BLAIR 1997-2007 CHAPTER 21

Question 1

LEADERS AND REASONS FOR DIVISIONS

After the election defeat in 1997 John Major immediately resigned as Conservative leader.
The scale of the election defeat in 1997 produced a crisis in the Conservative Party, even though this was not apparent to everyone immediately.

why?

Answer 1

The divisions of Major’s premiership remained, particularly on Europe, and the wound of Thatcher’s fall was still unhealed with bitter recriminations against those who had ‘betrayed Maggie’ continuing.

Question 2

LEADERS AND REASONS FOR DIVISIONS

The crisis in the Conservative Party also became increasingly focused on the future direction of the Conservative Party -

wht did people believe?

Answer 2

to some the Labour Party’s acceptance of many of Thatcher’s reforms, such as privatisation, meant that the Conservative Party could wait for the electorate to come to their senses and realise that the Conservatives were the ‘natural party’ of government; others recognised that the 1997 election, like the 1979 election, was a turning point, and that the Conservative Party, like the Labour Party in the 1980s, would have to change if it was to be electable again.

Question 3

WILLIAM HAGUE 1997-2001

The Conservative Party after the 1997 election was only half the size of the party that had chosen John Major in 1990.

was the party more europhile or eurosceptic?

Answer 3

The party was more Eurosceptic and Thatcherite than it had been previously; 145 of the remaining 165 Conservative MPs were Eurosceptic and the party had lost some of its big hitters on the pro- European wing.

Question 3

WILLIAM HAGUE 1997-2001

The leadership campaign was dominated by the ‘anyone but Clarke’ attitude of many conservatives - why?

Answer 3

Clarke was well regarded by the electorate, both for his success as Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1992 and 1997, and because, with his professed love of jazz, cigars and whiskey, he was seen as being down to earth.
But he was pro- European and was one of Thatcher’s cabinets who had advised her to resign in 1990.

Question 4

WILLIAM HAGUE 1997-2001

The obvious candidate from the Right, and the more Eurosceptic wing of the party was Michael Portillo, but he had surprisingly lost his seat.
The candidates from the Right of the party were therefore

Answer 4

Howard, Redwood, Lilley and Hague.

Question 5

WILLIAM HAGUE 1997-2001

Major’s immediate resignation announcement meant that a new leader would be elected quickly  Heseltine had suffered some ill health during the election campaign and decided not to stand in the leadership contest. It is unlikely he would have been successful in any case - why?

Answer 5

being both pro-European and having not been forgiven for challenging Thatcher in 1990.

Question 6

WILLIAM HAGUE 1997-2001

Instead, the new leader was Hague, a 36-year-old with limited political experience.

* He believed that

Answer 6

he could represent a fresh start but won largely because he had fewer enemies than his rivals and because he was Mrs Thatcher’s preferred choice

Question 7

WILLIAM HAGUE 1997-2001

• Even when Hague had largely unified the party on Europe by ruling out entry into a single currency, the Conservatives remained unpopular.

what did some in the party think?

Answer 7

• Some in the party started to identify that the Conservative Party needed to change both its policies and its image  they argued that the Conservative Party was seen as uncaring, intolerant, old-fashioned and obsessed with Europe. But this proved extremely controversial.

Question 8

WILLIAM HAGUE 1997-2001

• 1999 Peter Lilley, previously an arch-Thatcherite, delivered a speech which seemed to criticise some elements of Thatcherism - warned that.

Answer 8

although the public had accepted Thatcher’s economic reforms as necessary to tackle the issues that Britain faced in the 1980s, they were suspicious of further such reform

Question 9

WILLIAM HAGUE 1997-2001

• The public was cautious about further privatisation as Major had found out when the possibility of Royal Mail being sold was discussed.
• The electorate were even more resistant to

Answer 9

more private involvement in public services such as education and health, preferring them to be run and delivered by the State.

Question 10

WILLIAM HAGUE 1997-2001

• People had voted for the Labour Party in 1997 partly because they thought that Labour would better protect these public services; and they tended to believe that the Conservatives

Answer 10

wanted a smaller State for ideological reasons, rather than because it would provide better public services.

Question 11

WILLIAM HAGUE 1997-2001

• The conservative party failed to make any progress in the polls, and Hague felt his leadership was threatened after 1999 when Portillo was elected in a by-election -

hague felt he had to do what

Answer 11

• Some believed Portillo should’ve become leader in 1997 and Hague felt obliged to appoint him as shadow chancellor.

Question 12

WILLIAM HAGUE 1997-2001

• After conservatives were defeated in 2001, Hague

Answer 12

resigned immediately

Question 13

IAIN DUNCAN SMITH 2001-03

• After Hague’s resignation in 2001, the strongest candidates for the Conservative leadership were Clarke and Portillo.

strengths and limitations of both?

