Liberalism in West Cornwall

Edwin Jaggard

ISBN 10: 0901853429 / ISBN 13: 9780901853424

Published by Devon and Cornwall Record Society, GB, 1999

About this Item

Between 1832 and 1885 West Cornwall was highly unusual in the British electoral system. Throughout the period the division was never contested at a general election, and the Liberals maintained a stranglehold on both parliamentaryseats. Yet this apparent stability disguised an often turbulent reality of party manoeuvring and personal rivalries.Dr Jaggard's book uncovers much that has been so far unknown about this phenomenon. The introduction surveysWest Cornwall politics between the First and Third Reform Acts, suggesting how the Liberals' hegemony was established and maintained. Both the numerical strength of Methodism in the division, together with corrosive rivalries among the county's Conservatives, played a part, but the papers suggest other factors at work too. Prominent among them immediately after 1867 was the Liberal party's organisation, and the prominence within it of men of new wealth such as the miner-banker J M Williams.As a snapshot of the mid-Victorian electoral system in action the papers widen our understanding of local and national politics, particularly reasons for the electoral success of the Gladstonian Liberal party.

Seller Inventory # LU-9780901853424

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Liberalism in West Cornwall
• Publisher: Devon and Cornwall Record Society, GB
• Publication Date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0901853429
• ISBN 13: 9780901853424
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 352 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Between 1832 and 1885 West Cornwall was highly unusual in the British electoral system. Throughout the period the division was never contested at a general election, and the Liberals maintained a stranglehold on both parliamentaryseats. Yet this apparent stability disguised an often turbulent reality of party manoeuvring and personal rivalries.
Dr Jaggard's book uncovers much that has been so far unknown about this phenomenon. The introduction surveysWest Cornwall politics between the First and Third Reform Acts, suggesting how the Liberals' hegemony was established and maintained. Both the numerical strength of Methodism in the division, together with corrosive rivalries among the county's Conservatives, played a part, but the papers suggest other factors at work too. Prominent among them immediately after 1867 was the Liberal party's organisation, and the prominence within it of men of new wealth such as the miner-banker J M Williams.
As a snapshot of the mid-Victorian electoral system in action the papers widen our understanding of local and national politics, particularly reasons for the electoral success of the Gladstonian Liberal party.