BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

exception of Ladywood, all of the above studies were selected based on
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the abundance of materials available.
Ladywood was chosen more as a
function of its locality, in the heart of Chamberlain's Liberal
Unionist Birmingham, than for its extensive collection.
Another issue examined is the tension existing between
Conservative Associations and Habitations and within the organization
of the Primrose League itself.
Chapter Seven concludes with a general
assessment of the declining performance of the Primrose League in the
late 1890's as measured by the performance of the Habitations under
review in the case studies.
II
The Redistribution Act of 1885 achieved the essential
objectives proposed by Forwood in October, 1884.
The creation of
single member districts in county and borough constituencies provided a
deterrent to the more effective methods of block voting executed so
effectively by the Birmingham caucus.
Not content with the advantages conferred through the tactics
of electoral division, the Tories set out to ensure that a network of
Conservative Associations and Habitations would nurture a popular
resistance to reform.
In the case of the Primrose League, this was
achieved by raising the threatening specter of imperial disintegration
1917); a Primrose League Scottish Branch Manual (circa 1903); and a
pamphlet listing the authorized badges of the Primrose League (circa
1901).