Liberal Party Structure

While both structure and agency played a key role in the replacing of the Liberal party with Labour it could be said that structure worked more as a catalyst while agency played a direct part in the replacement of the Liberal party; it could be argued “structure and agency [cannot] be divorced” (McHugh, 2001, p.6). While values giving way to class and an electorate tripling in size does create some convincing arguments that structure is the best explanation for Labour replacing the Liberal party as the main opposition to the Conservatives it seems that agency underpins these; the argument that the Liberals failed to find an unchanging ideological position seems to run through the core of their demise; this mixed with their apparent insecurity …show more content…
Although it could be argued that the Liberals did what they could to stay allied with the working class through extensive social reform in voting and even backing a few trade union candidates for parliament the Liberals lost “social forces that had provided it with a built-in local organization and a transcendent moral appeal”( Morgan, 1971, p. 71). And while it could also be argued the loss of working class support came about as a result of external contingencies (like the Boer War and industrial and social change that created an atmosphere of industrial unrest and radical politics) not as a result of agency it is perhaps more accurate to argue the Liberals lost working class voters as they attempted to win their [the working class’] votes through social reform rather than representation and/or help to trade unions. As a result, workers were progressively disaffected from Liberal politics; although the Liberals did endorse some trade union candidates for parliament they failed to help and represent the trade unions as much as the working class sought. Furthermore, although it could be argued that structure is the clear reason behind any class related politics (and thereby it could be argued that structure is the best way of explaining why Labour replaced the Liberals …show more content…
While it could be argued that the industrial inner-cities were lost as a result of the working class becoming disenfranchised with the liberal party. It could also be argued that that structure best explains Labour replacing the Liberal Party as the main opposition to the Conservatives as the “1923 election was notable for the Liberal successes in non-industrial towns” (Finding, 2011) and the Liberals ability to still win seats implies the Liberals were still a credible party and therefore agency does not fully explain why Labour replaced the Liberal Party as the main opposition to the Conservatives. Although it could be argued that agency does best explain Labour replacing the Liberals as it could be said it was a Liberal mistake to lose the working class vote in the inner-cities, on the other hand it could also be argued that the Liberals losing the working class inner-cities was an inherent outcome of values giving way to