The Referendum Issue and the Edwardian Constitutional Crisis

Abstract This article considers the debates generated by referendum proposals during the constitutional crisis from 1909 to 1914. None of those proposals were adopted and they have received little attention from historians but they were not without significance. Some Conservatives saw the referendum as a way of democratically protecting the right of the house of lords to veto legislation passed by the house of commons, while others regarded the referendum process as a means by which single issues could be more effectively dealt with than at multi‐topic general elections. The debates also revealed many practical problems inherent in the various referendum schemes. They were ignored in the 21st century, when Conservative governments adopted referendums as a mechanism for overcoming internal party divisions.