Winnie's Defeat

In feudal England every man had a master--peasant, noble and monarch; the masterless man was almost an outlaw and found every man's hand against him.

Winston Spencer Churchill, "Winnie," is a masterless man in English politics. Once he was Conservative, but he became a Liberal 20 years ago because of Chamberlain's free trade program; he was a Liberal until this year, when he decided to run for Parliament on a Conservative platform. He wanted to stand in the Abbey Division of Westminster. The Conservative caucus said: "First you must let us be your master; consent to that and you must run for office only when and where we choose." "Winnie," who had just been defeated in the December election on a Liberal ticket, said "No." He wanted to run in Westminster; he wanted to be back in Parliament. So the Conservatives put up Otho Nicholson in the Abbey Division, and "Winnie," the masterless politician, campaigned alone.

He ran on an independent, anti-Socialist ticket against Nicholson, the Conservative, and Fenner Brockway, the Laborite. His campaign was a colorful whirlwind (TIME, March 24), described as "Churchill's circus." He aimed to bring out the large non-voting electorate to choose him in a rock-ribbed Conservative stronghold. He must split the Conservative vote to beat the Laborite whom he officially opposed, and he had the backing of so influential a Conservative as Lord Balfour.

The Liberal Party of Asquith, which he had so recently abandoned, said nothing. At the eleventh hour it put up a candidate of its own, Scott Duckers, who--as everyone knew--had not the ghost of a chance, who could divert no Labor votes, no normal Conservative votes, but might be counted on to catch some of the votes that the energetic Churchill was scooping in from the highways and the byways.

The end of the election was exciting. The result was in doubt until the last moment. Churchill swept the district with automobiles to carry lazy voters to the polls. He seemed to be leading. A crowd of 20,000 gathered in front of Caxton Hall, where the count was in progress, and the Laborites sang The Red Flag and The Internationale. At 12:30 that night newspapers got out editions stating that Churchill had won.

"Winnie" was madly cheered by his supporters. Smiling broadly, he rushed down the room, shook hands with his wife who had helped him in his Rooseveltian struggle. A celebration began. The counting officer said nothing, but kept working with pencil and paper. He added again, and announced that a mistake had been made: Otho Nicholson had won by a majority of 43 votes. The ballot stood at Nicholson (Conservative), 8,187; Churchill (Independent), 8,144; Brockway (Labor), 6,156; Duckers (Liberal), 291.

Congratulations were showered on Nicholson. Churchill turned ashen pale. His cigar dropped from his mouth and rolled unnoticed to the floor. His wife buried her face in her hands. "Demand a recount," whispered Churchill's campaign manager. "I demand a recount !" cried "Winnie." The result was the same.*

A refinement of political cruelty could demand no greater punishment than that given the ambitious, patriotic Churchill, who tried to be his own master in British politics, for it is conceded that Duckers' 291 votes were votes filched from "Winnie's" campaign and would easily have carried him to Parliament.

The fact that he found much strong support in a Conservative constituency is taken to mean that his declaration in favor of a bold, independent stand against Socialism in England and indecision in foreign policy, creates a new issue on which the Conservative Party must stand if it is to reestablish itself. In a statement issued after he had recovered his composure, "Winnie" took that attitude.

*In the U. S. a recount may take more than a year and cost thousands of dollars. In Great Britain the process is handled on the spot and immediately. Such action often saves a detailed examination of the ballots for a legal scrutiny which is resorted to only on the insistence of one of the candidates.