Anti-Waste League

The Anti-Waste League was a political party in the United Kingdom, founded in 1921 by Lord Rothermere.

The formation of the League was announced in a January 1921 edition of the Sunday Pictorial with Rothermere attacking what he saw as government waste during a time of recession. As such the party advocated a reduction spending in government at both local and national level. It was particularly critical of the retention of the high levels of income tax after the end of the war as well as the funding provided for the 'homes fit for heroes' scheme.

The party stood in a number of by-elections, taking an increasingly anti-communist line. James Malcolm Monteith Erskine was elected as a joint nominee with an unofficial Conservative Association in the Westminster St George's by-election, 1921, and Murray Sueter was elected in a joint candidacy with the Independent Parliamentary Group in the Hertford by-election, 1921. Rothermere's son Esmond Harmsworth became the leader of the party's Westminster grouping, which co-operated closely with the Independent Parliamentary Group of Horatio Bottomley. Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook was also a leading patron of the group.

In reaction to the growth of the League, the Conservatives launched a Committee for National Expenditure, led by Eric Geddes, with the aim of cutting spending, and eventually acted on many of its recommendations. As their support dipped in the face of the Conservatives co-opting their ideas the League changed its focus to sponsoring independent candidates and even those from other parties who shared their aims. Following the 1922 general election the League disbanded with most of its members returning to the Conservative Party.