The Evolution of the British Labour Party and Irish Nationalism, 1914–1921

Abstract

The First World War and its immediate aftermath played a crucial role in both the transformation of the Irish political landscape and the rapid development of the British Labour Party from peripheral political grouping to alternative party of government. Although the political progress made by the Labour Party in this period was by no means uninterrupted, and indeed at times was faltering and halting, by 1921 it found itself on the brink of power as the official opposition to Lloyd George’s peacetime coalition government. Labour now provided a progressive alternative to the Conservative Party, potentially uniting trade unionists and ideological socialists with the former Liberal-voting middle class. As a result, it now hovered in expectation of soon becoming the governing party, and the leadership became determined to conduct itself prudently and responsibly in order to realise its potential.