act controversial?

Answer 6

Non-conformists were infuriated as it proposed to compensate brewers and publicans for the cancellations of licenses

Question 7

What was the Chinese labour issue?

Answer 7

Chinese labourers, who would work for very low wages, were being imported into South Africa and kept in overcrowded camps

Question 8

What groups were outraged by the Chinese labour issue?

Answer 8

Non-conformists and trade unions

Question 9

What was the Taff Vale case?

Answer 9

In 1902, the House of Lords ruled that a company was within its rights to sue a trade union, meaning that it was impossible for trade unions to successfully strike

Question 10

What did Joseph Chamberlain argue tariffs would achieve?

Answer 10

Protect British industry (create more jobs), provide revenue to fund social reform, strengthen the British Empire

Question 11

Why did Conservative leadership not help the Conservative cause?

Answer 11

A.J Balfour was not sensitive to public opinion and did not understand the deep social issues of the time

Question 12

What was the Lib-Lab Pact, 1903?

Answer 12

Liberals agreed that they would not oppose Labour candidates - Labour put up 50 candidates and won 29 seats in the 1906 election

Question 13

Why was New Liberalism so different to Old Liberalism?

Answer 13

It stressed freedom from evils such as poverty and low wages and put emphasis on ‘safety nets’

Question 14

What did T.H Green believe?

Answer 14

Liberalism should also give people the opportunity to be moral

Question 15

What did J.A Hobson?

Answer 15

He believed that the British economy faced a problem of ‘under-consumption’

Question 16

What did J.T Hobhouse?

Answer 16

He argued for ‘collectivism’ - governments should take action to spread wealth more fairly

Question 17

What were the political factors for this reformist ideology?

Answer 17

Could rescue the Liberal party from its recent divisions, stopped concerns about the Labour movement, programme of social reform would block Conservatives

Question 18

Why were there concerns about ‘national efficiency’?

Answer 18

Boer War had highlighted military and administrative problems and poor state of health, other countries were expanding economically?

Question 19

Why was Henry Campbell-Bannerman influential to the Liberal Party?

Answer 19

He set Liberals on the path towards carrying out social reform and helped the vulnerable with early policies

Question 20

Why was H. H Asquith influential to the Liberal Party?

Answer 20

He appointed both Lloyd George and Churchill which both began implementing radical changes

Question 21

Why was David Lloyd George influential to the Liberal Party?

Answer 21

He wanted to improve the standard of living for the poor (Old Age Pensions Bill 1908)

Question 22

Who was the Labour Party’s first chairman in Parliament?

Answer 22

Keir Hardie

Question 23

What were some of the Labour Party’s biggest political problems?

Answer 23

New MPs were working men with limited formal education and experience, did not form a strong cohesive body, Keir Hardie could not hold them together

Question 24

How did the Labour movement grow at a grassroots level?

Answer 24

Trade union membership grew from 900,000 to 1.5 million, local Labour societies grew from 83 to 158

Question 25

What was the House of Lords termed due to its Conservative dominance?

Answer 25

‘Mr Balfour’s Poodle’

Question 26

What bills did the Conservative House of Lords block?

Answer 26

1906 Education Bill, Scottish Land Bill, 1908 Licensing Bill