The Liberal League was a grouping within the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

from 1902 until 1910, with

Lord Rosebery Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian, (7 May 1847 – 21 May 1929) was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from March 1894 to June 1895. Between the death of ...

as its president and

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...

, Edward Grey and Henry Fowler as its vice-presidents. It consisted largely of

Liberal Imperialists The Liberal Imperialists were a faction within the British Liberal Party around 1900 regarding the policy toward the British Empire. They supported the Boer War which most Liberals opposed, and wanted the Empire ruled on a more benevolent basis. Th ...

and its purpose was to give unity to those Liberals who disliked the policies of the Liberal leader, Sir

Henry Campbell-Bannerman Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (né Campbell; 7 September 183622 April 1908) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. He served as the prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908 and leader of the Liberal Party from 1899 to 1 ...

. A Liberal League candidate won the

1902 Leeds North by-election The 1902 Leeds North by-election was a parliamentary by-election held for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons constituency of Leeds North (UK Parliament constituency), Leeds North in the West Riding of Yorkshire on 29 July ...

, turning a Unionist majority of over 2,500 into a Liberal majority of nearly 800. By 1908 the League was almost moribund but on 12 March of that year Rosebery tried to revive it by delivering a speech in which he urged the League to rally to a programme of

anti-socialism Criticism of socialism (also known as anti-socialism) is any critique of socialist models of economic organization and their feasibility as well as the political and social implications of adopting such a system. Some critiques are not directe ...

, anti-

Home Rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...

, imperialism,

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...

and

reform of the House of Lords Certain governments in the United Kingdom have, for more than a century, attempted to find a way to reform the House of Lords, the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. This process was started by the Parliament Act 1911 introdu ...

. One member present said it was "the most dismal gathering he had ever attended; Lord Rosebery's audience was obviously ill at ease"; Rosebery himself wrote in his diary that his speech was "even worse than usual, partly from a clammy afternoon audience, partly from my being out of touch with politics". The Liberal government's revolutionary

People's Budget The 1909/1910 People's Budget was a proposal of the Liberal government that introduced unprecedented taxes on the lands and incomes of Britain's wealthy to fund new social welfare programmes. It passed the House of Commons in 1909 but was blo ...

of 1909 caused a storm of controversy. At League meetings of 25 and 28 June, members of the League were suspicious of following Rosebery in condemning the Budget due to his indecisive character and failure to lead. On 9 September 1909 Rosebery resigned the presidency of the League. The next day, he delivered a greatly anticipated speech in Glasgow in which he condemned the Budget as the "negation of faith, of family, of property, of monarchy, of Empire". Asquith wrote to him the day after the speech, declaring that it was impossible to serve under his presidency, not realising Rosebery had already resigned it. The League was formally dissolved in May 1910.McKinstry, p. 507.

Notes

References

*Robert Rhodes James, ''Rosebery'' (London: Phoenix, 1995). *Leo McKinstry, ''Rosebery: Statesman in Turmoil'' (London: John Murray, 2006). {{Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, state=collapsed Liberal Party (UK) Political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom Political party factions in the United Kingdom