ABSTRACT
The drift of middle-class suburbia towards Conservatism has traditionally been seen as an important feature in the development of class-based politics in late nineteenth-century Britain. Yet this process is neither inevitable nor universal, with Liberals in Manchester illustrating how suburban support could be maintained by adopting a new language of Progressivism and public improvement. The parliamentary constituency of South Manchester, the largest in the city, represented 'classic' nineteenth-century suburbia. South Manchester Liberals went into the 1895 general election with an agreed set of Radical priorities and considerable confidence. Home Rule, Welsh Disestablishment, registration reform, Local Veto and reform of the House of Lords continued to be the central planks of Roscoe's programme. The campaign against the destructor took two forms. First the local board is accused of being self-interested in attempting to adopt a patented design from one of their own members. Secondly the Progressives posed as popular defenders of Moss Side's suburban character, opposing a polluting machine.
