Churchill however made a gross error in saying that Labour would need a Gestapo like organisation to enforce socialism upon Britain. He set in motion key reforms to wipe out the image of the Conservative party being upper class elitists who do not understand the people that had been so prevalent in the last election. Attlee's reputation rose during the 1945 electoral campaign. 'I think we've got 20 years of power ahead of us,' mused the newly-elected Labour MP for Smethwick. Labour had 13, 948, 605 votes Conservatives had 13, 717, 538 votes Liberals had 730, 556 votes Why did the Conservatives win if Labour had more votes? The first-past-the-post system ensures that the elected government has a workable majority. The 1946 National Insurance Act was also a key domestic reform of the Attlee government. Most of us who are interested in gaming history today are well aware of the set of technical and aesthetic approaches these terms imply: namely, games built from snippets of captured digitized footage of . A defeated conservative MP at the time, Macmillan, claimed that . e Bevanites and the Gaitsgillites. The Labour Party was born at the turn of the 20th . Voters associated labour with Austerity. Although it was hoped that Daltons resignation might offset some of the decline in public confidence in Labours economic policy, the government were never again endorsed by mass popularity as in the previous two years. This aim was ill-fated and in the eyes of many economists obviously exceeded the country's economic capacity. Public transport -1948 disadvantage the Labour party however he did not postposne them The Iron and coal industries were not profitable 4.86: $1 to 2.80:$1, Rationing increasingly unpopular with middle classes, Eg. We provide reliable homework help online and custom college essay service. Thirdly, it brought about a further drop in voter confidence as external signs of infighting brought into question the competence and clarity of direction Labour could offer. Although there was some tangible degree of divisions within the party over the banality and unradical approach, with many backbenchers urging a return to the early zealousness for national change, it was not this issue which harmed the party most. 20. century British politics had been dominated by the conservatives, and Labour had never formed a workable majority before 1945. While Labour managed to retain much working class support largely because of the role class identification was playing in determining partisan support at this time the middle class had quickly become disaffected. She believed that Social changes should come We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. Mr Churchill's Declaration of Policy to the Electorate. Pearce's reinterpretation argument makes the most sense because policies like appeasement were relatively popular at the time. Granted, in 45 Labour obviously won a landslide of the seats, but a majority of 8% is far from a landslide of the votes. Their election campaign was heavily based off the idea that, if voted into power, there would be a period of consolidation after the previous years of innovation. Also during the 1930s Britain suffered the great depression, which weakened the Conservatives reputation considerably due to their domination of the National Government. The Labour government called a snap election for Thursday 25 October 1951 in the hope of increasing its parliamentary majority. Under Michael Foot, it suffered a landslide defeat, taking just 27.6% of the vote and giving Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives. This split was a key moment in the demise of Attlees government. 9% swing against Labour. This divided party had stood no chance against the organised, well-funded Conservatives. The Conservatives reluctance to accept this report was hugely beneficial to Labour who capitalised on the huge of public support behind it. authority, 1950-1951 labelled as an In realising that the quality of life was far more important to the public than any other factor, the Conservatives promised to build 300,000 houses a year, although they did admit in their manifesto that not much could be done to lessen the strain of rationing in 1951. The labour Government of 1945-51 passed, in total, 347 acts of parliament. <p>The NHS had been established by the post-war Labour government in 1948. The Attlee governments of 1945 to 1951 can be divided into four key sections. to change in later The poor timing of the 1951 election can also be claimed to have weakened Labours position. Both clearly agree that the pre-war period was significant, however they differ on why it was significant. Although Labours promises had brought about hopes and expectations that were simply unachievable, whilst in government Labour had brought about serious change and a number of reforms. system, Alongside the abolishment of There was. The war had played a crucial role in Labours 1945 victory, by bringing them into the public eye - they were left effectively to their own devices to rule the homefront as Churchill struggled on with the war effort. not gaining the role of foreign sec- given to H. It was not Churchill who lost the 1945 election, it was the ghost of Neville Chamberlain. Their time in opposition led to the rebuilding and remodelling their policies to allign with post-war consensus (mixed economy, welfare state etc). Indeed, Robert Pearce claims it seems very unlikely indeed that the campaign was crucial, Paul Addison, however, argues that the campaign was important because . 