On Wednesday 15th November 1922, the British electorate went to the polls and changed the course of political history.
Yesterday’s emergency National Convention meeting was a reminder of the influence and power of the grassroots.
How a proud, unbending leader misread his party, brought down a government, and set back the idea of sharing power for a generation.
Bonar Law’s words in 1922 apply to the present leader: “The party elects a leader, and that leader chooses the policy, and if the party does not like it, they have to get another leader.”
His new thriller is readable, but lets the British Prime Minister and Establishment of 1938 off far too lightly.
She has expressed admiration for Joe, the ambitious social reformer and staunch unionist, but his sons have their own lessons to teach.
It was the closeness of the family in Joe’s era that led critics to calling them ‘the clique’ – a toast that we still make today in their honour.
It was not entirely clear at the time that it had created a new political structure that would last for generations – with the Conservatives as the leading party of the state.
Never before had British and Irish representatives put their names to a formal agreement of this kind as complete equals.