Middle Class Union
Encyclopedia
The Middle Class Union was founded by Lord George Ranken Askwith
in March 1919 to safeguard property
after the Reform Act 1918
had increased the number of working class
people eligible to vote. The Conservative
MP
and Irish
landowner J. R. Pretyman Newman
was also a member.
Lord Robert Cecil
described the MCU as a strike-breaking body designed to encourage:
It changed its name to the National Citizens Union in 1921.
Baron Askwith
Baron Askwith, of St Ives in the County of Huntingdon, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1919 for the civil servant and arbitrator Sir George Askwith. The title became extinct upon his death in 1942...
in March 1919 to safeguard property
Property
Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...
after the Reform Act 1918
Representation of the People Act 1918
The Representation of the People Act 1918 was an Act of Parliament passed to reform the electoral system in the United Kingdom. It is sometimes known as the Fourth Reform Act...
had increased the number of working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
people eligible to vote. The Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
and Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
landowner J. R. Pretyman Newman
John Pretyman Newman
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir John Robert Pretyman Newman was an Irish-born British Army officer and Conservative politician....
was also a member.
Lord Robert Cecil
Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood
Edgar Algernon Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood CH, PC, QC , known as Lord Robert Cecil from 1868 to 1923, was a lawyer, politician and diplomat in the United Kingdom...
described the MCU as a strike-breaking body designed to encourage:
- "...the smaller trading, propertied and professional classesSocial classSocial classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
[to] band themselves together to protect their interests ... and secure their property ... from revolutionRevolutionA revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
and extreme LabourLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
demands".
It changed its name to the National Citizens Union in 1921.