In the 1906 general election the Conservatives were defeated by a great margin to the Liberals.

On
top of this Balfour the prime minister of the conservatives lost his seat. This was mainly due to
dividing issue of free trade amongst the voting population. I will be assessing how far the view that
the main reason for the defeat of the Conservatives in 1906 was the issue of free trade using the
sources given.

Source A strongly agrees with the statement. The source tells us that the election of 1906 was
decided in most constituencies by if they supported Tariff Reform or Free trade and was not due to
anything else this. The election at the time was considered a ‘free trade’ election, most areas being
decided by this factor. Most voters were scared of the ‘food taxes’ that would come with Tariff
reform due to the Liberal campaign ‘No stomach taxes!’, this is supported by the source as
conservative MPs had found ‘great difficulty’ with the worry of food getting more expensive. This
supports that the conservatives were defeated cause of the issue of free trade due to the worry of
increasing food costs that would come with Tariff reform. The source is a letter from Austen
Chamberlain to Balfour, a conservative to another conservative, which can put into question it’s
reliability as they may over exaggerate why they lost. For example Austen says in the letter Tariff
reform ‘was the only’ reason they would lose in some areas. Which is not very accurate as other
policies and acts had lost the Conservatives votes. For example, the conservatives had angered the
Non-conformists due to the licensing Act of 1904 meaning pub landlords had to be compensated
when the pub was closed down; most likely losing them votes in many areas. Overall Source A
strongly agrees that the conservatives were defeated due to the issue of free trade we can see this as
the source tells us they faced problems in most constituencies due to the scare of ‘food taxes’ the
reliability of the source is questionable due to it being from a conservative to another conservative.
Although it over-exaggerates some points it is quite factual for the most part.

Source B slightly disagrees that the main reason for conservative defeat in 1906 was the issue of Free
Trade. It argues that is was the Conservative’s unpopularity due to an accumulation of ‘grievances’
made by the party that lost them the election. The source is an article from a Liberal political
magazine, being used to convince the public that it was conservative unpopularity that lost them the
election and downplays the main political issue at the time between Tariff Reform and Free Trade. As
a political magazine it cannot be considered too reliable as it aims to convince voters of the
unpopularity of the conservatives trying to sway voters onto the side of the Liberals instead of to
inform. Although, the source is quite accurate when mentioning the unpopularity of the Taff Vale
Judgement and the conservative party’s neglect towards ‘trade unions’. The lack of action toward the
judgment meant any money lost by companies due to strikes would have to be compensated by the
Unions reducing their funding and making them weak (unable to strike) creating unpopularity
amongst the working class towards the government. This shows further disagreement that the main
reason for defeat was free trade and that instead was the conservatives unpopularity due to many
factors. However it does briefly mention Tariff reform as a case of unpopularity towards the
Conservatives, but only being one of many issues. This disagrees with the statement that it was the
main issue for the conservatives defeat in 1906. Overall Source B slightly disagrees that the issue of
free trade was the main reason for the conservative defeat. Blaming it on the unpopularity of the
Tory party and it being a number of factors causing their defeat, one of these being Tariff reform but
it not being a main reason. The problem is that the source cannot be considered reliable as it is a
political magazine most likely trying to convince the reader that the Conservative party was
unpopular to gain more supporters instead of informing the main reason for Conservative defeat.

Source C also slightly disagrees with the statement. A report of a speech made by Churchill calling
the conservative incompetent and that if they were re-elected they would only bring ‘suffering’ on
the public. The source establishes at the start that conservative incompetence is the main reason.
Churchill then lists all their failures as a government due to this incompetence such as the licensing
act of 1904 and it’s neglect to ‘social problems’ (trade unions) which disagrees with the statement
that the main issue was free trade. Although it mentions at the end ‘tariffs’ will inflict suffering on
the people if they are re-elected showing slight agreement as well. This is being used in a speech by
Winston Churchill to convince the public against re-electing the Conservatives showing its
importance to sway voters to the side of the liberals and possibly suggesting it was one of the main
issues that the conservatives lost 3 years later. The source may not be credible as it is a report of a
speech by a Liberal MP 3 years before the election. The speech is most likely used to persuade voters
to stop supporting the Conservatives so Churchill may overplay issues caused by the Conservative
government at the time to make them look worse than reality. Overall it slightly disagrees that free
trade was the main issue for the conservatives but instead was their ‘incompetence’ leading to the
issues that caused unpopularity. However the source cannot be considered credible as it is a speech
by a Liberal MP to persuade voters to not vote for the Conservatives (3 years before the election).

Source D Strongly disagree the view that the conservative defeat was due to the issue of free trade.
Instead it says the reason the conservatives were defeated was due to the party leader of the
Liberals Campbell-Bannerman and how he able to reignite and reorganise the party when its
‘fortunes had almost vanished’. This Source is a diary entry by a Labour party member. As it is a diary
entry it has no reason to forcibly be inaccurate as it is not looking to promote what he favours on the
subject to any audience as it is a private diary. Although as a Labour MP he is more likely to show
support and to make the Liberal party look good due to the Gladstone MacDonald pact an
agreement between the Liberal and Labour party that enabled more MPs from both parties to get
seats. This pact most likely caused good relations between both parties so a Labour MP would
support the Liberal party leaving a possibility for inaccuracies of the reason for the Conservative
defeat in 1906 election. Overall Source D strongly disagrees with the statement instead contends that
the Leader of the Liberals Campbell-Bannerman and his reorganisation of the party caused the
Conservative defeat in 1906. This source can be considered mostly accurate as a diary entry as it has
little to no reason, as a diary entry, to be inaccurate in its accounts although as said before a Labour
MP would favour towards the Liberals due to the pact so it could be slightly inaccurate.

In conclusion I believe the sources overall slightly disagree with the view that the main reason for the
defeat of the Conservatives in 1906 was the issue of free trade. Source D, C and B show
disagreement to this view . In source D is tells us it was the Party Leader of the Liberals Campbell-
Bannerman ability to reignite the Liberal party and is a reliable source as it is a diary entry and has no
reason to be inaccurate. Source C and B show slight disagreement blaming things such as
Conservative unpopularity and incompetence the problem with these sources as said before is the
credibility as one is a speech and the other a political magazine generally the purpose of these is not
to be accurate and to inform but instead to persuade which can make these unreliable. On the other
hand there is strong agreement from Source A to the view blaming their failures and wins in most
constituencies down to Tariff reform and Free trade. Overall although there is strong agreement in
Source A all other 3 sources show overall disagreement to the view that Free trade was the main
issue why the Conservatives were defeated in the 1906 election. Due to 2 of the 3 sources
disagreeing could be unreliable I believe there is only slight disagreement to the view.