1979 + 1997 Election Flashcards
1
Q
background of the 1979 election
A
- labour lost its majority and a vote of no confidence triggered an early election
- growing trade union strife and decline in uk economy –> winter of discontent 1978-79
- conservatives worried if new right policies would alienate tory voters
2
Q
1979 key policies of the parties
A
- conservatives focused on ‘labour isnt working’ and that britain could be better; promised tax cuts and ‘right to buy policy’
- labour focused on ability to deal with trade unions and James’ callaghan experience
3
Q
1979 campaign
A
- timed press conferences to provide stories for midday news + major speeches for evening news
- afternoon walkabouts by leaders - early evening news
- more presidential: personalities and attitudes of leaders became a focal point for the election
- radical members of both parties played little part in the campaign and both parties focused on the centre ground
4
Q
1979 ‘thatcher factor’ for the election
A
- ‘thatcher factor’ –> would gender and ‘condescending’ personality cause voter resentment
- thatcher was less experienced, less in touch with ordinary people, more extreme and more condescending than Callaghan
5
Q
1979 outcome
A
- people preferred callaghan but labour had started a long way back in the polls and the torys won
6
Q
impact of the 1979 election
A
- conservatives had 43.9% of the vote –> 339 seats
- labour had 37% of the vote and 269 seats
- lib dems had 13.8% of the vote and 11 seats
- set the standard for presidential-style contests
- opinion polls may have played a roll –> the closing gap may have played a role increasing tory turnout
- tax cuts and ‘right to buy’ policy won over the working class
- end of the post war consensus
7
Q
voter behaviour in the 1979 election
A
- large tory swing in the south
- tory dominated in AB and C1 workers, and gained 11% swing in C2 and 9% in D2
- women had a slight tory preference
- tory won all other age groups apart from 18-24, which labour won
- lack of BME voting data
8
Q
background to the 1997 election
A
- after a surprise 1992win, john majors tory party became intensely divided by the issue of the EU
- the labour party saw kinnock replaced by smith in 1992, and when he died in office he was replaced by tony blair in 1994, and labour shifted to the right
9
Q
key issues of the 1997 election
A
- how would the economic crisis and ejection from ERM affect economic rep of torys
- would blair ‘third way’ appeal to moderates as well as left
- what impact would the legacy of sleaze have on the election
- would the LD have a breakthrough and become a major party
- how would europe tensions affect conservative voters
10
Q
1997 key policies
A
- leading conservatives wanted to focus on economic recovery –> internal divisions and referendum party meant the issue of europe dominated the conservatives campaign: labour free to present ‘third way’ campaign
- LD focused on democratic reforms to create greater equality
11
Q
labour third way for the 1997 election
A
- labour: focused on reassurances about the economy and 5 pledges
- cut class sizes, introduce fast track punishment for young offenders, cut NHS waiting lists, get 250,000 unemployed 25 year olds into work and cut VAT on heating + not raising income tax
12
Q
campaign for the 1997 election
A
- 6 week ordeal, longer than 31 day average since 1959 -> major hoped this would pressure on blair and expose labour divisions
- campaigns of the 2 major parties focused on the leaders, touring marginal seats on campaign buses and planes
- manifesto reflected party themes: tory, can only be sure with c; labour ‘because britiain deserves better’, LD ‘ make the difference’
13
Q
labour campaign for the 1997 election
(how was it run, what did the opposition say)
A
- labour ran a strict, disciplined campaign from millbank media centre run by tony blair, gordon brown, peter mandelson, alistair campbell and philip Gould
- torys highlighted dangers of blair and the labour party restoring power and influence to trade unions and blair not being trust worthy
14
Q
key problems in the 1997 election
A
- sleaze (record of sex scandals and financial corruption among conservatives) became a dominant issue in the campaign
- issues of devolution and the NI peace process played a minor role in the campaign: labour promised to promote decentralisation and making the uk and C warned reforms and dev would be a disaster for the uk (‘72 hours to save the union’)
15
Q
impact of the 1997 election
A
- after sleaze, a generally negative campaign drew high levels of cynicism towards politicians of all parties -> contributed to apathy
- people saw little difference between main parties on policies, leading to a rise in disillusion and apathy –> drawn-out campaign and opinion polls relentlessly pointing towards a substantial labour win engendered a sense of apathy
- disciplined messages made popular party figures sounded like robots
- campaign did little change the result: since financial recession of 92 widespread beleif that C would not return to power
- 97 saw a enormous leap in disciplined, media focused electioneering and a rise in US stule partisan claim and counter advertising –> negative and confrontational style of campaigning brought to the UK
