| dc.description.abstract | This thesis is a case study of the party politics of Greater London 1918-193 1.
First, and to place its conclusions in context, the thesis properly defines the area of
Greater London with which it deals. The region, chosen so as to provide an area
small enough to deal with in detail but large enough to find many types of locality
within it, was becoming more of a distinct entity during the 1920s, and growing
rapidly. The changes in Greater London and their political implications are
examined.
As a result of the Great War, the 1916-18 political realignment and related
upheaval, and the franchise extension in 1918, the parties faced a new political
landscape. Dealing with the three main parties in turn, the thesis looks at the
tactics and machinery each employed to deal with it. It touches on both local and
parliamentary electoral contests, and evaluates the success of the approaches each
party took. The local and regional strategies of the parties, and what happened to
them, are placed in the context of current historical debates.
Case studies of particular localities within Greater London, and of the role of both
the local and national press in London politics, are used to develop further specific
points about political party fortunes in the 1920s. The thesis finds that different
parties used similar tactics when it suited them, and varied tactics between areas to
achieve the best results. Parties were each affected by internal problems and by
tendencies to introspection. The thesis also finds evidence that the Labour
breakthrough in Greater London in July 1945 was simmering beneath the surface
in the 1920s, despite failing, for the most part, to manifest itself electorally. | en_US |
