CHURCHILL (WINSTON) Autograph letter signed ('Winston S Churchill') to Mr Garnett ('Dear Mr Garnett'), referring to an announcement in The Times which will '...fill my Sheffield friends with dismay & I do not want to treat them badly...', asking him to '...drive matters forward...', saying he will contest N.W. Manchester if he receives '...a powerful & representative invitation...' and that, with the support of the Free Trade League, '...the return of a Free Trader pure & simple... will become an event of no small importance...', stressing the importance of '...a broad Free Trade line of battle...', with postscript enquiring about his family, marked 'Private', 4 pages on a bifolium, dust-staining particularly at folds, 8vo (203 x 127mm.), Blenheim Palace, 9 September 1904 Footnotes: 'A BROAD FREE TRADE LINE OF BATTLE SHOULD BE FORMED': CHURCHILL CONFIRMS HIS INTENTION TO CONTEST HIS FIRST ELECTION AS A LIBERAL MP ON THE ISSUE OF FREE TRADE. In February 1904 Churchill, whilst still a member of the Conservative Party, had made a spirited defence of free trade to great acclaim at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester. Three months later he crossed the floor to the Liberal benches (followed by his cousin Ivor Guest, see lot 107). In our letter Churchill writes to a Mr Garnett stating his intention to contest the N.W. Manchester seat on a free trade ticket. The seat had been a Conservative Party stronghold for nearly 50 years but on 8 February 1906, Churchill, then only 31 years old, won a landslide victory for the Liberals in the constituency, with the Liberal Party ousting the Conservatives in the General Election. Provenance: Stargardt, 28 October 2008. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing