The Historical Association Swansea Branch: Swansea West - December 1918 - "assuredly the bitterest contest of the general election"

This branch lecture explores the 1918 general election in Swansea West, a contest that became notably contentious after the Armistice. The talk looks at how Lloyd George and Conservative leader Andrew Bonar Law attempted to maintain their wartime coalition by endorsing candidates together, and how that arrangement broke down locally when the Conservative Association rejected Lloyd George’s nominee and fielded its own candidate.

With Labour also entering the contest, the result was a three-way political battle that The Times described as “assuredly the bitterest contest of the General Election”. The session offers historical context for the election and examines the political tensions behind the clash in Swansea West.

The lecture is presented by Ray Collier for Swansea Branch of The Historical Association and takes place at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. It is a free in-person event with no booking required.