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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 September 2013
The recent national election in Great Britain offers another opportunity to study the methods and practices by which British political parties carry on their campaigns. One of the most interesting of these aspects of British politics is the character of the propaganda activities in which the parties engage—activities which present some contrasts to those with which Americans are familiar. In the United States, the regularity of elections accustoms the public to recurrent outbursts of noisy, high-pressure propaganda followed after elections by a silence almost unbroken by official party utterances. The parties of the United States are compelled to manufacture their campaigns out of whatever materials are at hand, seeking to whip up public sentiment without caring very much whether it rests upon sound convictions as to public policy or upon prejudice and passion. Party activities and strategy are determined almost exclusively by one cardinal principle—the effect upon the number of votes which the party can secure.
1 The publicity department of the Conservative and Unionist central office is located at Palace Chambers, Westminster S. W. 1, and is directed by Sir Patrick Gower. The Liberal party maintains publicity offices at 21 Abingdon Street, London, S. W. 1, with Mr. Harold Storey as general manager. The publicity division of the Labor party is in Transport House, Smith Square, London, S. W. 1, in which all of the central offices of the party are located, and is under the direction of Mr. W.W. Henderson.
2 The publications of this type issued by the several parties are very similar. The following publications supplied to workers by the Conservative headquarters are typical: Constituency Organization; Handbook for Organizers and Workers; Handbook for Young Britons; How to Start and Manage a Club; Women's Unionist Organization; Junior Imperial League.
3 There are usually from six to eight cards in each set, supplied at an annual subscription price of seven to ten shillings. During campaigns, the demand for notes for speakers is large. In the short autumn campaign of 1931, the central office of the Labor party issued 123,610 cards.
4 Home and Empire, it must be said, is decidedly less sober than its rivals in appearance and political emphasis. This no doubt accounts for its greater popularity.
5 All parties follow the practice of sending copies of their periodicals unbound to local party headquarters, where additional material of interest to the local constituencies is incorporated. Frequently as many as eight pages of local news and advertising may be added to a single issue.
6 While it is difficult for even the publicity departments of the parties to estimate accurately the quantity of matter issued, it is undoubtedly true that in volume of publicity the Conservative party stands first, Labor second, and the Liberal party third. The following report of the activity of the Labor party in the short autumn campaign of 1931, requiring as it did the hasty preparation of much new material, gives some idea of the volume of propaganda: election manifesto, 5,300,000 copies; leaflets, 21,000,000 copies of 32 different leaflets (6,600,000 of seven kinds free); posters, 80,800, of seven different kinds; speakers' notes, 123,610 cards; Labour Elector, 75,000 copies; pamphlets, 15,000 copies of three different kinds.
7 In 1933, a year in which only a few by-elections were contested by the parties, the Labor publicity department sold over 150,000 copies of its more substantial pamphlets. Report of the Labour Party, 1933, p. 52.
8 Buell, , Chase, , and Valeur, , Democratic Governments in Europe, p. 153Google Scholar. Under this classification should be mentioned several Conservative publications relating to India and the Empire, and a number of Labor projects on local government, unemployment, and the cotton industry.
9 The Labor Yearbook temporarily suspended publication in 1933 because of financial difficulties. The Conservative Constitutional Yearbook is the oldest of these publications and has an annual circulation of three to four thousand.
10 In the election of 1929, which may be regarded as more nearly normal than the subsequent elections, the Labor party had an expenditure for literature of £33,001. Except for £1,597, this amount was secured entirely from the sale of publications.
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