BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

INTRODUCTION
The Primose League was a by-product of late nineteenth century
electoral reforms which unevenly and somewhat hesitantly ushered in the
democratic era.
The much heralded legislative acts of 1832, 1867, and
1884 were a piecemeal process of enfranchisement, gradually extending
voting privileges over time to a widening sector of the adult male
population.
Not until 1918 could the electoral system be characterized
a genuinely approaching a democratic franchise for adult males and
still
another eleven years elapsed before women were accorded
comparable rights.
Despite recent historical
interpretations suggesting the
gradual and transitory nature of suffrage reform,1
for many
individuals of the late Victorian age the period appeared to be
characterized by an ever accelerating rush toward democracy which, for
the Conservatives at least, was to be met by sustained and forceful
opposition.
Their outlook was demonstrated most visibly in the leader
of their party, the Marquis of Salisbury, whose function became that of
1 This is indicated by the shift in focus of scholarly
research during the past few years from the act of 1832 toward the
1867, 1884, 1918, and even 1928 reforms. F.B. Smith, The Making of the
Second Reform Bill (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1966).
Maurice Cowling, 1867: Disraeli, Gladstone, and Revolution (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1967). Andrew Jones, The Politics of
Reform, 1884 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972). Neal
Blewett, "The Franchise in the United Kingdom," Past and Present vol.
32 (December 1965), pp. 27-56. Martin Pugh, Electoral Reform in War
and Peace 1906-1918 (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1978). Martin
Pugh, "Women's Suffrage in Britain 1867-1928," The Historical
Association, General Series 97 (1980).