This monograph provides a detailed account of one of England's most important cities at a crucial period in the development of popular democracy. It traces the sectarian conflicts, ethnic tensions and social adjustments of Liverpool as they affected, and indeed still affect, the city's politics. It addresses the historical anomaly of Liverpool's loyalty to the Conservative party; anomalous because the Liberals had a firm grip on power in every other great northern city of the period.

Neil Collins

Contents: Introduction; Politics in Liverpool before 1835; Liberal rule, 1835-1841; The politics of discord; Party divisions and organization; Liverpool politics in the new reform era; Education and division; Conservative ascendancy re-established; Temperance and Home Rule; Tory democracy and the politics of purity; Conclusion; Index.