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The Nottingham workhouse case was a test of the resolve both of the Poor Law Commissioners appointed to administer the post-1834 New Poor Law, and of the strength of the Whig interest in the town’s municipal and parliamentary elections. All eyes were on the implementation of the legislation in Nottingham, partly because of the influential thinking of local administrators such as Absolem Barnett, and partly because the government needed evidence that the system of unions and workhouses set up after 1834 would actually work in industrial towns. The Nottingham case showed only too clearly that the key issue was the trade cycle, and fluctuations in the town’s hosiery and lace trades made it almost impossible to implement the terms of the legislation fully. The key battle was fought over the decision to build a new workhouse, which the Whigs favoured and the Tories resisted. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Nottingham's Conservative-led inter-war municipal housing policy is widely acknowledged to have been progressive and a model of its kind. This is at odds with traditional views of Tory housing policy between the wars. This paper examines the development of the city's inter-war housing strategy and identifies key stages and trends. Events in Nottingham are explored through an examination of conflicts and tensions within the city council, and by considering the effect of party politics on municipal housing policy. This research quantifies the city's achievements and finds explanation in a combination of consensus politics, Tory paternalism, and private enterprise failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]