why did the conservatives lose the 1906 election
Why did the Conservatives lose the 1906 election?
Before the 1906 election around 1895-1902 the conservative party were massively successful and the strongest government party around. This was because they had Lord Salisbury as a leader who was seen as a leader for both middle class and working class people in Britain; the liberal party was weak as they were fighting themselves over Ireland home rule which meant that the conservatives had an advantage as it meant that people were not voting for the liberals and so instead voted conservative; the conservative party had the majority of seats in the House of commons consequently they could get almost any rule passed through whereas the liberal party could not; conservatives had changed the way they operated from reactionary to pragmatic and the conservatives did not want home rule and as a result people supported them.
However, in 1906 the conservative party lost the general election to the liberal party. There were many reasons as to why the conservative party lost the election including the Taff Vale case (1901), the Chinese slavery issue (1902), the education act (1902), Tariff reform (1903) and also due to the character of the leader of the conservative party at the time; Arthur Balfour.
Arthur Balfour was a leader of the commons until his uncle Lord Salisbury retired 1902, after this he succeeded his position as prime minister and leader of the conservative party. This upset a majority of people as Balfour was not voted in to the position but took over from his uncle. Balfour wasn’t good at speaking out loud and struggled with leadership as he was very indecisive unlike his uncle which made it fairly obvious that he wasn’t a good leader for the conservatives and meant that some people no longer supported the conservative party because of him.
Another issue against the conservative party was the Taff Vale case in 1901. The matter was between the Taff vale railway company in Wales and rail worker trade unions
Before the 1906 election around 1895-1902 the conservative party were massively successful and the strongest government party around. This was because they had Lord Salisbury as a leader who was seen as a leader for both middle class and working class people in Britain; the liberal party was weak as they were fighting themselves over Ireland home rule which meant that the conservatives had an advantage as it meant that people were not voting for the liberals and so instead voted conservative; the conservative party had the majority of seats in the House of commons consequently they could get almost any rule passed through whereas the liberal party could not; conservatives had changed the way they operated from reactionary to pragmatic and the conservatives did not want home rule and as a result people supported them.
However, in 1906 the conservative party lost the general election to the liberal party. There were many reasons as to why the conservative party lost the election including the Taff Vale case (1901), the Chinese slavery issue (1902), the education act (1902), Tariff reform (1903) and also due to the character of the leader of the conservative party at the time; Arthur Balfour.
Arthur Balfour was a leader of the commons until his uncle Lord Salisbury retired 1902, after this he succeeded his position as prime minister and leader of the conservative party. This upset a majority of people as Balfour was not voted in to the position but took over from his uncle. Balfour wasn’t good at speaking out loud and struggled with leadership as he was very indecisive unlike his uncle which made it fairly obvious that he wasn’t a good leader for the conservatives and meant that some people no longer supported the conservative party because of him.
Another issue against the conservative party was the Taff Vale case in 1901. The matter was between the Taff vale railway company in Wales and rail worker trade unions