Politics & Protest
Party politics in the years after 1918 are covered by the Leicester pages of British History Online and the book, 'Leicester in the 20th Century'. Although Leicester was seen as a prosperous city, 5% of the workforce was unemployed at the start of 1921 and, later that year, a protest at Rupert Street, which turned into a riot, prompted the 'Leicester Work Scheme'. Unemployment reached 16,000 in 1932 and was rarely less than 10,000 in the years leading up to WW2. There were local and national protests against unemployment throughout the 1920s and 1930s. For example, the Jarrow marchers spent the night in Leicester on 22/23 October 1936 en route to London. See our unemployment page for more information.
The City was divided into three constituencies after 1918. In the 1918 election the city returned three MPs, one Coalition Liberal, one Coalition Conservative, and one Coalition National Democratic and Labour Party. Nationally, it was a Conservative landslide. Over the coming years, the seats were shared between the Conservatives, Labour and Liberals, although Leicester West was solidly Labour. The influence of the middle-class Liberal businessmen who played such a large part in local politics before 1914 gradually diminished and the last Liberal MP for Leicester lost his seat in 1935. After then it was either Labour or Conservative, ending a tradition of Liberal voting going back to the reform act of 1832.
Women were granted the vote for the first time in 1918 but about 25% of women (those under 30) were excluded on grounds of age until 1928, when women were able to vote on the same terms as men.
In 1937 the first Basque refugees fleeing the Spanish Civil War arrived in Leicester and the following years saw increasing numbers of refugees from Europe leading up to the start of WW2.
Read about the Attenborough family's involvement with Basque and Jewish refugees.
Read an article about the Basque refugees in Leicester.
Interview with Eve Holden, who recalls leaving Germany in the 1930s.
Interview with Ruth Goldsmith, who recalls leaving Germany in the 1930s.
While these pages are more interested in the effects of politics on the average citizen than the machinations of the political parties, it is notable that Winston Churchill stood for Leicester West in the 1923 general election. British History Online describes the situation:
"The campaign in West Leicester set the pace for the other divisions and held the interest not only of Leicester but of the whole country by the intensity with which it was conducted and the contrast between the two chief contestants, Churchill and Pethick Lawrence. Each in his way provided a model of speaking, Churchill dramatically eloquent and powerful, Pethick Lawrence cool, quiet, and academic. Pethick Lawrence's coolness was not shared by his supporters, who conducted a bitter personal attack upon Churchill and his career, condemning him as 'a public danger'. Strong feelings were aroused on either side and the election as a whole was marked by bitterness and rowdyism. It was not marked, however, by the Liberal revival that Churchill had hoped to lead. They won, admittedly, South Leicester, where Allen with the undivided support of all the opponents of protection ousted Reynolds by over 4,000 votes: but the two other seats were both won by Labour, because they succeeded in maintaining their support while the anti-Socialist vote was divided. Although Churchill had not come bottom of the poll, the result bitterly disappointed him: according to another candidate, when the count was known there 'were tears rolling down his face and if ever a man's face showed black sorrow and despair it was his'. It was his last contest as a Liberal."
Further Reading
‘Leicester a Modern History’ edited by Richard Roger & Rebecca Madgin, Carnegie Publishing Ltd., 2016. Chapter 3.
‘Leicester in the 20th century’ edited by David Nash & David Reeder, Alan Sutton Publishing, 1993. Chapter 3.