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Morality and Politics: the free churches and the Labour Party between the wars

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

Peter Catterall
Peter Catterall
Affiliation:
Institute of ContemporaryBritish History
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Abstract:

The inter-war period saw the decline of the Liberal party, the traditional political ally of the free churches, and the rise of the Labour party. This article traces the responses of the free churches to these developments. The relationship of the free churches with the Labour party in this period is examined at three different levels; that of the free church leadership, that of the chapels and the ordinary people in the pews and that of the nonconformists who became active in the Labour party. Whilst attitudes towards the Labour party changed within free church institutions during the inter-war years they did not become important supporters of the party, or greatly influence it. The number and proportion of individual nonconformists who were active and influential in the party in this period was however considerable. In the process not only did Labour M.P.s become the main carriers of the nonconformist conscience on issues such as drink and gambling. They also made a distinctive and important contribution to the development and ideals of the Labour party.

Type
Articles
Information
The Historical Journal , Volume 36 , Issue 3 , September 1993 , pp. 667 - 685
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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References

1 I am grateful to the Twentieth-Century Policy and Administration seminar at the Institute of Historical Research, the Modern History seminar at Birmingham University, the BSA Sociology of Religion Group and the Sociology of Religion seminar at the London School of Economics for their comments on earlier drafts of this paper.

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