The Labour Party and the Impact of the 1918 Reform Act

Abstract

The Representation of the People Act 1918 compelled the Labour Party to respond by changing its organisation. Labour was already in the process of changing its organisation, policies and constitution because of the transformed economic, social, and political circumstances of the Great War. Labour took particular care to adjust its organisation to appeal to women voters, especially working‐class ones. It also aimed its electoral appeal to white‐collar workers, male and female. Labour benefited in 1919–20 from the wider local government franchise in London and some other urban areas, but such advances were thereafter countered by the Conservatives and Liberals avoiding dividing the anti‐Labour vote. It is possible that Labour benefited to a small extent in a few inner‐city constituencies by the ending of electoral disqualification for receiving out relief under the poor law. By the 1922 general election, Labour was establishing electoral strongholds in many mining, industrial and inner‐city parliamentary seats. Labour welcomed the changes proposed by the Speaker's conference but, to the dismay of some of its supporters, it accepted the loss of the proportional representation proposals in the compromises made as the Representation of the People Bill went through parliament. In the longer term, the lack of proportional representation enabled Labour to form majority governments in 1945 and later.