PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
CENTENARY OF 1906 GENERAL ELECTION (7 February 2006)

That this House notes the centenary of the final counting of the votes on 7th and 8th February 1906, cast in the general election of that year and records the fact that the Liberal Party and its allies won an overwhelming victory with 399 members of this House; further notes that this resounding result confirmed in office the Liberal government led by Sir Henry Campbell Bannerman who headed an administration that included some of the great figures of the 20th century, most notably HH Asquith, David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill, who together laid the foundations of the modern welfare state by sweeping away most of the vestiges of the poor law by such measures as free school meals, old age pensions, labour exchanges, minimum wages, restrictions on hours worked, sick pay and unemployment pay; further notes that the 1906 government also boosted democracy and the rights of workers by protecting trade unions, introducing payment of hon. Members and restricting the powers of the House of Lords; and believes that the record of this government justifies its place as one of the great reforming ministries of the UK.

Sponsored by:
Stephen Williams (Liberal Democrat)