Answer 13

• Clarke had remained popular with the broader electorate but was still viewed with suspicion by many Conservatives because of his European views, particularly after appearing with Tony Blair at a pro-European event in 1999.
• Portillo, still a strong Eurosceptic, had reinvented himself as a social liberal and promised to make the party more modern and inclusive but this made him unpopular with many traditional Conservatives.

Question 14

IAIN DUNCAN SMITH 2001-03

• Under the new rules for the leadership introduced by Hague, the party members chose

Answer 14

Duncan Smith over Clarke in the final round.

Question 14

IAIN DUNCAN SMITH 2001-03

• Duncan Smith won in 2001 because of negative voting against Clarke and Portillo  it appeared as if the Rockers had defeated the Mods.

what were the rockers and the mods?

Answer 14

Defeat in 1997 led some in the Conservative Party to believe that modernisation was necessary. The media termed these modernisers’ mods’ and, those resistant to modernisation became known as ‘rockers’. Mods, such as Portillo, were more socially liberal and wanted the Conservative Party to appear more inclusive, whereas rockers, such as Ann Widdecombe and lain Duncan Smith, were social conservatives.

Question 15

IAIN DUNCAN SMITH 2001-03

Duncan Smith had little charisma and was no match for Blair

what did this lead to?

Answer 15

• The Conservatives remained behind in the opinion polls and within a few months of his emergence as leader, some Conservative MPs were plotting to get rid of him.

Question 16

IAIN DUNCAN SMITH 2001-03

• He was aggressively Eurosceptic and reopened the divisions over Europe.
  Under his leadership, the party remained

Answer 16

socially conservative and voted against the repeal of Section 28 and against allowing unmarried couples to adopt.

Question 16

IAIN DUNCAN SMITH 2001-03

• Duncan Smith made some efforts to introduce compassionate conservatism; visiting the deprived Easterhouse estate in Glasgow convinced him that the Conservative Party had to do more to tackle poverty.

what was compassionate conservatism;

Answer 16

• Compassionate conservatism is a political philosophy characterised by an awareness of the social implications of economic policy. It was promoted by the Republicans in the USA in the 2000s and tends to support strong families and reformed welfare systems as ways of mitigating poverty. It has influenced Conservatives in the UK both from the socially conservative wing, such as Duncan Smith, and from the socially liberal wing, such as Osborne.

Question 16

IAIN DUNCAN SMITH 2001-03

And as Duncan Smith had been such a key architect of the rebellions that Major had faced over Maastricht, he now found it difficult to

Answer 16

demand loyalty from his backbenchers as leader.

Question 17

IAIN DUNCAN SMITH 2001-03

Finally, amid press speculation about the salary he paid to his wife to act as his secretary, Duncan Smith faced

Answer 17

a vote of no confidence. Despite the fact that subsequently no wrongdoing was found, the damage was done; Duncan Smith was ousted from power and Howard was installed as leader, unopposed.

Question 18

IAIN DUNCAN SMITH 2001-03

Duncan Smith also supported the British entry into the Iraq War.

why was this criticised?

Answer 18

This was heavily criticised by some, including Clarke, as it made it difficult for the Conservatives to criticise the Labour government for this unpopular decision, especially as the war dragged on - instead the Liberal Democrats emerged as the anti-war party to challenge Labour.

Question 19

MICHAEL HOWARD, 2003-05

When Howard took over the Conservative Party leadership he did so as a unifying figure, having support from both Mods and Rockers.

why?

Answer 19

This had less to do with Howard himself and was more the result of the party’s realisation about the state it was in

Question 19

MICHAEL HOWARD, 2003-05

Much of the work that Duncan Smith had done on social justice was abandoned and the Conservatives remained

Answer 19

distrusted on key policy areas such as health and education.

Question 19

MICHAEL HOWARD, 2003-05

However, Howard did bring stability to the party  despite the fact that he was on the right of the party and was socially conservative, Howard promoted

Answer 19

modernisers in his cabinet. After the election defeat in 2005, Cameron became shadow education secretary and Osborne shadow chancellor.

Question 20

DAVID CAMERON, 2005-2016

In the leadership contest, held in the autumn of 2005, David Cameron defeated

Answer 20

Davis, the right-wing candidate, partly due to an impressive note-free speech at the Conservative Party conference

Question 20

DAVID CAMERON, 2005-2016

As leader, Cameron set about modernising, the Conservative Party.
Cameron and his fellow modernisers understood that

Answer 20

it was essential to reach out beyond the narrow core support for the Conservatives to make the party more tolerant and inclusive, no longer hostile to all kinds of social groups including ethnic minorities, gay people, single mothers, and young people.

