The close links the National Party alleged to exist between heads of companies and government departments which gave them contracts were attacked.
[5] The National Party had policies to help the working class because "if you wish for a patriotic race, you must aim at a contented people, reared under healthy conditions...and with full scope for advancement".
[8] The National Party's first electoral contest was in October 1917, when a by-election was called due to the death of the sitting member of parliament for Islington East.
However, the party nominated Edmund Broughton Barnard, chairman of the Metropolitan Water Board to oppose the government candidate, Edward Smallwood.
They also sought to make an alliance with the Merchant Seamen's League, supporting their aims of exacting punishment from the Germans for sinking ships in contravention of international law.
The sitting member for Ludlow, Rowland Hunt, had joined the National Party in 1917 but had rejoined the Conservatives by the time of the election, as had Edward FitzRoy in South Northamptonshire.
Richard Hamilton Rawson, the National member in Reigate, died shortly before the election, in October, and the party did not stand a candidate in this seat.
Its final contest was the 1920 Dartford by-election, where Reginald Applin stood as a joint candidate with the Independent Parliamentary Group, and took 10.9% of the vote.
[14] The 25 results include 12 where the candidates forfeited their deposits by failing to win an eighth of the vote, costing £1500 in total in 1918 this equates to £92,000 in 2023, when adjusted for inflation.