1979-90 Flashcards
why the conservatives won in 1979: conservative strengths/weaknesses
strengths
-timing: economy seemed stable, wages going up by 15% on average, low inflation
-‘five tasks’ in manifesto appealed to electorate
-swing to tories from working class (6.5%)
-Saatchi and Saatchi advertising (Labour isn’t working)
-Thatcher’s bringing of a vote of no confidence
-promise to tackle unions
-social demographic change meant policies appealed
weaknesses
-‘in 1979 personalities seemed to count less than issues’-lee
-callaghan was more popular than thatcher
why the conservatives won in 1979: labour strengths/weaknesses
weaknesses
-winter of discontent caused labour to fall 18 points behind in polls
-loosing vote of no confidence, moved election forward meaning they were unprepared
-nearly 1/3 of unionists votes conservative
-end of lib-lab pact
-election posters focused on tory negatives rather than labour positives
-divisions in the party
strengths
-gallup polls, 54% remained satisfied with callaghan’s leadership, 37% with thatcher’s
overview of thatcher’s first term
-‘foundations of thatcherism laid’
-break away from consensus policy, launch of conviction politics
-establishment of new right
-focus on cabinet control, home ownership, privatisation, union control, and monetarism
overview of thatcher’s second term
-‘pinnacle of thatcherism’
-election victory in wake of falkland’s victory, 144 majority
-after vanquishing the wets continuation of cabinet control
-privatisation: british telecom (84) british gas (86) british airways (87)
-miners strike 1984 and westland helicopter affair 1985
-single european act 1986 set up her downfall
overview of thatcher’s third term
-‘downfall of thatcher’
-102 majority
-unemployment fell below 2 million 1989
-unemployment act 1988
-eduction reform established a review of the national curriculum
-introduction of poll tax and euro sceptic stance brought about key resignations leading to her forced exit
what is thatcherism?
-inspiration from hayek and friedman
-materialism championed
-neoliberal economics
-free market and encouragement of individual responsibility
-conviction politician: policy based on her own ideas and a belief that she was right
-lower taxes
-little comfort to unemployed
-supported less moralistic attitude to abortion and decriminalisation of homosexuality
‘wets’
-ministers who were soft, sympathetic, committed to consensus
-one nation tories
-weak, ‘too middle way’
-willing to fratenise with enemy
-e.g. pym and heseltine
‘dries’
-forceful, strong ministers
-not there to be ‘popular’ but to restore greatness
-focused to reducing public spending, cutting tax, raising interest rates
-e.g. lawson and tebbit
dealing with ‘wets’
-1981 most replaced with dries
-helped to cultivate her ‘iron lady’ image
-1981 ‘this lady’s not for turning’ speech attack on heathites
causes of divisions in labour party: ideological differences
-centrists and former liberals vs radicals and marxists made for an uneasy coalition
-wars accelerated socialist split
-party lurched left after 1979
-much of the party lost confidence in consensus in 1970s
causes of labour divisions: election of foot
-committed to nuclear disarmament, more nationalisation, and withdrawal from european community
-decided future elections would be conducted by three parts, unions, parliamentary party, and constituency parties
causes of labour divisions: formation of SDP
-limehouse declaration: williams, rodgers, and owen established SDP in line with liberals in and electoral pact
-by-election victories e.g. jenkins in glasgow hillhead 1982
-1981 alliance well over 50% popular support many believed the election would lead to a three way split in seats
-1983 vote split SDP/Labour against tories
causes of labour divisions:benn, bennites and militant tendency
-trotskyist group infiltrated labour in hope of marxist takeover
-connection between labour and militant tendency strengthened by benn as he allowed militants in the party e.g. hatton and livingstone ‘loony left’ in media
-equating thatcherism to facism and labour being riddled with marxism was bad portrayal
causes of divisions in labour: 1983 and 87 elections
-committed to reverse privatisation, further nationalisation, nuclear disarmament, withdrawal from EEC, reverse tax cuts and abolish lords (easily criticised by conservatives)
-kinnock leader after 1983 failed to be real alternative
-1983 manifesto ‘longest suicide note in history’ (kaufman)
causes of divisions in labour: decline in traditional support
-‘new working class’ , more likely to own property and less likely to be unionised
-lost votes on every election 1951-79
-increasingly difficult for labour in the south
causes of divisions in labour: thatcher’s policies (and support for these)
-public sector declines, more likely to be home owner potentially benefitting from selling of council houses
-union legislation saw a decline in activism and membership
why the conservatives won in 1983: conservative strengths
-slackened monetarist policies 1982-83
-start of 1982 thatcher was one of the most unpopular prime ministers, but ‘falklands factor’ helped massively
-decisive and relatively painless falklands victory showed her bold leadership, and press support helped hugely
-basic tax rate cute from 33-30%
