The Battle of Lewes Road was a confrontation which took place in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

during the

1926 United Kingdom general strike The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 to 12 May 1926. It was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British governm ...

Background

The tensions which led to the general strike were exacerbated locally by the policies of the Brighton Corporation and the fears of members of the

Middle Class Union The Middle Classes Union was founded in February 1919 to safeguard property after the Reform Act 1918 had increased the number of working-class people eligible to vote. Sir George Ranken Askwith and Conservative MP and Irish landowner J. R. Pre ...

. Their concerns, however, were misplaced: local socialists and unemployed people were not

revolutionaries A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

, and when the strike began on 4 May only 6000 workers, a small proportion of the town's workforce, came out. Of these, transport workers were seen to represent the greatest threat, and succeeded in stopping service on the town's external rail links and internal tramway. On 8 May, a group of strikers marched to the

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

in response to the council considering the use of volunteer labour on the trams, but were turned away by police at the entrance. The police were supported by special constables known as "

Black and Tans Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have ...

", who included "farmers, sportsmen, hunting men, and retired cavalry officers".

Confrontation

On 11 May, a group of middle-class volunteers, including some students, attempted to break the strike and to remove trams from the depot on Lewes Road. The volunteers were blocked by strikers and their families, and curious local residents also gathered. Chief Constable Charles Griffin ordered the crowd to disperse, and on receiving no response ordered officers to advance on foot, backed up by special constables on horseback. As the crowd was driven back towards Hollingdean Road fighting broke out and, apparently without warning, the "Black and Tans" charged the crowd, striking out indiscriminately. The strikers retaliated, but the crowd was successfully dispersed. Two were seriously injured and many others were hurt, while two police officers sustained minor injuries and a third "had his trousers badly torn". Seventeen strikers were arrested. The '' Brighton & Hove Herald'' commented "The flying stones, the panic rush, the thud of blows, the shrieks of frightened women and children, caught in the confusion invariably aroused by violence – these things did not belong in civilised Brighton."

Aftermath

The same night there was a further disturbance outside the Brighton and District Labour Club on London Road, following which another five people were arrested. All 22 arrestees were imprisoned for an average of three months each. The general strike was called off the following day by the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

, and some transport workers who struck were not reinstated by their employers. A celebratory dinner was held for the benefit of the special constables.

Significance

The local authority saw the "Battle of Lewes Road" as having served to crush revolutionary politics in Brighton, while for working-class activists it was celebrated as a day of heroism and martyrdom. Following the events, there was little complaint from workers about the regular police, but much about the allegedly politically motivated special constables.

References

{{Brighton and Hove Brighton 1926 in England British trade unions history History of Brighton and Hove

Background

Confrontation

Aftermath

Significance

See also

References