This is a study of the movement of opinions and ideas within the pre 1914 Liberal party, the intention being to chart the process of internal conversion by which the party came to favour an advanced social policy. It is a study directed to the changes taking place within the character of Liberalism and the Liberal party, to the emergence of the New Liberalism and its impact upon the course of party politics. Conversely, it is not an exercise in charting the rise of the welfare state, or the emergence of specific social policies.

In so far as the two can be separated, the emphasis falls upon the political rather than upon the purely administrative debate over social reform. This period has scarcely lacked its historians, and the majority of them have concentrated upon the rise of the Labour movement and the administrative origins and history of the welfare state. This being so, an effort has been made to avoid retracing known and recorded ground. This may leave certain gaps where the administrative details of certain bills are concerned, or where some background information is desirable, but this it is hoped, does not detract from the chronological development of the argument, and reference may be had to the authorities cited.

The implicit assumption is that the history of social politics in these years is of especial significance for the understanding of modern British politics.