Politics
However, politics was Edge's main interest, and he was active in support of the Liberal Party in Lancashire, with a reputation as a good platform speaker, before getting into Parliament. In February 1916, Edge was returned unopposed as a Liberal for Bolton following the resignation of the sitting Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) in the two member constituency, Thomas Taylor. At that time he was styled Captain Edge since he held a staff appointment in the War Office and his professional background was described to the electorate as a Bolton manufacturer. Edge was returned unopposed again in the 1918 general election as was the Labour candidate and the other sitting MP, Robert Tootill.
From 1919-1922, Edge was a Joint Lord of the Treasury with his main role being to act as liaison between the Coalition government and the Labour Party. He was re-elected for Bolton in the 1922 general election standing as a National Liberal, that is as a supporter of the former coalition government and the Lloyd George faction in the Liberal Party, against Conservative, Labour and Asquithian Liberal opposition. Despite the decision of the Conservative Party at the Carlton Club meeting of 19 October 1922 to end the Coalition Government, there was clearly some goodwill remaining between the parties in Bolton as only one candidate from each stood in the election, and there must have been some crossover of votes from the Conservatives to Edge. The Independent Liberal came bottom of the poll, behind the two Labour candidates. Edge was one of the National Liberal whips from 1922-23 but resigned in protest at the government's industrial policy of safeguarding (i.e. tariff protection), as it particularly affected the cotton industry through a proposed duty on fabric gloves – important in his Lancashire constituency. He was knighted in 1922.
However, along with many other former National Liberals, Edge was unable to hold his seat at the 1923 general election. The Conservative votes no longer transferred, and Labour and the independent Liberal party, which had reunited with many former coalitionists, were making advances.
Read more about this topic: Sir William Edge, 1st Baronet
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