Liberal League (United Kingdom) facts for kids

The Liberal League was a special group formed inside the Liberal Party in Britain. This group existed from 1902 until 1910. It was led by Lord Rosebery, who was its president. Other important leaders included H. H. Asquith, Edward Grey, and Henry Fowler, who were vice-presidents.

Most members of the Liberal League were known as Liberal Imperialists. This meant they were Liberals who also strongly supported the idea of the British Empire. The main goal of the Liberal League was to bring together Liberals who were not happy with the policies of the main Liberal Party leader at the time, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman.

Early Success of the League

The Liberal League showed its strength early on. In 1902, a candidate supported by the Liberal League won a special election called a by-election in Leeds. This was a big deal because the area had previously voted for the Unionist Party by a large number of votes (over 2,500). The Liberal League candidate managed to change that into a Liberal win by nearly 800 votes. This victory proved that the League had significant support.

Challenges and Decline

By 1908, the Liberal League was not as active and was almost forgotten. However, on March 12, 1908, Lord Rosebery tried to make it strong again. He gave a speech where he asked the League to support certain ideas. These ideas included being against socialism (a political idea about how society should be run) and against Home Rule (giving more power to Ireland). He also wanted the League to support imperialism (building and keeping an empire), free trade (trading without special taxes), and changing the House of Lords (part of the British Parliament).

However, this attempt to revive the League didn't go well. One person who was there said it was "the most dismal gathering" they had ever seen. Lord Rosebery himself wrote in his diary that his speech was "even worse than usual." This showed that the League was struggling to find its purpose and energy.

The People's Budget and the End

In 1909, the Liberal government introduced a new plan called the People's Budget. This budget caused a lot of arguments and was seen as very new and different. At meetings of the Liberal League in June 1909, members were unsure about following Lord Rosebery's lead in criticizing the Budget. They felt he was often indecisive and not a strong leader.

On September 9, 1909, Lord Rosebery decided to resign as the president of the Liberal League. The very next day, he gave a highly anticipated speech in Glasgow. In this speech, he strongly criticized the People's Budget, saying it was against important ideas like faith, family, property, the monarchy, and the Empire.

H. H. Asquith, who was a vice-president of the League and also the Prime Minister at the time, wrote to Rosebery the day after the speech. Asquith said it would be impossible to work under Rosebery's leadership, not knowing that Rosebery had already resigned. The Liberal League officially closed down in May 1910.