William Edge (politician)

Sir William Edge, 1st Baronet (21 November 1880 – 18 December 1948) was a British Liberal, later National Liberal politician and businessman.

Early life

William Edge was the son of Sir Knowles Edge, head of William Edge & Son Ltd colour manufacturers, who was Mayor of Bolton from 1917–18. [The Times, 2.1.31] He was educated at Bolton Grammar School and went into his father's business, eventually becoming the head of the company.

Politics

However, politics was Edge's main interest, and he was active in support of the Liberal Party in Lancashire, with a reputation as a good platform speaker, before getting into Parliament. [The Times, 20.12.48] In February 1916, Edge was returned unopposed as a Liberal for Bolton following the resignation of the sitting Liberal MP in the two member constituency, Thomas Taylor. [The Times, 1.3.16] At that time he was styled Captain Edge since he held a staff appointment in the War Office and his professional background was described to the electorate as a Bolton manufacturer. [The Times, 17.2.16] Edge was returned unopposed again in 1918 as was the Labour candidate and the other sitting MP, Robert Tootill. [The Times, 5.12.18]

From 1919-1922, Edge was a Joint Lord of the Treasury with his main role being to act as liaison between the Coalition government and the Labour Party. [The Times, 20.12.48] He was re-elected for Bolton in 1922 standing as a National Liberal, that is as a supporter of the former coalition government and the Lloyd George faction in the Liberal Party, against Conservative, Labour and Asquithian Liberal opposition. Despite the decision of the Conservative Party at the Carlton Club meeting of 19 October 1922 to end the Coalition Government, there was clearly some goodwill remaining between the parties in Bolton as only one candidate from each stood in the election, and there must have been some crossover of votes from the Conservatives to Edge. The Independent Liberal came bottom of the poll, behind the two Labour candidates. [The Times, 16.11.22] Edge was one of the National Liberal whips from 1922-23 but resigned in protest at the government's industrial policy of safeguarding (i.e. tariff protection), as it particularly affected the cotton industry through a proposed duty on fabric gloves – important in his Lancashire constituency. [The Times, 1.8.22] He was knighted in 1922. [Roy Douglas, The History of the Liberal Party, 1895-1970; Sidgwick and Jackson, 1971 p.305]

However, along with many other former National Liberals, Edge was unable to hold his seat at the 1923 general election. The Conservative votes no longer transferred, and Labour and the independent Liberal party, which had reunited with many former coalitionists, were making advances.

Lloyd George

As is perhaps to be expected from a supporter of the wartime coalition, Edge was politically close to David Lloyd George. According to A J Sylvester, Lloyd George's private secretary, Edge was one of LG's most stalwart friends. [The Real Lloyd George, by A J Sylvester; Cassell 1947, p158] In 1925, Edge was appointed as one of the trustees of the Lloyd George fund [Douglas, The History of the Liberal Party, 1895-1970 Sidgwick & Jackson, 1971 p.200] and he stayed a loyal supporter of Lloyd George through the years. In 1940 (before the catalyst of the Norway debate brought Winston Churchill to power) Edge was involved in talks with Labour about the possibility of Labour joining a coalition government to be led by Lloyd George to replace Neville Chamberlain. [Life with Lloyd George: The Diary of A J Sylvester, (Colin Cross ed.) Macmillan, 1975 p253] One of the Liberal causes Edge particularly espoused was the Land and Nation League, [The Times, 2 June 1927] a Group set up by Lloyd George in October 1925 to promote his land campaigns [Douglas, op cit p.192] and in support of the report of the Liberal Land Enquiry Committee, ‘Land and the Nation’ published as the Green Book.

Bosworth by-election and after

Edge returned to the House of Commons at a by-election for Bosworth in Leicestershire on 31 May 1927. His victory there was part of a pattern of Liberal success begun in 1926 after the General Strike, and Lloyd George's taking over the leadership of the party from Asquith had changed the political scene. According to Cook and Ramsden: ‘As so often when Lloyd George was involved, his old dynamism and energy brought a new sense of purpose. Within six months of his return, it seemed that at long last a real recovery was at hand.’ Between March 1927 and March 1929 the Liberals won six by-elections. [Cook and Ramsden, By-elections in British politics, UCL Press 1997, p59-60] Lloyd George helped his old friend by speaking for Edge at by-election meetings. [The Times, 30 May 1927] The result at Bosworth was Edge 11,981, J Minto (Labour) 11,710, E L Spears (Conservative) 7,685: giving a majority of 271 after a recount demanded by Labour. Turnout was 84.6%. Edge held his seat at the 1931 and 1935 general elections when he stood as a Liberal National, but did not contest the seat in 1945.

In the troubled period of the 1930s for Liberals, Edge's political alignment was sometimes difficult to pin down. The Liberal Nationals were closely associated with the Conservatives. In time they actually merged with the Tories. By 1929 Edge was described as a ‘near Conservative’ [Trevor Wilson: The Downfall of the Liberal Party, Cornell University Press, 1966 p.357] – although one Labour junior minister noted that he voted with the Labour government in December 1929 on the Coal Mines Bill when most Liberals were joining the Tories to oppose the introduction of a seven and a half hour working day and a National Wages Board [The Political Diary of Hugh Dalton, Ben Pimlott (ed.) Jonathan Cape, 1986 pp81-82] and that Edge also voted with the Labour government in January 1931 on the Trades Disputes Bill. [Pimlott op cit, p.137] Edge was created a Baronet in the 1937 Coronation Honours. [The Times, 11 May 1937] [Template:Rayment-b See: Eardley to Eyles - The Baronetage of England, Ireland, Nova Scotia, Great Britain and the United Kingdom.]

Outside Parliament

Edge was a Wesleyan Methodist. [The Times, 23.11.22] On 3 September 1932, a stone laying ceremony was held for the new Methodist Church at Stoke Golding, near Hinckley, and Edge laid one of the stones. He placed in a cavity a sealed bottle containing the current preaching plan, an issue of the "Hinckley Times" (and "Guardian") and other documents. [ [http://www.stokegolding.co.uk/history/churches.htm The Churches of Stoke Golding] ]

On a lighter note, in 1930 Edge agreed to take part in a race against some homing pigeons released from the Palace of Westminster by Ibstock Homing Association. He raced by motor-car and rail, but his train was delayed and got in late at Leicester, causing Edge to arrive two minutes after the pigeons, so losing the race. [The Times, 1.6.30]

He died at his home at Lytham in Lancashire aged 68. [The Times, 20.12.48]

References