BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

101
Lady Churchill
recalled that at the time of the election the
League was still
in an early phase of organizational development.
There was, as a consequence, in the region "no Habitation to furnish us
with Primrose Dames."35
Nevertheless, her efforts along with those of
Lady Curzon served as a stimulus for women to become involved in
politics through their affiliation with the Primrose League in the
months and years to come.
The victory at Woodstock was an exhilarating one for Lady
Churchill.
Her sense of personal triumph and power through proximity
reflected the excitement and appeal
of campaigning which attracted many
women to the Primrose League.
I surpassed the fondest hopes of the Suffragettes, and
thought I was duly elected, and I certainly experienced
all the pleasure and gratification of being a
successful candidate. I returned to London feeling
that I had done a very big thing, and was surprised and
astonished that the crowds in the street looked at me
with indifference.36
Her effectiveness in the campaign led Henry Hames to suggest, with wry
humor, that a revision of the Corrupt Practices laws was needed in
order to account for "the graceful wave of a pocket handkerchief."37
Lady Churchill's experience in Woodstock suggested the relative
quiescence of agricultural laborers in the district.
Likewise the
donning in an election campaign of Churchill's racing colors was a
trait characteristic of mid-nineteenth century politics,
indicative of
35 The Reminiscences of Lady Randolph Churchill, ed. Mrs.
George Cornwallis-West (New York: The Century Comp., 1968), p. 167.
36 Ibid., p. 171.
37 Ibid., pp. 171-72.