National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)

The National Liberal Party, known until 1948 as the Liberal National Party, was a liberal political party in the United Kingdom from 1931 to 1968. It broke away from the Liberal Party on the issue of abandoning free trade and supporting protectionism, and later co-operated and merged with the Conservative Party.

History

The Liberal Nationals evolved as a distinctive group within the Liberal Party when the main body of Liberals maintained in office the second Labour government of Ramsay MacDonald, who lacked a majority in Parliament. A growing number of Liberal MPs led by Sir John Simon declared their total opposition to this policy and began to co-operate more closely with the Conservative Party, even advocating a policy of replacing free trade with tariffs, anathema to many traditional Liberals. By June 1931, three Liberal MPs — Simon, Ernest Brown and Robert Hutchison (a former Lloyd George ministry-supporting coalitionist of the earlier National Liberal Party) — resigned their party's whip and sat as independents.

When the Labour Government was replaced by a makeshift, emergency (though to prove long-lasting) National Government in August 1931, dissident Liberals were temporarily reconciled with the rest of their party within it; but in the next two months the party's acting leader, Herbert Samuel, came close to resigning from the government over the National Government's proposal to call a snap general election, fearing that it would lead to a majority for the Conservatives and the abolition of free trade. However, he was undermined by the willingness of those Liberals such as Simon – who in extremis would support protectionism – to continue to support the National Government and even to take the vacant offices to ensure it retained a broad party base. Samuel was welcomed back into the new National Government subject to an agreed concession to fight the general election on a separate Liberal Party manifesto, but staunch supporters of the National Government were prepared to repudiate free trade.

Split of the Liberal Party in 1931

Witnessing the rise of cheap foreign goods, the party split over how they would negotiate over ardent Conservative protectionism: supporters formed the Liberal National Party in the run-up to the 1931 general election in October. A third group under the official leader, David Lloyd George, also emerged, the Independent Liberals, who opposed the National Government completely, but this had few adherents amongst prominent Liberals beyond Lloyd George's relatives.