1. There were 86 constituencies in which more than 20 per cent of the male workforce was engaged in agriculture. The Liberals won 43 of them in 1923 but the Conservatives won 74 in 1924.
1. Its original composition in 1923, however, was restricted to the new MPs elected in 1922 – exactly the group who had not been present at the Carlton Club meeting. It was only in 1925 that membership was extended to all Conservative backbenchers.
1. Throughout a century, it had been unusual for the Foreign Secretary to be less than an earl: the notable exceptions being Russell (the son of a duke), Palmerston (an Irish viscount) and Grey (a baronet and a collateral of Earl Grey of the Reform Act). Since 192.4 only the 3rd Viscount Halifax (Foreign Secretary, 1938–40), the 14th Earl of Home (1960–63 and 1970–74), and the 6th Baron Carrington (1979–82) have had such a pedigree.
1. These rates of tax were less onerous than similar rates today since earned incomes were charged at a lower rate. There was also a graduation of the tax rates on lower incomes; so in 1919 standard rate, charged on incomes over £250 a year, was only paid by 1.25 million out of a total of 3.5 million taxpayers.