Signed Photograph of Winston Churchill in 1904, the Year He Crossed the Floor in the House of Commons, Defecting from the Conservatives to the Liberals

In February 1901, a young Winston Churchill took his seat in the House of Commons, where he would remain for 60 years. His first speech, in which he mentioned his famous father, gained widespread approval and press coverage. He was a member of the Conservative Party, but was critical of the Conservative government on various issues, especially increases in army funding. He believed that additional military expenditure should go to the navy, which he saw as the key to Britain’s might. This upset the Conservative front bench but his stand was supported by the Liberal Party. He soon found himself increasingly socializing with these Liberals, such as Herbert Asquith. In this context, Churchill later wrote that he “drifted steadily to the left” of parliamentary politics. He privately considered “the gradual creation by an evolutionary process of a Democratic or Progressive wing to the Conservative Party”, or alternately a “Central Party” to unite the Conservatives and Liberals into one.

By 1903, there was real division between Churchill and the Conservatives, largely because he opposed their promotion of economic protectionism, but perhaps also because he sensed that the animosity of many party members would prevent him from gaining a Cabinet position under a Conservative government. He supported a Liberal bill to restore legal rights to trade unions, and he opposed the introduction of tariffs on goods imported into the British Empire, describing himself as a “sober admirer” of the principles of free trade. Prime Minister Arthur Balfour’s government announced protectionist legislation in October 1903, and Churchill opposed it. Two months later, incensed by Churchill’s criticism of the government, the Oldham Conservative Association informed him that it would not support his candidature at the next general election, which threatened his career.

In May 1904, Churchill opposed the government’s proposed Aliens Bill, designed to curb Jewish migration into Britain. He stated that the bill would “appeal to insular prejudice against foreigners, to racial prejudice against Jews, and to labour prejudice against competition” and expressed himself in favor of “the old tolerant and generous practice of free entry and asylum to which this country has so long adhered and from which it has so greatly gained”. Throughout his career, Churchill would defend Jews and Jewish causes, even to espousing Zionism as Prime Minister against the opposition of every member of his cabinet. On May 31, 1904, Churchill crossed the floor of the House, defecting from the Conservatives to sit as a member of the Liberal Party.

A postcard size photograph of Churchill, boldly signed in fountain pen. According to the records of the Imperial War Museum, it was taken in 1904, the year he crossed the floor to join the Liberal Party. Two years later, he became Undersecretary of State for the Colonial Office in the new Liberal government; it was his first ministerial position.