1922-1929 (The Search For Stability)- Political (Political Developments) Flashcards
who caused a split in the Libs during ww1?
Asquith and DLG
whhere did Cons and Lab get their vast incomes from?
Cons= businesses
Lab=TU’s
what is the name of the GB electoral system and how did this negatively impact the Libs?
‘first past the post’
Libs had wide support but it wasn’t concentrated enough (they had a similar % to Lab in 1923 but much less seats)
who could the Libs no longer rely on and why?
Irish Nationals- Sinn Fein boycotted HoC
who were their traditional support and why did they lose them?
Workers- stood now with Labour
Who won the 1922 election but resigned after 8 months?
Bonar-Law
who succeeded B-L?
Baldwin
what did Baldwin believe was the best way to tackle unemployment?
protectionism
why did Baldwin call another election, and how did this backfire?
get a mandate for his plan on the issues of tariff reform
Cons won, but Lib and Lab increased seats
why was Baldwin forced to resign?
vote of no confidence lost
what party formed a minority gov. after Baldwin?
Labour, under Ramsay McDonald
give 3 reasons for the strength of Lab?
- organised and well funded
- strong (financial) backing from TU’s
- ww1 helped their image greatly
what did Lab promise to do in 1924?
avoid radical policies and keep empire safe
give 2 benefits that were raised under 1924 Lab gov?
OAP and unemployment
what was revived by Lab that had been lost in the Geddes Axe?
state scholarships
who was Labs Chancellor and what were their goals?
Snowden- keep spending down
what did Lab do which the public were keen on?
showed no preferential treatment to TU’s
who was the Minister of Health and what was arguably their biggest success?
Wheatley- subsidy the Cons had introduced for building new houses was increased from £6 to £9
how many new houses had been built by 1933?
500k
what made the housing act so successful?
houses for rent not sale- WC could afford
what did McD convene and chair in Aug1924, and what was the outcome of this
conference in London
- attended by UK,USA,Ger,Fra
- Dawes Plan formed
what was the Dawes Plan?
- withdrew Fra from Ruhr
- renegotiated reparations for Ger
- set up loans for Ger
why was Labs relationship with Russian Bolshevik Gov. disliked by others?
Cons and Libs attacked Lab as being too soft on communism after they gave them diplomatic recognition and a £30m loan
outline the key points of the collapse of 1924 Lab Gov?
- Campbell case 1924 on ‘too soft on comm’
- gov accused of interfering with justice system after charges against left wing journo dropped by Attorney General
- McD could have set up an enquiry, but instead chose to call an election
- Asquith: “never have I seen a gov so wantonly and unnecessarily commit suicide”
what hugely impacted Lab in the run up to the 1924 election?
leaked Zinoviev letter
urged GB communists to take over Lab party and bring down GB
later believed to be a forgery
give 6 reasons why the Cons went on to dominate the 1920s?
-ww1: highlighted their core values centering around nationalism and being patriotic
-Representation of the People Act: plural voting impacted those likely to vote Cons so meant more votes, women likely to vote Cons, safe seats in south divided
-Ireland: Irish Nationals now sat in Dublin, so Libs lost their support. only remaining Irish in HoC were from Ulster who were pro Cons
-Broad support: still attracted a large number of WC as well as MC/UC
-funding: supported by businesses
Newspapers: owned by Cons supporters meant favourable coverage
what was the key economic issue of Baldwins second gov?
unemployment was v high
who was the Cons Chancellor from 1924, and what did they most notably do?
Churchill
converted to gold standard (this was bad as value of £ went up 10%)
who was Cons Minister of Health from 1924?
Chamberlain
give 4 key things Chamerlain played a great part in getting passed?
- Contributory old age pension (10s a week from 65)
- widows pension
- unemployment insurance could now be claimed indefinitely as long as person was seeking work
- local authorities had greater responsibilities
give 3 reforms that showed Cons knew intervention was necassary for publics interests?
- 1926 electricity act
- BBC established 1926
- 1928 Rep of People act lowered voting age of women to 21, giving men and women equal terms
