Why did the Liberal Government introduce reforms?
Working time regulation, national insurance and the Parliament Act (ending the right of the unelected House of Lords to block the will of the elected House of Commons) were among the reform of Henry Campbell Bannerman’s (and later H.H Asquith’s) Liberal government. The Liberals held a huge Commons majority, thanks in part to the Labour Party, which was in its infancy and unable to field candidates in every seat. The two parties formed the first Lib-Lab pact, not standing against each other at the general election, in a bid to unseat sitting Tories. Some of the policies would have been Labour’s policies, the price of the pact being they must be implemented.
