Free Trader

Free Trader was a political label used in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

by several candidates in the

1906 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1906. Asia * 1906 Persian legislative election Europe * 1906 Belgian general election * 1906 Croatian parliamentary election * Denmark ** 1906 Danish Folketing election ** 1906 Danish Landsting e ...

and

January 1910 general election The January 1910 UK general election was held from 15 January to 10 February 1910. Called amid a constitutional crisis after the Conservative-dominated House of Lords rejected the People's Budget, the Liberal government, seeking a mandate, los ...

. Many were Conservative Party or

Liberal Unionist The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...

politicians opposed to

Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal Party (UK), Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually was a leading New Imperialism, imperial ...

's campaign for

tariff reform Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

. Initially many belonged to the Unionist Free Food League created in July 1903 to counter the influence of the

Tariff Reform League The Tariff Reform League (TRL) was a protectionist British pressure group formed in 1903 to protest against what they considered to be unfair foreign imports and to advocate Imperial Preference to protect British industry from foreign competiti ...

in the Unionist government of

Arthur Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour (; 25 July 184819 March 1930) was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As Foreign Secretary ...

. However as many local Conservative and Liberal Unionist associations supported Chamberlain's campaign, those who opposed Tariff Reform found their position precarious. They eventually split three ways with some staying in the Unionist coalition in the hope Tariff Reform could be beaten internally, others joining the staunchly

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

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. For example, while the political systems ...

and a few choosing to run as independent Free Traders. Those standing as Free Traders were concentrated in

university constituencies A university constituency is a constituency, used in elections to a legislature, that represents the members of one or more universities rather than residents of a geographical area. These may or may not involve plural voting, in which voters ar ...

, led by

John Eldon Gorst Sir John Eldon Gorst, (24 May 1835 – 4 April 1916) was a British lawyer and politician. He served as Solicitor-General for England and Wales from 1885 to 1886 and as Vice-President of the Committee on Education between 1895 and 1902. Backg ...

, who had been previously elected as a Conservative Party M.P. but had split from the party in 1902 and was opposed to Chamberlain. The group did receive tacit (and sometimes active) support from former Liberal Unionist leader

Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire Spencer Compton Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire (23 July 183324 March 1908), styled Lord Cavendish of Keighley between 1834 and 1858 and Marquess of Hartington between 1858 and 1891, was a British statesman. He has the distinction of having he ...

and other Unionists opposed to tariff reform. However attempts to form some sort of pro-free trade electoral pact with the Liberals were unsuccessful. The Free Traders were in favour of limited social reforms, and in particular of free trade. While several of its candidates received substantial votes in the 1906 General Election, none were elected. In January 1910 Gorst stood instead as a Liberal candidate, though unsuccessfully. A few other Free Trader candidates stood in this election but without luck. By then also the remaining free trade supporting Unionists who had stuck with their party had also been effectively purged. In 1911 at the by-election for one of the Cambridge University seats, former Liberal MP Harold Cox stood as a Free Trader against official Conservative and independent Conservative candidates. There was no Liberal candidate but Cox still lost the contest. Defunct political parties in the United Kingdom Political parties with year of establishment missing Political parties with year of disestablishment missing {{UK-party-stub