Radicals (UK): Difference between revisions

| predecessor = [[Country Party (Britain)|Country Party]]<br />[[Levellers]]<br />[[Radical Whigs]]

*''[[The Black Dwarf (journal)|The Black Dwarf]]''}}

{{Liberalism in the United KingdomUK|Parties}}

The [[Radicalism (historical)|Radical]] movement arose in the late 18th century to support parliamentary reform, with additional aims including lower taxes and the abolition of [[sinecures]].<ref>Evans 2000, pp. 10, 98.</ref> [[John Wilkes]]'s reformist efforts in the 1760s, as editor of ''[[The North Briton]]'' and as an MP, were seen as radical at the time, but support dropped away after the [[Massacre of St George's Fields]] in 1768. Working class and middle class "Popular Radicals" agitated to demand the right to vote and assert other rights, including freedom of the press and relief from economic distress, while "[[Philosophical Radicals|Philosophic Radicals]]" strongly supported parliamentary reform, but were generally hostile to the arguments and tactics of the Popular Radicals. However, the term "Radical" itself, as opposed to "reformer" or "Radical Reformer", only emerged in 1819 during the upsurge of protest following the successful conclusion of the Napoleonic War.<ref>[[Élie Halévy]], ''The Liberal Awakening'' (London 1961) pp. 67–68.</ref> [[Henry Hunt (politician)|Henry "Orator" Hunt]] was the main speaker at the Manchester meeting in 1819 that ended in the [[Peterloo Massacre]]; Hunt was elected MP for the [[Preston (UK Parliament constituency)|Preston]] division in 1830–1832. The "root and branch" of the reforms which the adjective radical suggests, and at the time still strongly in concept denoted by reference to all its previous main uses, is the [[British constitution]], which is not codified or restricted to particular customs, laws or documents.

The 1832 parliament elected on the new franchise – which raised the percentage of the adult population eligible to vote from some 3% to 6%<ref>Élie Halévy, ''The Triumph of Reform'' (London 1961) pp. 27–29</ref> – contained some fifty or sixty Radicals,. aThis number shortly doubled in the 1835 election, leading many to envisage a House of Commons eventually divided between Radicals on the one side and Conservativesconservatives (Tories and Whigs) on the other.<ref>Élie Halévy, ''The Triumph of Reform'' (London 1961) pp. 65–66, 195.</ref>

Following the First Reform Act, popular demand for wider suffrage was taken up by the mainly [[working class|working-class]] movement, [[Chartism]]. Meanwhile, Radical leaders like [[Richard Cobden]] and [[John Bright]] in the middle class [[Anti-Corn Law League]] emerged to oppose the existing duties on imported grain which helped farmers and landowners by raising the price of food, but which harmed consumers and manufacturers. After the success of the League on the one hand and the failure of Chartist mass demonstrations and petitions in 1848 to sway parliament on the other, demand for suffrage and parliamentary reform slowly re-emerged through the parliamentary radicals.<ref>Evans 2000, pp. 37, 46.</ref>

By 18641866, with agitation from [[John Bright]] and the [[Reform League]], the Liberal Prime Minister [[Lord John Russell|Earl Russell]] introduced a modest bill which was defeated by both Tories and reform Liberals, forcing the government to resign. A [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] minority government led by the [[Edward Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby|Earl of Derby]] and [[Benjamin Disraeli]] took office and introduced the [[Reform Act 1867]] – which almost doubled the electorate, giving many working men the vote – in a somewhat opportunistic party fashion.<ref>H. J. Hanham, ''The Reformed Electoral System in Great Britain'' (London 1968) pp. 4, 11.</ref>

Further Radical pressure led to the secret[[Ballot ballotAct (1872)]] and the [[Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act 1883|Corrupt and Illegal Practices Act]] of 1883, followed by the [[Representation of the People Act 1884]].<ref>Evans 2000, pp. 63, 67.</ref> Progressive liberals like [[John Morley]] and [[Joseph Chamberlain]] continued to value radicalism as a unifying bridge between the classes, and a common goal.<ref>{{cite journal|first=John|last=Vincent|title=John Morley|journal=History|volume=54|year=1969|page=316}}</ref> However, in 1886 Chamberlain helped form the breakaway [[Liberal Unionist Party]] that mostly supported Conservative governments. The long career of [[David Lloyd George]] saw him moving from radical views in the 1890s to becoming Prime Minister in a postwar coalition with the Conservatives in 1918. From 1900 and the rise of the Labour Party and the gradual achievement of the majority of the original Radical goals, Parliamentary Radicalism ceased to function as a political force in the early twentieth century.<ref>M. L. Henry, "Radicals", in S. H. Steinberg ed., ''A New Dictionary of British History'' (London 1963) p. 300.</ref>

=== DisappearDisappearance as a political party ===

Radicals have beenwere absorbed by the Liberal Party sinceby 1859, but have sincedid shownshow their presence as a faction of the Liberal Party.<ref name="radical2">{{cite book|editor=Jonathan Sperber |title=Europe 1850-1914: Progress, Participation and Apprehension |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9iWsAgAAQBAJ&dq=leftist+%22Radicals%22+Britain+1859&pg=PA92 |quote=Counter-balancing Palmerston's more moderate image was his chancellor of the exchequer, William Gladstone (1809–98), who enjoyed support on the left wing of the Liberal Party and among British radicals. This duo kept politics on course ... |date=2014 |page=92 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=9781317866602 }}</ref>

* ''[[The Difference Engine]]'' (1990), an alternative history ("[[Steampunk]]") novel by [[William Gibson]] and [[Bruce Sterling]], partially based on ''[[Sybil, or The Two Nations]]'' by [[Benjamin Disraeli]], which includes a fictional Industrial Radical Party.

* [[Christopher Wyvill (reformer)|Christopher Wyvill]]