1951. The Blitz also, more obviously, caused a huge rise in support for Labour's housing development plans. nationalisation of a 'ragbag Atlee became the deputy Prime Minister during the war. Resource summary. In 1951, Labour was pilling on votes in seats they had already won, while the Conservatives won narrow victories. For me, the Attlee government(s) of 1945 - 51, achieved a huge amount, much of which we can still see and experience today, and which we sh. How this translates to an election is that only the votes for the winning candidate in each constituency are counted towards seats in parliament. party opposed to the split labour, His limited standing within the House of As the Labour Party emerged to replace the Liberal Party in the 1920s, G.D.H. Why then, did Labour go on to lose so many seats in 1950 before losing the General Election in 1951? Conservative opposition fell off quickly, however, when the popularity of the NHS became increasingly apparent following its inception in 1946. conservatives into a modern party, This showed they were flexible and committed to improvement; they were a party of continuity and efficiency. social reform and nationalisation. human beings", Tarnished image by the end of time in administration, Devaluation of from Wiki User 2009-09-25 15:23:48 Study now See answer (1) Copy the main points are: -record on nationalisation and welfare -economic problems which. On a high turnout Labour's tally of votes had actually increased in absolute terms (to 13.9 million, compared to 13.2 million in the 1950 cent) than the Conservatives, though the Conservatives came out ahead in seats, Bankruptcy in 1808 did not prevent him from enjoying later success, with the backing of senior officials and . His frugality extended to his welfare policies, which involved the further tightening of benefit payments. While this didn't net the Brexit Party any seats, it was enough for the Tories to overtake in many of them. This large Parliamentary shift, in the face of an unremarkable swing in the popular vote, can be attributed partly to Labours loss of the middle class vote. Under the head "Peace", the Labour manifesto said: "The Tory (Conservative) still thinks in terms of Victorian imperialism and colonial exploitation. however we spent the time on social reform. The first years, between 1945 and 1946, saw fervour for rapid reform in many areas of government. Also the Conservatives were much better funded in 1951, by business men afraid of further nationalisation the only major labour reform that the Conservatives dared to take a firm stance against. Industrial relations problems e.g. achievements - 200,000 homes built a Outlined in the report were: all working age people would pay a National Insurance tax, and Benefits would be paid to the sick, unemployed, retired or widowed. disadvantaged by 1st Past post On average in these 'red wall' constituencies, Labour lost about 2% to the Tories and about 7% to the Brexit Party. The Labour party had suffered after 10 years in government, and their MPs had begun falling ill, some even dying. years, Once lend lease had ended in 1945 (end of While this gave them a temporary boost in the polls, it did nothing but hinder them in the long term. and failed to outline their Looking at the Labour government in these four sections of reform, of crisis, of consolidation and of division helps us to see where the party lost its huge majority. With an inadequate sense of self-renewal, the Attlee era party had little further to put before voters after 1947. The Conservatives, on the other hand, met the report with lukewarm support, disliking Nationalisation and the Welfare State. Labour argued that they had earned their independence by fighting in WW2, and that it was not economically viable to sustain them. In 1951 Winston Churchill's Conservative party, won the general election, and this would be the start of 13 years of Conservative rule pning three prime ministers. Why didn't Labour win the election 1948 Representation of the People Act What was the name of the 1948 law which changed constituency boundaries Liberal Party What party saw their vote fall from 2.6 million to 730,556 Sets with similar terms POLS 315 Exam 3 67 terms Leiigit_Kae American Gov Unit 4 Exam 91 terms Alexis_Martyn45 Labour had problems with trade unions- more strikes in the country. Hi there, would you like to get such a paper? These problems, however, would have been inherent to any government of Britain at the time, but the fact was, Labour were held accountable. The war had undoubtedly played a major role in the elections, being seen as a people's war it broke down social boundaries and caused a shift to the left. Labour paper the Tribune, Paul Adleman points out Appeasement wasn't, at the time, a hugely contentious issue however after the war many people believed this was a large reason for the war and the Conservatives were blamed. spectacles and dentures. Labour 295 (48.8%) Just by losing a core of middle class voters, Labour lost a great many marginal contests and most particularly in the well-to-do constituencies of southern and south-eastern England. which Gaiskell set out Since 2015, the problem of electoral 'bias' means Westminster's voting system has advantaged the Conservatives. What seems stingingly ironic is that in 1951 the Labour party actually received the largest percentage of the vote than any other party had in Britain's history and still lost the election. keeping the NHS, Attractive party to businessmen His subsequent retirement from the party therefore revealed that Labour was divided in its views and ultimately undermined its unity, providing a poor image to potential voters. billion he had hoped for, Repayable at Paul Addison, however, argues that the campaign was important because Attlee's reputation rose during the 1945 electoral campaign. After 2003 Labour experienced a severe decline in its public standing, not least because of public unease with Blair's role in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The 1964 election was not a landslide victory like that of 1945. However Pearce concludes that. Following Cripps resignation on grounds of ill health, Hugh Gaitskell took over as Chancellor during Attlees second government. Each party's history had a role in both 1951 and 45, the conservative led National Government