"Once the mass of the people had the vote, Socialists were convinced that Conservatism and all that it stood for would be swept away. Their victory seemed certain, for Conservatism which was based on privilege and wealth was inevitably a minority creed, whereas Socialism, with its appeal to social justice and economic self-interest, should recruit the big battalions of the poor and underprivileged, whom the vote would make the masters of political democracy. ... Yet it is clear that events have falsified these predictions. ... The question which must now be asked is why the fruits of universal suffrage have taken so long to ripen. How is it that so large a proportion of the electorate, many of whom are neither wealthy or privileged, have been recruited for a cause which is not their own?"
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Members of the Parliament of the United KingdomUniversity of Cambridge alumniLabour Party (UK) politiciansPresidents of the Board of Trade (United Kingdom)Government ministers
Original Language: English
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Sources
The Real Nature of Conservatism, Labour Party Educational Series, No. 3, September 1952, quoted in R. T. McKenzie and Allan Silver, 'Conservatism, Industrialism and the Working-Class Tory in England', in Richard Rose (ed.), Studies in British Politics: A Reader in Political Sociology (1966), p. 25
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Peter_Shore
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Peter Shore
Peter David Shore, Baron Shore of Stepney, PC (20 May 1924 – 24 September 2001) was a British Labour politician and former Cabinet Minister who was opposed to the United Kingdom's entry into the European Economic Community (EEC). His idiosyncratic left-wing nationalism led to comparison with the French politician Jean-Pierre Chevènement.
23 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Peter Shore →
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