Question 21

DAVID CAMERON, 2005-2016

he highlighted policy areas and positions which were not traditional Conservative ones  promised that a Conservative government would take seriously the issue of

Answer 21

climate change; he visited the Arctic himself and cycled to Westminster;

Question 22

DAVID CAMERON, 2005-2016

he was in favour of

rights, aid,NHS

Answer 22

gay rights and wanted to increase overseas aid; he praised the way the NHS had cared for his disabled son and promised that a future Conservative government would protect it.

Question 23

DAVID CAMERON, 2005-2016

Though still Eurosceptic, the Conservative Party started to talk less about the European Union. Instead, Cameron’s shadow chancellor, Osborne, promised to maintain

Answer 23

Labour levels of spending on public services, effectively ruling out tax cuts.

Question 23

DAVID CAMERON, 2005-2016

The Labour Party found it more difficult to attack Cameron than his predecessors. This was partly because

and also because

Answer 23

Labour Party’s popularity was in decline by this point. But it was also because the Conservative Party had started to look electable again. For the first time since 1997, the Conservatives seemed to offer a credible alternative.

Question 24

DAVID CAMERON, 2005-2016

Many on the right wing of the Conservative Party remained sceptical of this shift and some such as Tebbit were openly critical of what they perceived as a rejection of Thatcherism.
however,

Answer 24

by and large, the party seemed more united than it had been for over a decade  many Conservatives hoped for victory at the 2010 election against an increasingly unpopular Labour government and realised that only a united party could achieve this.

Question 25

REASON FOR ELECTORAL FAILURES IN 2001 AND 2005

what were the 5 reasons for failure?

Answer 25

the failures of the leadership; the divisions in the party over Thatcher, over Europe, over social liberalism
the failures to learn lessons from electoral defeats and the resistance to reform.

Question 26

REASON FOR ELECTORAL FAILURES IN 2001 AND 2005

As is true in many elections in the UK, the first-past-the-post electoral system also distorted the results in terms of the number of seats won.
But there were also particular issues with each of these elections.

what was wrong with hague?

Answer 26

Hague found it difficult to be taken seriously, especially his attempts to appear ordinary and live down his teenage political speech-making.
He was mocked for wearing a baseball cap, for appearing at the Notting Hill Carnival and for his boast of drinking 14 pints a day as a teenager.

Question 27

REASON FOR ELECTORAL FAILURES IN 2001 AND 2005

The divisions in the Conservative Party and his own personal weaknesses in the opinion polls meant that by the time of the 2001 election, Hague had retreated to

Answer 27

right-wing policy positions designed to shore up the Conservative core vote: the fight to save the pound and a hard line against immigration

Question 28

2001 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS

The Conservative Party lost by another landslide in 2001.
CONSERVATIVES
LABOUR
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

seats and % of votes

Answer 28

CONSERVATIVES 165 31.7
LABOUR 412 40.7
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS 46 18.3

Question 29

REASON FOR ELECTORAL FAILURES IN 2001 AND 2005

• In 2005, the Conservatives suffered a third successive defeat. This was despite the Labour Party’s

2 reasons

Answer 29

unpopularity over the war in Iraq and more obvious divisions appearing between the Blairites and the Brownites.

Question 30

REASON FOR ELECTORAL FAILURES IN 2001 AND 2005

2005 - * Although Howard had made some noises about moving to the centre, he himself was on the right of the party. He was also associated with the

Answer 30

previous Conservative governments of Major and Thatcher; voters therefore found it difficult to believe that the Conservative Party had changed.

Question 31

REASON FOR ELECTORAL FAILURES IN 2001 AND 2005

manifesto at the 2005 election seemed to reinforce Conservative Party hadnt changed:

Answer 31

a tough line on immigration, travellers, and law and order, combined with tax cuts and a reduction to the public sector.

Question 32

REASON FOR ELECTORAL FAILURES IN 2001 AND 2005

When the Conservative deputy chairman was recorded at a private dinner promising that the Conservative Party would be much more radically Thatcherite in government than the modernisers would admit in public, it seemed to confirm

Answer 32

suspicions that the Conservative Party was still the same party of the 1980s and 1990s.

Question 33

2005 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS

CONSERVATIVES
LABOUR
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

seats and % of votes

Answer 33

CONSERVATIVES 198 32.4
LABOUR 335 35.2
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS 62 13.5

Question 34

REASON FOR ELECTORAL FAILURES IN 2001 AND 2005

Although the Conservatives made some progress in 2005 it was still limited, particularly in context.

why?

Answer 34

The shift to the right had prevented a rise in support for UKIP but little had been done to make the party more attractive to the centre. Modernisers in the party who wanted to ensure that this defeat was finally the spur to change pointed out that the Conservative Party’s popularity was still falling amongst women, young people, and in the north.