Republicans’ original mandate can be consigned to dustbin of history
Truly, it marked a turning point in both British and Irish political history, not least because the first woman was elected to the House of Commons. In a sense, it was bound to: because of the First World War, the electorate hadn’t passed any verdict for a full eight years. And the electorate was bigger: women (albeit only those over 30) had their say for the very first time.
Remembered in Britain as the ‘coupon election’ because candidates for the successful Conservative-Liberal coalition received a letter of endorsement from both the Tory leader, Andrew Bonar Law, and the prime minister, David Lloyd George, it marked the eclipse of the Liberals by Labour in terms of votes, if not seats. In Ireland, of course, the ramifications of the election were to be altogether bloodier.
