Winston Churchill Loses Confidence In His Conservative Party, Staking Out His Own Independent Position in Favor of Free Trade

Winston Churchill began his career in the Conservative Party of his father Lord Randolph.  However, during his first parliamentary session, Winston opposed the government’s military expenditures and Joseph Chamberlain’s proposal of extensive tariffs, which were intended to protect Britain’s economic dominance. In fact, he became one of the leading spokesmen against it. His own constituency effectively deselected him, the Conservative Association there passing a resolution that he “had forfeited their confidence in him”. In October 1903, Churchill had nearly had enough.  He was particularly incensed by Prime Minister Balfour’s speech of early October in which Balfour advocated a retaliatory tariff. This was a critical argument at a critical time for Churchill. Free Trade was the policy issue that precipitated Churchill’s decision to leave the Tory Party. By late October 1903, he had already made the fateful decision and would formally cross the aisle and become a Liberal in 1904.

In October 1903, the great editor Henry Newbolt of the Monthly Review wrote Churchill encouraging him to write something on the subject and make his opinion known.  This Churchill did, writing in an article that would appear in the November 1903 edition of the Review, “The position which many moderate people occupy today is one of great difficulty. They lie between the party organizations. They take a sincere pride and pleasure in the development and consolidation of the Empire, but they are not prepared to see Imperialism exploited as a mere electioneering dodge … The great question is – are political organizations made for men or men for political organizations?… Fifty years ago there were a score of private members in the House of Commons whose word weighed in the councils of the nation not less than the word of distinguished Ministers. Now the private member is an antic. If he is silent he is a fool. If he lifts his voice he is a knave – disappointed because his pretensions are ignored … The first set of tariffs may indeed be framed to serve the trade of the country. The second will be arranged to suit the fortunes of a party. This to catch the iron vote, that to collar the cotton; this other, again, to rope in the woollens. Every dirty little monopolist in the island will have his own ‘society’ to push his special trade; and for each and all the watchword will be ‘Scratch my back’, and the countersign, I’ll scratch yours’.”

This is Churchill’s letter agreeing to write the article, and characterizing this issue, which changed his career, as “so important.”

Autograph letter signed, on his personal letterhead, London, October 13, 1903, to Newbolt.  “Dear Mr. Newbolt, Since the matter seems so important to me, I will endeavor to provide you with with something.  But it will not have many other merits except brevity.”

The outcome was never in doubt. The Conservative whip post was withdrawn from him in January 1904. He began to hob-nob with Lloyd George and other young Liberal lions. He finally crossed the floor of the House in May 1904, characteristically taking the seat where his father used to sit while in Opposition. Denounced as a turncoat, he ran into a lasting squall of political and social hostility.