BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

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CHAPTER FIVE
The Structure of the League
I feel sure the madness of the people will soon subside—but
I do not think our side has talked enough and
by all accounts the organization has been deplorable.
We must have "Caucuses."
Lady Salisbury to Lord Beaconsfield, 17
April 1880
I
The Birmingham "caucus" was born in the aftermath of the 1867
Reform Act.
A special provision of the legislation permitted four
large towns, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, and Leeds, to return a
total of three members to parliament while limiting the voters'
selection to only two of the candidates.
The measure was designed to
increase the number of representatives allocated for these communities
while protecting "minority" (i.e. Conservative) interests that might
otherwise be threatened by the enfranchisement of male working class
voters.
Despite these intentions, Radicals in Birmingham were able to
take advantage of the restrictions placed on plural voting.
In 1868
Joseph Chamberlain, Francis Schnadhorst, and their colleagues set about
to canvass the town in order to assess the political outlook of the
electors and to instruct Liberals on how to vote in the General
Election of 1868 so as to ensure the safe return of all three Liberal
candidates.