BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

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suggest the overall emphasis of the League, particularly its focus on
Ireland, imperial and national concerns, the preservation of the
monarchy, attacks on Gladstone, and the nurturing of a Disraelian
mythology.
Following the Conservatives' electoral defeat in 1880 came a
rise in popular associations affiliated with the National Union. Their
enhanced value as officially sanctioned organs of party propaganda
helped bring about a corresponding rise in the Union's national
lecturing capacity.
In the year ending 23 July 1884 the organization
sponsored 560 lectures.
Fourteen months later the figure had jumped to
fifteen hundred and fifty.
By May of 1886, the Union was representing
over eight hundred associations.
The Primrose League appears to have
been more dynamic during roughly the same period, registering a total
of 1,134 lectures for the six months ending 19 May 1886 and claiming
twelve hundred affiliated Habitations. 65
In terms of income the Primrose League managed, on the whole,
to generate greater amounts of capital.
The National Union reached its
apex in financial returns in the year ending 31 December 1885,
recording £7,690.17.4.
The following year its income dropped to
£6,763.9.5 and continued to decline, reaching £5,243.12.10 in the
fiscal
year ending 30 September 1890.66
65
"National Union Annual Conference Minutes," 23 July 1884,
NUA 2/1/3; 6 October 1885, NUA 2/1/4; 15 May 1886, NUA 2/1/5. The
Morning Post, 20 May 1886, p. 2.
66
"National Union Annual Reports to the Conference," 1885­
1887, 1889-1890, NUA 2/2/1.