of the 1930s were blamed for the depression, appeasement and delayed rearmament in 1945. Two cabinet ministers resigned in protest &ndash . So, at the 1950 election there was a 2. how the radical Labour The Conservatives' campaign focused on Churchill and international relationships rather than any major new reforms that the electorate so desperately wanted. Nevertheless, the war was clearly more important in raising Atlee's reputation among Britons because Attlee was effectively completely in charge of the homefront for the duration of the war. Mind Map on Why did Labour lose the 1951 election?, created by alinam on 05/24/2015. Politicians are often rejected by voters because they have failed in office. electricity-1948 This brought about a little unrest within working class support but it was the effect on middle class attitudes and the cracks opening among the Parliamentary partys support which began to harm electoral credibility. 1 He belonged to the first intake of students at the Ecole polytechnique in 1794 and went on to become an iron engineer. - NEW Labour - 295 seats, Conservatives - 321 seats, Liberals - 6 seats In 1951 the Liberals put up 109 candidates, in 1945 they had put up 475. British housewives This time Churchill was victorious. Act. Both of these policies were unpopular amongst the mass electorate, and rationing caused consternation most notably the middle class, to whom the need for wartime prudence was no longer apparent. gas-1949. This was an admittedly small majority, but reflected a changing public mood. Why Was There a Consensus British Prime Ministers 1951-1964 'Oppositions don't win elections, governments lose them'. Furthermore, the Conservatives were able to exploit Labours failures to improve living standards. Lord Woolton was also key in the reformation of the party; holding membership dirves, propaganda campaigns and obtaining donations from bug businesses who were threatened by Labours nationalisation. Senior Labour MP Margaret Hodge described Baroness Boothroyd as "inspirational" and "a trailblazer for women". Furthermore, an apparently humiliating trade policy including subservience to US demands was particularly discrediting in the eyes of post-colonialists who identified this as betrayal rather than pragmatism. The outcome was widely credited to the deft materialism of Harold Macmillan, and the slogan `You've never had it so good', which the Conservatives, in fact, did not use. In fact, Dennis Shanahan wrote in The Australian: Morrison didn't just beat Labor in this election. Understandably, the architect and far left member of the party, Bevan, was enraged at this suggestion. Labour's promises of social reforms won them many votes, however it was these promises which led to their failure in 1951, when many people believed that the promises hadn't been delivered. highly controversial and cost In his budget, the Chancellor, Hugh Gaitskell, sought to balance his budget by imposing charges on false teeth and spectacles. UNHAPPY PARLIAMENT, Labour majority Assess the Validity of This View. Conservative pre-war blunders played a key role in Labour's victory due to the electorate remembering these mistakes. The government's 1945 lead over the Conservative Party shrank dramatically, and Labour was returned to power but with an overall majority reduced from 146 to just 5. Rather, the balance of payments problem forced the non-idealists within the leadership to face the necessary curtailing of public spending. Labour The 1945-1946 period of Labour government sought to address some key difficulties facing the nation following World War II. Food subsidies were sustained in order to negate inflation in living costs; levels of progressive taxation were preserved; regional development was the favoured way to control mass unemployment in the areas of urban industrial decline; nationalisation was seen as the solution in reviving core industries such as mining, which had been faltering in private hands. Although it did help to achieve this end, Churchills party was able to lament publicly the humiliation the government had brought upon the British currency, and at the same time place blame on the government for the continuing food scarcities and long queues. Indeed, Robert Pearce claims it seems very unlikely indeed that the campaign was crucial. Following Cripps resignation on grounds of ill health, Hugh Gaitskell took over as Chancellor during Attlees second government. prescription charges by Hugh Also in both cases the campaigns were of negligible importance. Britains involvement in the Korean War also enabled the Conservatives to play on Churchills war hero status. Conservative (48.0%) Britains economic resources were being drained from all directions; Foreign Policy, Nationalisation, Welfare and Austerity. This people's war was very beneficial to Labour in warming people to socialist ideologies, and their belief on the war being, not just a fight against the fascist Germany, but a struggle for a prosperous post-war Britain. This split was a key moment in the demise of Attlees government. After researching the topic thoroughly, I Would argue the main reason Labour lost in 51 was . publicado por; Categoras can someone be banned from a public place; Fecha noviembre 1, 2021; Comentarios quebec city to fredericton by car quebec city to fredericton by car Hardly surprisingly. The election was held on Thursday 23 February 1950, and was the first held following the abolition of plural voting and university constituencies. Why did the Conservatives win/ Labour lose the 1951 UK general election? Increase in liberal votes in 1964 meant that conservative vote decreased, therefore labour required less votes to win. Pre-war Conservatives were labelled Guilty Men by Labour, this was very influential in winning over public opinion for Labour who presented themselves as the only party able to prevent another war.
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