ENGLISH POLITICAL HISTORY 



485 



added to the issues before the electorate. Between February 1911 and November 

 25, ioi2, (before the Bow & Bromley contest, which may here be ignored), in 30 

 straight contests between Unionist and Liberal candidates (including Cheltenham) 

 they obtained a net advantage of 20,156 votes over the Liberals as compared with 

 those given at the general election, the Unionists gaining 21,835 in 2 4 constituencies 

 as against a Liberal gain of 1,677 in 6; and in n three-cornered contests, where a La- 

 bour candidate also stood, they obtained an advantage of 15,757 over the Liberals (as 

 apart from Labour), gaining 21,069 in 10 Elections as against 5,312 in i (Hanley). 

 So that, in the aggregate, the Unionists, in 41 contests, improved their position, as 

 compared with the Liberals, by 35,813 votes. The figures showing the differences 

 from the previous pollings (and including Bow & Bromley) are given in Table C. 

 Table B. Seats Representing Party Gains at General Election of December igio 



By Ministerialists (29) 



Bedford. 

 a Bow and Bromley. 



Burnley. 



Cambridgeshire, Newmarket. 

 b Cheltenham. 



Coventry. 



Cumberland, Cockermouth. 

 c Dublin County, South. 



Essex, Saffron Walden. 

 d Exeter. 



Kent, Deptford. 



Kirkcudbrightshire. 



Lincolnshire, Louth. 



Manchester S. W. 



Oxford, Banbury. 



Peckham. 



Radnorshire. 



Rochester. 



Southwark, W. 



Staffordshire, Leek. 



Stepney. 



Suffolk, Lowestoft. 

 e Sunderland (2 seats) 

 c Tyrone, Mid. 



Wakefield. 

 a Whitehaven. 



Wilts, Cricklade. 



By Unionists (27) 



Ashton-under-Lyne. 



Birkenhead. 



Cardiff. 



Cheshire, Altrincham. 



Cornwall, Bodmin. 



Cumberland, Eskdale. 



Darlington. 



Derbyshire, High Peak. 



Devonshire, Ashburton. 



Devonshire, Tavistock. 



Devonshire, Torquay. 



Dudley. 



Great Grimsby. 



Islington, W. 



King's Lynn. 



Lancashire, Darwen. 

 /Lancashire, Newton. 



Leicestershire, Melton. 



Liverpool, Exchange. 



Plymouth (2 seats). 



St. Andrews, Burghs. 

 /St. Helen's. 



St. Pancras, W. 



Salford, S. 



Warrington. 

 / Wigan. 



c. Irish Nationalist. 



d. Reversed subsequently 



on recount. 



e. One Labour. 

 /. From Labour. 



a Woolwich. 



a. Labour. 



b. Reversed at by-election 



after petition. 



The Ministerialists, while representing a good many different shades of opinion, 

 included a number of men of marked individual ability and parliamentary influence. 

 Leading men ^ n tne Cabinet, Mr. Asquith 1 (Prime Minister; b. 1852), Mr. Lloyd George 2 

 ofthe (Chancellor of the Exchequer; b. 1863), Mr. Winston Churchill 3 (Home 



coalition. Secretary from Feb. 1910 till Oct. 1911, and then First Lord of the Admiral- 

 ty; b. 1874), Sir E. Grey 4 (Foreign Secretary since 1905; b. 1862), and Mr.. R. B. Hal- 

 dane, 5 who was created a Peer as Viscount Haldane in March 1911 (War Minister from 

 1905 till July 1912, and then Lord Chancellor;' b. 1856), stood out first and foremost in 

 dominating the manoeuvres of the party. Mr. Asquith, Sir E. Grey, and Mr. Haldane, 

 with Lord Crewe (Sec. of State for India since Nov. 1910), Lord Morley (Lord President 

 of his Council since Nov. 1910) and Lord Chancellor Loreburn (who occupied the Wool- 

 sack till July 1912) in the Upper House, gave a solidity to the Liberal counsels which was 

 matched with the adventurous electioneering policy carried on by Mr. Lloyd George 

 and Mr. Churchill along paths of their own. 



1 E.B. ii, 769. *Ibid., xii, 588. 



2 Ibid., xvi, 832. 



3 Ibid., vi, 347. 



