BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

193
While Norfolk was prominently Liberal
in its voting preference, Suffolk
tended to favor the Conservatives.
After 1885 Shropshire and
Hereforshire proved strong centers for Liberal Unionism.16
Counties which were strikingly under represented in 1884,
relative to their later Habitation strengths, included Lancashire (3)
Cheshire (0), and Yorkshire (1).
These figures contrast greatly with
the numbers recorded for 1888, respectively, 113, 53, and 105. While
the politically Nonconformist Liberal tendencies of Yorkshire perhaps
make its 1884 showing more plausible, Lancashire and Cheshire were
areas exhibiting a strong base of Conservative party support during
the 1885-1900 period.I 7
For this reason their 1884 levels of
development require a different explanation.
Their physical distance
from London combined with their highly industrial character were, no
doubt, factors discouraging membership in 1884, a year in which Knights
and Dames were familiar to, if not synonymous with, the social circles
of London.
16 Ibid., pp. 95, 175, 198-201.
17
Ibid., pp. 314, 284-85.