W. E. D. Allen, Unionist Politics and the New Party

Abstract

This article traces the political career of W. E. D. Allen, the Ulster Unionist MP who joined the New Party, between 1929 and 1931. It examines how the policies he endorsed—especially protection—gradually put him at odds with both the Conservative and Ulster Unionist Party hierarchies. It analyses his decision to join the New Party and explains how he attempted to relate this to his continuing commitment to Ulster Unionism. The article argues that even after he joined the New Party, there was a large degree of consistency behind Allen's stance. It further argues that Allen unsettled Unionist politics in Belfast because he presented the same kind of threat as independent Unionists: suggesting that the Ulster Unionist Party was not doing enough to tackle unemployment. It also shows how Allen's arguments raised larger questions about Ulster Unionist–Conservative relations and about the operation of devolved government in Northern Ireland.

Keywords:

• Fascism
• Unionism
• Allen
• Mosley
• Belfast

Notes

 [1] Worley, ‘What was the New Party?’, 39–63.

 [2] New Party Statement, The Times, 24 July 1931.

 [3] For information on Allen, see Green, ‘W. E. D. Allen’, The Times, 21 September 1973; Irish Times, 1 October 1973.

 [4] Drennan, BUF.

 [5] Mosley, Rules of the Game, 295, 398; Thurlow, Fascism, 106; Pugh, ‘Hurrah’, 153; Dorril, Blackshirt, 245, 437.

 [6] The Times, 9 and 10 November 1983; Irish Times, 10 November 1983; Mosley, Rules of the Game, 438–9; Thurlow, Fascism, 89, 165; Pugh, ‘Hurrah’, 154, 307. Dorril, Blackshirt, 438, states that ‘Allen probably reported to MI6, not MI5 as Mosley claimed’.

 [7] Williamson, National Crisis, esp. 149, 225, 227, 230–1, 276, 446, 468–9; Worley, ‘What was the New Party?’, esp. 44, 63.

 [8] Ward, Unionism, 7.

 [9] Loughlin, ‘Northern Ireland’, 544; Skidelsky, Mosley, 93–107.

[10] The nature of Ulster Unionism is contested. See Ward, Unionism, 130–1, for a brief summary of the main historiographical interpretations.

[11] Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) archive, W. E. D. Allen, ‘Imperial Election. West Belfast. Polling Day: 30 May 1929’, D/1327/16/2/5.

[12] Walker, Ulster Unionist Party, 57; and Intimate Strangers , 64.

[13] Irish Times, 5 April 1929.

[14] Johnson, ‘Northern Ireland’.

[15] UUC, W. E. D. Allen, ‘What Safeguarding Means’, n.d. (1929); ‘Do You Know Why You Are Unemployed?’, n.d. (1929) and ‘Imperial Election’.

[16] Williamson, National Crisis, 48–9; Self, Tories and Tariffs.

[17] Allen, ‘Imperial Election’, emphasis in original.

[18] Irish Times, 13 July 1929.

[19] Williamson, ‘Safety First’. Also, McKibbin, ‘Class and Conventional Wisdom’; Jarvis, ‘Conservative Electoral Hegemony’; Williamson, Baldwin; Ball, Baldwin.

[20] Williamson, National Crisis, 121.

[21] Irish Times, 9 January 1930.

[22] Irish Times, 10 and 21 January 1930.

[23] House of Commons Debates, 5th series (hereafter HC Deb), vol. 235, col. 1366, 19 February 1930; cols. 2031–3, 25 February 1930.

[24] Irish Times, 10 January 1930.

[25] Williamson, National Crisis, 86–125.

[26] Walker, Ulster Unionist Party, 71; Boyce, ‘A Place Apart?’, 53.

[27] Irish Times, 31 January 1930.

[28] Boyce, ‘A Place Apart?’, 53; Walker, Ulster Unionist Party, 58, 62.

[29] Northern Whig and Belfast Post, 1 September 1930; Irish Times, 2 September 1930.

[30] Williamson, National Crisis, 123–4.

[31] Irish Times, 5, 7 and 12 November 1930.

[32] Skidelsky, Mosley, 193–5.

[33] Skidelsky, Mosley, 237–9; Howell, MacDonald's Party, 300.

[34] Irish Times, 20 February 1931; Belfast Telegraph, 19 February 1931; Northern Whig and Belfast Post, 19 February 1931.

[35] Irish Times, 10 March 1931; Walker, Intimate Strangers.

[36] Irish Times, 20 February 1931; Northern Whig and Belfast Post, 19 February 1931.

[37] The Scotsman, 10 March 1931; Northern Whig and Belfast Post, 10 March 1931.

[38] Belfast Telegraph, 10 March 1931.

[39] The Times, 13 March 1931; Irish Times, 10 and 13 March 1931.

[40] Allen, ‘Imperial Election’; and ‘What Safeguarding Means’.

[41] Walker, Ulster Unionist Party, 70–1. For debate on this, see Bew et al., Northern Ireland.

[42] Belfast Telegraph, 14 March 1931; Irish Times, 14 March 1931; Northern Whig and Belfast Post, 14 March 1931.

[43] Irish Times, 16 March 1931; Boyce, ‘A Place Apart?’, 57, 61; Allen, ‘Imperial Election’.

[44] Irish Times, 17 March 1931; Belfast Telegraph, 17 March 1931; Northern Whig and Belfast Post, 17 March 1931. Also Allen, New Party. For the profit-sharing bill, see HC Deb, vol. 249, col. 761, 6 March 1931. As early as July 1929 Allen had spoken in favour of profit sharing: Irish Times, 13 July 1929.

[45] Belfast Telegraph, 9, 25 and 26 March 1931.

[46] Bogdanor, Devolution, 82–5; Boyce, ‘A Place Apart?’, 53–4.

[47] Irish Times, 10 March 1931.

[48] Belfast Telegraph, 25 and 26 March 1931.

[49] The Scotsman, 19 March 1931; Belfast Telegraph, 18 May 1931.

[50] Harold Nicolson, Diaries and Papers, entry for 11 June 1931 (Balliol College).

[51] Worley, ‘What was the New Party?’, 46–7; Nicolson Diaries, entry for 23 July 1931.

[52] Skidelsky, Mosley, 259; The Times, 16 July 1931. Nicolson Diaries and Papers, Nicolson to Tom [Mosley], 21 August 1931; The Times, 16 September 1931.

[53] Belfast Telegraph, 7 and 11 September 1931.

[54] Walker, Ulster Unionist Party, 64; Norton, ‘Creating Jobs’.

[55] Irish Times, 18 September 1931.

[56] Nicolson Diaries, entry for 4 August 1931.

[57] Belfast Telegraph, 6 October 1931; Irish Times, 7 October 1931; Northern Whig and Belfast Post, 10 October 1931.

[58] Belfast Telegraph, 12 October 1931; Northern Whig and Belfast Post, 10 October 1931. For the New Party manifesto, see Worley, ‘A Call to Action’, 248–9.

[59] Belfast Telegraph, 14 October 1931; Irish Times, 17 October 1931; Northern Whig and Belfast Post, 13 and 15 October 1931.

[60] Northern Whig and Belfast Post, 16 and 17 October 1931. Likewise, R. Pierce, another independent unionist who proposed to contest West Belfast, did not do so in order to prevent splitting the Unionist vote.

[61] Worley, ‘What was the New Party?’, 50; Worley, ‘A Call to Action’, 249–50.

[62] The Times, 16 February 1938; Evening Herald, 27 January 1939.