The party conference season every autumn has been a mainstay of political life in the UK for over 150 years. The idea for such get-togethers began to emerge in the 1860s, though they took some time to really get going. In the distant days when the Liberals were genuine contenders, party devotees gathered in Newcastle in 1891 for the annual assembly of the National Liberal Federation. And there they agreed on the adoption of a set of policies known as the ‘Newcastle Programme’. This was the first time, effectively, that a party conference had agreed on a manifesto (and a one that had been formulated largely by the party’s grass roots), thus setting a precedent for the habits of political parties thereafter.
The event took place during 2nd & 3rd October 1891 at the old Town Hall in the Bigg Market, with leading local lad (and president of the NLF) Robert Spence Watson in charge of proceedings. At the time, the Liberals were in opposition, with the great William Gladstone as their leader. Gladstone was obviously the star of the show – he arrived in the city to great acclaim on the evening of 1st October, before leaving on the afternoon of 3rd. And at the half-way point of the conference – the evening of Friday 2nd – he gave his great ‘Newcastle Programme’ speech at the Tyne Theatre, Westgate Road.
The programme – a promise as to what the Liberals would be offering at the general election of 1892 – was an innovative political manoeuvre. The delivery of such a detailed ‘shopping list’ was unheard of, offering, as it did, the following: Home Rule for the Irish, land reform, reform of the Lords, shorter parliaments, district & parish council reforms, registration reform & the abolition of plural voting, local veto on drink sales, employers’ liability for workers’ accidents, and Scottish & Welsh disestablishment (religious separation). It was a remarkable statement.
Not that Gladstone was particularly keen on most of it. But he let the federation have their way on the minor stuff so long as he could deliver (or so he hoped) on Home Rule for the Irish, which was the burning issue of the day. This was a rare success for the main body of the NLF, which had struggled to impose its will on the leadership previously. Such stringent policy goals initially proved successful with victory at the general election, but ultimately led to splits in the party from which they never really recovered. In many ways, the ideas of the ‘programme’ were ahead of their time, with their hints of the beginnings of state-funded benefits such as pensions and unemployment benefit.
Gladstone, pictured in 1892
As it transpired – and as is so often the case – virtually none of the elements of the sensational manifesto were put into force. Gladstone and the Liberals were in power between 1892 and 1895, and Irish Home Rule dominated the agenda. When a bill in support of this was defeated in the Lords in September 1893, Gladstone and his party began to fall from favour. The 84-year-old resigned in 1894, the Liberals were ousted from power the following year ... and the vast majority of the much acclaimed ‘Newcastle Programme’ faded into the ether. Only the introduction of employers’ liability, elected parish councils and a slightly sympathetic 1894 budget gave any sort of nod to the promises of that historic evening at the Tyne Theatre in 1891.
[this article is taken from my book Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Fragments of the Past, vol.1 - click on the image/link in the left-hand column for further information]
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