Catalogue Number
NMLH.2018.123
Object Name
Poster
Title
Is this what you want to see? You said NO in 1886 and in 1895, You must say NO to-day by voting against and working against the Radical Party.
Place
Ireland, UK
People
Conservative Party, Asquith
Events
General Election
Description
Poster campaigning against politicians that may be in favour of Irish Home Rule. It depicts politicians including Asquith chained by collars labeled 'Irish vote' being led to the 'Home Rule Compound' by Irish politicians holding guns. The caption asks 'Is this what you want to see?'
The implication of this poster is that politicians other than the Conservative Party will be beholden to Irish voters desire for home rule, if elected, and prioritise this issue, and the end of British colonialism on the island of Ireland over their duties to the UK. The message suggests that only Conservative politicians will not behave in this way.
Home rule for Ireland was a key and divisive issue in late 19th and early 20th century British politics, particularly for politicians in constintuencies with large Irish migrant populations. The whole island of Ireland was a part of the Britsh empire, and Irish constituencies elected Members of Parliament to sit in Westminister, just as those from England, Scotland and Wales did. Home Rule was a desire for Ireland to be governed from an additional parliament located on the island, rather than from Westminister. Home Rule was a policy successive governments in Westminister resisted until the Irish War of Independence began in 1919. The war ended with the partition of Ireland into the Republic of Ireland, which was independent, and Northern Ireland, which remained a part of the United Kingdom.
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