A few facts about the 1909-1911 period, from the People’s Budget to the Parliament Act, taking in two elections along the way, which show us that there is nothing new under the sun.
- Both elections in 1910 resulted in a hung Parliament with about 70 Irish Nationalists, and 42 Labour MPs.
- The Unionists (Conservatives) won 2,270,753 votes to the Liberals 2,157,256 but the Liberals had one extra seat.
- There were three major parties in Parliament during this era, and after 1910 the Liberal majority was somewhat reliant on them for majorities.
- The Liberal government was accused of being in hock to Irish Nationalist support.
- In 1906 the Liberals increased their seat count by 214, and in January 1910 they lost 123 seats. These sorts of swings were not unusual in this period. In 1945 Attlee increased his seat count by 239. No winning party then increased by over a hundred…
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