4.1 Case studies of three key general elections Flashcards
the reasons for and impact of party policies and manifestos, techniques used in their election campaigns, and the wider political context of the elections
in the 1979 general election how many seats did each party win?
cons= 339
lab=269
liberal=11
in the 1979 general election what % of seats did each party win?
cons= 43.9
lab= 36.9
liberal= 13.8
what was the demographic issue of the 1979 election?
a key factor that emerged at around the time of this election was the share decline in the number of people describing themselves as ‘working class’. this may have eroded labours vote. conversely, the size of the middle class was growing, helping the cons
what was the valence issue of the 1979 election?
in the winter of 1978-79 there had been a wave of strikes by public-sector workers, leading to bins being left left unemptied, shortages of power and disruption of public transport. it became known as the ‘winter of discontent’. the uk was also not in a good state. there was high inflation, growing unemployment and falling growth
what was the turnout and its significance in the 1979 election?
turnout was a little down on past trends (76%) , largely due to abstentions by the working class and union members, who were labours core voters. however it held up well and was not a significant factor in the result.
what was the context to the 1979 election?
-adverserial
what were the key labour policies in 1979
-minimum tax rate of 20% and a max of 50%
- bring inflation down to 5% by 1982
- aim for a growth rate of 3% per year to return to full employment
- create 170,000 new jobs each year t boost the economy
- pensions to be increased to £35 per week
- child benefit to be increased to £4.50 a week
- fair deals on pay bargaining which will be within what can be afforded
- reduce class sizes
- end- fee paying in schools
- more help for the frail and elderly
- better training for nurses
what were the key Conservative party policies in 1979
- free market economy
- VAT to be increased but not on basis like food, fuel and housing
- income tax to be cut in line with European averages
- maintain the child benefit tax credit
- implement legal restrictions on strikes
- allow for freedom in education and allow for parents to choir independent schools or comprehensive
- allow more private involvement in the health sector
- turn Britain into a property owning democracy
- allow council houses to be bought
what was the 1979 election campaign like
- labour tried to portray the election as one of many points accomplished but more work to be done
- the conservatives portrayed the election as the incompetence of labour and how labour was no longer working for Britain
- Saatchi and Saatchi= a campaign titles ‘labour isn’t working’ pointing out the 1.5 mil unemployment and winter of discontent
- in the media, MT was called Maggie and portrayed as the housewife next door however James Callaghan was called sunny Jim and was much more liked by opinion polls
- he wanted a TV debate but MT didn’t agree because she liked to stage the media like holding a cow to show that she was friendly and appeared well.
- during the winter of discontent James was on holiday and when he returned he said ‘crises? what crises?”
- very much like an American race
context for the 1997 election: what was the situation like for Major by 1993?
- in the 1992 election the cons only had a majority of 21 and this was eroded by a series of by-elections in the years that followed
- the British economy was in recession 1991-92 and unemployment reached a peak
- weakness of the pound lead to black Wednesday
- there was a decreased reputation of the cons party in the 90s
- Dianna died in 1997 which blaire handled well (named her the peoples princess)
- Jamie bolger incident which labour used to show society is broken
context for the 1997 election: what was britians relationship with the EU like under Major?
- britians relationship with the EU was a particular sticking point as major struggled to pass legislation to ratify the Maastricht treaty in Eu which he had signed during the previous parliament
context for the 1997 election: what caused major’s resignation in 1995? what happened after and how did it help his position within the cons party?
- major endured a number of rebellions by cons MPs including members of his own cabinet and he was forced to seek a bruising vote fo confidence before legislation finally passed. the pressure on Major’s government was sustained as reports emerged of him having privately complaining about ‘bastards’ in his cabinet, referring to those who rebel against him. the issue came to a head again in 1995, when under pressure, major resigned which triggered a leadership election in which he sought a renewed mandate as leader. he easily beat his opponent, John Redwood, and consolidated his grip of power for the remainder of the parliament
context for the 1997 election: what has John smith and Neil kinnock previously tried to do to reinvent the labour party?
- both kinnock and smith had been gradually reforming the party, for example Smith has reduced the power of the Trade unions by introducing a new policy of ‘one member one vote’
context for the 1997 election: what was Blair’s promise to the nation?
“a modern constitution that says what we are in terms the public cannot misunderstand and the Tories cannot misrepresent”
context for the 1997 election: what was clause IV and why was Blair removing it significant?
- it was a clause of the labour constitution that commuted the party to mass nationalisation
- he deleted references to ‘common ownership of the means of production.’ it represented a ‘new and revitalised Labour Party’ that had a ‘new commitment to enterprise’
context for the 1997 election: what is ‘the third way’?
Blair described his approach to politics as a ‘third way’ by which he meant a departure from the old concepts of left and right wing. in doing so, he sought to colonise the centre ground of politics, combining the traditional left-wing values of social justice while embracing free market liberal economics
conservatives record in government and the economy (1997): why were the conservatives vulnerable in 1997?
- going into the 1997 election the cons had been in power for longer than any party in the UK since ww2 and following the honeymoon period of 6-12 months there is a decline in support and perception of governing competency
conservatives record in government and the economy (1997): what were voters concerned about in 1997?
- education, healthcare and social security. spending in these areas had increased in real terms during 1979-97 (although spending on housing had fallen). despite these increases, not all services were performing to the satisfaction of voters
conservatives record in government and the economy (1997): why is the economy often viewed as a measure of gov’s success?
this is partly because of the direct impact of economic performance on things that matter to voters scubas unemployment, jobs and living standards and partly since the state of the economy has an impact on tax receipts and consequently a governments ability to fund the public services that matter most to voters, such as healthcare, education and policing
conservatives record in government and the economy (1997): what was black Wednesday? what was the impact on Major’s government?
- the uk economy had high levels of inflation and unemployment and a high target value for the pound within the ERM which led to international currency traders moving against sterling and then the government failed to maintain the value of the pound, on the 16th of September 1992 major was forced to take the UK out of the ERM which cost £3.3billion and promoted a spike in interest rates and led to a weak pound. as a result, voter optimism on economic prospects for the conservatives fell from 50% in 1993 to 33% in 1996
conservatives record in government and the economy (1997): how was Lamont’s March 1993 budget received at the time and why?
- he announced large tax increases leading to the least popular budget since 1949 when the records bang and Lamont was sacked by Major following another by-election loss a couple of months later
conservatives record in government and the economy (1997): how has Lamont’s economic policies been seen since?
- it was later views as a success- the economy subsequently recovered and was in much improved health by the time of the 1997 election
