Significantly, the merger between the Conservatives and the Liberal Unionists was described as a 'sound investment' promoted by 'a body of keen businessman,' and when, in 1911, Arthur Steel-Maitland - a protège of Joseph Chamberlain - was appointed first party chairman, Walter Long protested to Balfour that, "It will, of course, be said that you are handing the party over to Birmingham."
The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy - David Cannadine
The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy - David Cannadine