BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

self-imposed restraints exercised during election campaigns generally
95
resulted
in freedom from prosecution. 22
For the Primrose League with its natural blurring of social and
political functions, the definition of agency provided ample
flexibility to operate within the hazy confines of the law.
As a
voluntary association with no formal ties to any party, it was able to
offer a continuous stream of "social" activities, in effect engaging in
a never-ending campaign to recruit potential voters into what was, by
all
rights, a conservative subculture upon which the party could draw.
Unsure of the exact application of the Corrupt Practices law as
it applied to the 1885 General Election, many Habitations appeared to
offer their services to local
Conservative agents working on behalf of
the candidates. They were generally instrumental in registering
voters, particularly those situated in outlying districts; conveying
individuals to the polls; distributing pamphlets; and in some instances
directly assisting the campaign efforts of the local candidates. By
the 1886 General
Election, League efforts had become so comprehensive
as to prompt Middleton to request that Habitations send notices of
removals and omissions on the local voter register to the appropriate
agent or Conservative association.23
Because of the ambiguities surrounding the applications of the
Corrupt Practices law, particularly in the first few years of
22
Ostrogorski, Democracy and the Organization of Political
Parties, pp. 472, 479-80.
23 Minutes of the Grand Council of the Primrose League, 16
July 1886.