Was the Chamberlain Government economically left-wing?

[Phony Moderate]

Chamberlain's Wikipedia article suggests that it was.

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[RogueBeaver]

Left-wing no. One National, hell yes.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Good God no. And that paragraph must have been written by an admirer as it implies a general picture that is really not true at all...

[minionofmidas]

Of the "too little too late" type maybe?

[Supersonic]

Left-wing no. One National, hell yes.

Pretty much this. If you were left wing you would most likely have supported widespread nationalisation in this period. It's a shame Chamberlain is so demonised, his domestic record is not at all bad.

[k-onmmunist]

Left-wing no. One National, hell yes.

Pretty much this. If you were left wing you would most likely have supported widespread nationalisation in this period. It's a shame Chamberlain is so demonised, his domestic record is not at all bad.

[politicus]

Chamberlain's Wikipedia article suggests that it was.

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The article portrays him as a social reformer, but not a lefty. It could be more balancd, but is reasonable by wikipedia standard.

[RodPresident]

Chamberlain family isn't a traditional Tory family. Old Joseph Chamberlain was one of most progressive Liberals in 1880s, but he was very pro-Empire.

[k-onmmunist]

Chamberlain family isn't a traditional Tory family. Old Joseph Chamberlain was one of most progressive Liberals in 1880s, but he was very pro-Empire.

He took the gas and water companies in Birmingham into municipal ownership + supported tariffs (though the latter was more for nationalistic reasons than progressive)

[Filuwaúrdjan]

'Slum clearance' being written there is the biggest joke of all, of course. None of that on a meaningful scale until the Blitz the Post War period.

Good God no. And that paragraph must have been written by an admirer as it implies a general picture that is really not true at all...

The point, of course, is that his domestic record was virtually nonexistent, especially when you consider the context of the time. His defenders (isn't this sort of historical hipsterism the worst thing ever?) often point to housing, which is hilarious. The interwar estates were a result of acts passed by the 1924 and 1929-1931 Labour governments (which provided the money) and local government action. Of course most governments before 1945 had fyck all in the way of domestic achievement, but that's really no excuse.

[Gustaf]

Chamberlain family isn't a traditional Tory family. Old Joseph Chamberlain was one of most progressive Liberals in 1880s, but he was very pro-Empire.

He took the gas and water companies in Birmingham into municipal ownership + supported tariffs (though the latter was more for nationalistic reasons than progressive)

There aren't really any progressive reasons for supporting tariffs (at least not in the UK).

[RogueBeaver]

Chamberlain family isn't a traditional Tory family. Old Joseph Chamberlain was one of most progressive Liberals in 1880s, but he was very pro-Empire.

He took the gas and water companies in Birmingham into municipal ownership + supported tariffs (though the latter was more for nationalistic reasons than progressive)

There aren't really any progressive reasons for supporting tariffs (at least not in the UK).

As the GOM often said.

[k-onmmunist]

Chamberlain family isn't a traditional Tory family. Old Joseph Chamberlain was one of most progressive Liberals in 1880s, but he was very pro-Empire.

He took the gas and water companies in Birmingham into municipal ownership + supported tariffs (though the latter was more for nationalistic reasons than progressive)

There aren't really any progressive reasons for supporting tariffs (at least not in the UK).

There are now, I'd say. Not then though.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Joseph Chamberlain supported 'tariff reform' because it would have helped out his mates; the economy of Birmingham was then driven largely by small scale manufacturing aimed directly at consumers and shutting off commercial rivals from both domestic and imperial markets (the latter part was the main thing, really) had a certain obvious appeal. He dressed it up in the language of jingoism and social reform because he was a cynical old bastard.