1 Changing Party Fortunes 1918-1931 Flashcards
the liberal party in 1918
the liberal party in 1918
how were they percieved? what were they divided over?
- party of social reform became the labour party
- liberal party was divided over the war: over conscription, DLG being ‘too close’ to the conservatives, and they were never able to fully recover from this.
the labour party in 1918
the labour party in 1918
- the unions saw labour as a useful took in advancing working men’s pay and conditions through getting union backed MPs parliemtn
- the TUC was setup in 1900.
1906, labour had nearly 1m members, and returned 29 MPs
The Labour party in 1918
what factors affected Labours success?
1911, 1918
1911: Liberals allowed wages for MPs, working class members could become MPs, it was not just for those who were already wealthy
- 1918: representation of the people act saw the electorate triple from 7.7m to 21.4m
the conservative party in 1918
how were they percieved? after 1918?
- after WWI they were ‘the party of the middle classes’ and members of the working class who decided to ‘better’ themselves through property ownership
after 1918 property owning women loved em
DECLINE of the Liberal party
elections
1918 election fought between the ruling liberal-conservative coalition and the labour and liberal opposition parties
- conservatives within the coalition were much more popular than liberals within the coalition, causing a collapse in the liberal opposition support, due to DLGs promise of social reform, and the rise of labour
DECLINE of the Liberal party
David Lloyd George
- ‘the man who won the war’
- humble origins in North Wales
- June 1922 scandal he sold 15,000 knighthoods during his 6 years as PM (secretly done by a private office)
- his decision to go to war with turkey made him more unpopular
- secret meeting of leading conservatives at the carlton club decided it was time to abandon the coalition with the liberals
DECLINE of the Liberal party
what was the result of the abandoned coalition?
- ## those led by DLG (national liberals) were reduced to 53 MPs but those led by Asquith were reduced to 62 MPs (opposition liberals) this was not enough to prevent the party from decline
Labour in Government
what were their policies in government?
MacDonald
- committed to parliamentary democracy
- MacDonald was forced to make harsh economic decisions that would affect the poorest voters
BUT: he was dependent on liberal support due to his small majority, radical choices would have resulted in a withdrawal of this support and collapse of government
Government collapse
MacDonald and the vote of no confidence
won (narrowly) after Attorney General Sir Patrick Hastings dropped charges of incitment to mutiny against a socialist newspaper which MacDonald was involved with, Journalist John Ross Campbell broke the law by demanding soldiers ‘refuse to shoot down your fellow workers’ (communist)
- MacDonald was forced to resign and call an election, as libs/cons accused him of having secret communist sympathies.
genny lecs
the general election, october 1924
daily mail scandal (?) + result
- the Daily Mail claimed a letter from russian communist revolutionary Gregori Zinoviev to the British Communist Party had been discovered, encouraging revolution
- this deterred people from voting labour
- Stanley Baldwin Won, the liberal party saw a 12% decline in its share of the vote, and a loss of 118 seats.
Conservative dominance
1924-1929
strats?
- baldwin believed the ‘class war’ had been deeply damaging to Britain
- he discouraged tories from attacking Labour as secret agents of the USSR
Changing political landscape 1929-1931
Changing political landscape 1929-1931
- MacDonald returned to power, but failed to deal with economic problems
social reforms
1930 Housing/Coal
- 1930 Housing Act: cleared 3/4 of a million slum houses and replaced them with modern homes by 1939
- 1930 Coal Mines Act failed to ensure better pay for miners, because the miners could ignore reccomednatikns
social reforms
1930 Unemployment Insuraqnce
amendment gave gov powers to create public work schemes
Economic problems
Economic problems: STORY
- unbalanced budget meant the government had plans to spedn more than it could afford, leading to increased borrowing
- America then panic sold the pound, meaning it slumped in value
- MacDonald introduced a 10% cut of unemployment assistance, and although this kept the £ stable, it caused hardship among Britain’s poorest.
Economic problems
resignation + result
- labour gov resigned on 24th august 1931 due to the split in arguments over the cut
- National Government formed from the 3 main parties with MacDonald as the figure head
