One hundred years ago, from 4 to 12 May 1926, the TUC held the General Strike in support of the mineworkers, who were being forced to accept lower wages and work longer hours to maintain their employers’ profitability. It was one of the most dramatic peacetime events in twentieth-century Britain, affecting people and communities throughout the country, and remarkable more for its discipline and restraint than for street battles and picketline violence.
The General Strike deepened divisions with the Liberal Party. The party leader, the Earl of Oxford (H.H. Asquith) and the Liberal shadow cabinet were clear that society was obliged to secure victory over the strikers, while Lloyd George blamed the Conservative Government for the crisis and demanded further negotiations. Yet the trade unions had once found the Liberal Party a reliable ally.
Join Anne Perkins, author of A Very British Strike 3 May – 12 May 1926 and Dr. Alastair Reid, Life Fellow at Girton College, Cambridge University, to discuss the dispute and its implications for the Liberal Party.
Those unable to attend in person will be able to view the meeting via Zoom; registrations will open nearer the time. For those attending in person, there is no need to register.
June 29, 2026
18:00
National Liberal Club
1 Whitehall Place, London SW1A 2HE