BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

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up in the early twentieth century, in effect, challenging the
predominance of the League through their spontaneity, initiative, and
criticism of existing political institutions and events.
During this
period the League came to serve as an official organ of the party, a
role formalized in 1913.
For the above reasons, I see the last years
of Queen Victoria's reign as the crucial period for assessing the
significance of the Primrose League.
II
This thesis is divided into two sections.
The first four
chapters provide a chronology of the Primrose League between the years
1883 and 1901, focusing primarily on its operations as a bureaucratic
organization serving the extra-parliamentary interests of the
Conservative party.
Chapter One provides a description of the early
years (1883-84) when the League, relatively small in operations and
funds, served the interests of Lord Randolph Churchill.
Chapters Two and Three trace the development of the Primrose
League between 1885 and 1886, describing the means by which it became
Britain's preeminent political pressure group, overseen by the
Conservative Prime Minister, the Marquis of Salisbury.
Between 1885
and 1886, Salisbury assumed formal control over the Primrose League.
This action, in effect, circumvented one of the principal avenues
available to Churchill in making a bid for the leadership of the
Conservative party.