-discovery of north sea oil
why the conservatives won in 1983: conservative weaknesses
-increase of VAT and reduced income tax increased unemployment
-1980, inflation above 15%, unemployment above 2 million, return of ‘stagflation’
-party divisions between wets and dries
-riots in brixton and mosside
-lowest approval rates of any PM
-howe 1979 budget reduced top rate of tax to 40%
-decline in industrial production
why the conservatives won in 1983: labour weaknesses
-press coverage almost universally hostile
-revival of liberals
-some voters became apathetic, some transferred to alliance
-changes in social demographic meant labours traditional support base declined
-widely regarded as unelectable
-leadership lacked credibility
-militancy gave labour a bad name
thatchers three key eco policies defined (monetarism, privatisation, and deregulation)
-monetarism: to tackle high inflation by controlling public spending using tight budgets limiting money supply
-privatisation: selling off british businesses to the private sector, advertised ‘popular capitalism’ allowed ordinary citizens to become shareholders
-deregulation: cutting red tape for business, financial services act 1986 removed financial and legal restrictions
supply side economics
-cut government borrowing and spending
-lower business taxes to stimulate investment
-reduce red tape for businesses
-improve flexibility of labour market
-open up overseas trade and investment
impact of monetarism 1979-83
-inflation fell from 20-4%
-sharp decline in living standards, lower wages, unemployment of 2-3 million
-made thatcher unpopular
-overall policy fails and is abandoned
impact of privatisation
-most state owned enterprises were privatised
-share ownership amongst ordinary people increased hugely
-thousands of jobs shed
impact of deregulation
-1986 financial services act created ‘big bang’, London came 2nd to Wall St., ‘yuppies’
-contributed to her 1987 victory
lawson boom
-aim ‘medium term financial strategy’ keep supply tight and prevent excessive consumer spending
-crucial fro 1987 success
-2 rates of income tax introduced 25% and 40%, so as to not penalise the middle class
-real increases were in indirect tax
inflation successes and failures
successes
-inflation peaked at 22% may 1980 but fell to 2.5% in 1986
failures
-interest rates rose to 17% 1979, harder for businesses to borrow
-increase in value of £ made it hard for businesses to export
-recession led to many bankruptcies and an increase in unemployment
-recession led to entry into ERM
employment successes and failures
successes
-youth employment schemes created, NI rates reduced for lower paid jobs
failures
-as industry became more competitive, low employment may have to be tolerated
-‘deindustrialisation of britain’
-output fell by 15% in 2 years
-1983 3 million+ unemployed
privatisation successes and failures
successes
-sale of british telecom (1984) spurred on privatisation
-sale of british gas (1986) became biggest share offer in history
-1979-90 amount of people owning shares grew from 3-9million
-increased government revenue
failures
-enterprises sold off cheaply
-some lost jobs
-less reliance on long term pension and job security
deregulation successes and failures
successes
-removal of ‘red tape’ made it easier for businesses to grow
-loan guarantee scheme made it easier for small businesses to grow
-enterprise allowance scheme (£40 a week) encouraged the unemployed to get their businesses off the ground
failures
-productivity did not increase hugely
-2.2% growth in GDP not much better than 70s
miners strike 1984-85
-causes: union leaders agitated by 1982 employment act, thatchers stance against the unions was generally popular, miners were angry at the prolonged destruction of their industry
-reasons for failure: thatcher built up powers of police to deal with mass picketing, scargill failed to get a ballot meaning the strike did not have authority in the eyes of the public, government imported coal, miners deeply divided in nottinghamshire mines continued to operate
‘right to buy’ policy and its impact
-housing act 1980 gave council tennants the right to buy their house with a discount of 33-50%
-by 1988 approximately 2 million new homeowners took advantage of the scheme
-sale of council housing was predominantly in better-off areas
poll tax and its impact
-1990 flat rate of tax for individuals for local council to hold local councils more to account
-difficult to justify
-damaged tory reputation in scotland
-unwillingness to change showed how out of touch tories were
-anti-poll tax demonstration in trafalgar square
‘special relationship’ with US
-strong bond between thatcher and reagan personally and ideolodically
-relationship was evident in falklands war, deploying cruise missiles, and being tough on the USSR
second cold war 1979-85
-genuine fear that nuclear war between the east and west was likely
-these fears were reflected in popular culture too
thatcher’s involvement in ending cold war
-combative style and determination to confront USSR, willingness to negotiate with gorbachev and britains special relationship with the US aided her in ending the cold war
-1987 intermediate range nuclear forces treaty was signed in washington, limited short range weapons and began mutual disarmament
