August 6, 2025

The World of Churchill Collectables

By BRIAN KRAPF

This month’s column features a certificate of appreciation signed by Winston Churchill’s father Lord Randolph and given to one of his campaign workers when the elder Churchill stood for the Central Division of Birmingham in the 1885 general election. This piece was discovered during my recent holiday in England, and it struck me as odd. I was prompted to research the background of the certificate and why Lord Randolph stood for election to Parliament from Birmingham.

From 1874 to 1885, Lord Randolph served in the House of Commons as MP for Woodstock. His constituency included Blenheim Palace, his Marlborough ancestral home. By all accounts, this was a safe seat for the Conservative Party. In stark contrast to Woodstock, Birmingham was widely known as a prominent Liberal Party stronghold. Joseph Chamberlain, former mayor and British statesman, helped make Birmingham become recognized as one of the best-governed cities in Britain due in part to Liberal policies. This raises the question as to why Lord Randolph stood for election there as a Conservative when he would have known the political landscape?

Lord Randolph was well regarded as a persuasive orator and a proponent of progressive Conservatism, which he called “Tory Democracy.” By leaving his safe Woodstock constituency and standing for election in Liberal-dominated Birmingham, he sought to convince voters that the Tories, rather than the Liberals, were the true champions of working-class voters and urban centers. Lord Randolph traveled to Birmingham in 1883 and 1884 to deliver a series of platform speeches. Additionally, he worked to build or rebuild Conservative party organizations in Birmingham and other predominately Liberal areas.

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In the end, Lord Randolph was defeated in the Birmingham election by the Liberal candidate, John Bright. Despite this, however, the Conservative Party was strengthened and won in a majority of other urban districts for the first time since 1832. The day after the Birmingham defeat, the MP for Paddington South stepped aside to allow Lord Randolph to claim that seat. Returned to Parliament once more, Lord Randolph continued to serve as MP for that constituency until his death in 1895.

Brian Krapf’s book A Churchill Treasury: Sir Winston’s Public Service through Memorabilia was published in 2024 and is available in the UK and North America.