Britian- Politics Flashcards
Main liberal party beliefs
- laissez- faire economy
- social reform
- personal liberty but with welfare
- reducing the power of the monarchy and the church
- extending the franchise (the vote)
Fall of the liberals
- some say doomed before ww1
- DLG+HA split
- Maurice debate 1918
- rep of the people act
- cash for honours
- first past the post favoured a 2 party race
Labour Party beliefs
- nationalisation of industry
- redistribution of wealth from rich to poor
- government intervention in economy
- increased rights for workers
- a welfare state
- party of the working class
- peace(no secret treaties or deals)
Labour 1918-29
- 1923 elect. Gained more votes then lib
- Ramsay McDonald 1st lab pm
- lab united at end of war
- war led huge growth in trade union member.lab had huge union+member backing
- lab rep working class identity
- McDon. Ruled with caution and impressed people with code of conduct
- zin. Letter (Campbell case)
- lab win 1929 elect but face diff. With eco depression
Fall of the first labour government
- Domestic policies- small spend so no serious attempt to tackle unemploy.
- minority (gov dependent to lib)
- campbell(editor of communist paper) wrote articles telling solidest not to fight against wc in event of wc revolution because case wasn’t handled well by gov. People began distrust gov and believed they were being soft of communism and there would be upheaval to Britain societal structure
(Prime ministers)Conservative government 1918-29
October 1922-may 1923 (Andrew Bonar Law)
May 1923-Jan 1924 (Stanley Baldwin)
Nov 1924-June 1929 (Stanley Baldwin)
Factors responsible for conservatives success in the 1920’s
- problems in the opposition (i.e. Labour+ Lib)
- the policies and leadership of the conservatives
- changes to the Franchise (rep of people act)
The fall of labour and the creation of the national government
- wall st crash (global economic decline+ Great Depression)
- nearly all lab mp’s refuse cut spending
- mc+chancellor cut spending
- mc expelled from lab party
- mc entire cabinet resigned
- 24th Aug mc sets up nat gov with conservative
- bald. Says mc will be blamed for unpop policies and supports him as pm
- elect oct 1931 overwhelming support for national gov
Conservative staying in power
- Benjamin Disraeli rebrands party as one nation 1870
- Carlton club meeting ends protectionism
- rep of people act gave some women right to vote
- Stanley man of the people (spoke directly through radio)
- 1929 slogan “safety first”
- other parties suffered scandals
- wc raised from 76% to 80% after rep of people act
The rise of extreme politics in 1930s
- BUF beliefs ( Anti semitism, isolationism and anti communism. Replace HOL with executie of industrials)
- by 1934 comm party only 9000 members but they organised the nat. Umemploy. Workers movement which represents hundreds of thousand workers
- many Fabian socialists including Sidney+ Beatrice Webb visited the Soviet Union and believed it was a success
The national government, the appeasement of hitler and rearmament
The main issue to face the national government between 1931 and 1945 was the rise of nazi dictator Adolf Hitler as well as racism in Italy and the threat of Japan to the British empire
Different approaches to Hitler
Chamberlain- appeasement
Winston- never surrender
Baldwin- Indecisive
The beveridge report (1942)
Set out a vision where state welfare conquers the ‘5 giants’ (squalor, ignorance, want, disease and idleness)
Forms basis of today’s welfare state and set a image of post - war Britain
Reasons for the 1945 election- Labours victory
- voters remembered pre war austerity of conservative despite church win war
- Church said lab could only control by setting up Brit gestapo
- lab manifesto prom action of house. Jobs social security and a NHS while implent bev report
- Lab worked in gov during second war and people realised they could be successful
1951 general election results
Seats. Votes % share cand.
Conserv.321. 13.717538 48 617
Labour. 295. 13,948605 48.8 617
Liberals. 6. 730,556. 2.5. 109
