The Second Constitutional Crises Of 1910 And The Parliament Act Of 1911

Question 1

In 1910, the liberals drew up a bill to do what?

Answer 1

Curb the power of the House of Lords by taking away its power of veto

Question 2

What did the 1910 parliament act propose?

Answer 2

• the House of Lords were to have no power to amend or reject those bills that the speaker of the commons certified to be true money bills
• the House of Lords was to have no power to reject other legislation but could delay it for no longer than 2 years, known as ‘suspensory veto’
• the maximum period between general elections was to be reduced from seven years to five

Question 3

The bill would easily pass the commons, but what was the problem?

Answer 3

Was that any law to curb the lords power would have to be passed by the lords themselves

Question 4

Asquith’s solution was to ask King Edward what?

Answer 4

To promise to create enough Liberal peers to outvote the conservative peers in the lords as he had the power to create peers

Question 5

Edward VII died suddenly, so what did the new king George V try to do?

Answer 5

To get the Liberals and Conservatives to agree a solution without resorting to the creation of new peers

Question 6

What did the conservatives offer in the constitutional conference?

Answer 6

Offered to reform the composition of the lords, but the liberals were determined to reduce its constitutional powers

Question 7

What did the conservatives insist?

Answer 7

That the lords should have the right to veto anything in the constitution which would enable them to keep blocking home rule for Ireland, unless the electorate approved such a change in a referendum

Question 8

What happened after the conference broke down?

Answer 8

• Asquith was under strong pressure to reject the conservatives proposal
• George V finally agreed that he would create enough new peers to pass the parliament act as long as the liberals won the general election on that issue