case studies of three key general elections

Question 1

Thatcher 1979 election
who were the labour and lib dems leaders
what was the turnout and majority

Answer 1

Labour - Callaghan (Prime minister at the time)
Lib Dem - david steel
turnout - 76%
43.9% of the vote, with 70 seats over Labour and an overall majority of 43 seats
5.2% swing in voter support from Labour to the Conservatives

cons were in power for the next 18 years

Question 2

Blair 1997 election
who were conservative and lib dem
turnout and majority

Answer 2

conservative - Major 165 seats
lib dem - Ashdown 46 seats
turnout - 71%
43.2% of the vote, 418 seats, majority of 179

Question 3

Boris Johnson 2019 election
who was labour and SNP
turnout and majority

Answer 3

labour - corbyn
SNP - sturgeon
turnout - 67%
43.6% of the vote with 365 seats and an overall majority of 80 seats

Question 4

when did thatcher became tory party leader

Answer 4

became Tory Party leader in 1975, replacing former Prime Minister Edward Heath, when he lost the third election in 1974 general election

Thatcher’s triumph divided the Party’s One-Nation Conservatives, sceptical of Thatcher’s politics.

Question 5

why did the public lose hope in labour after callaghan postponed the general election to 1979

Answer 5

Labour Party’s private poll showed public support was not strong enough - led Callaghan to put off the general election, hoping another year in government would boost public confidence in his ministry.

However, the decision to delay the election proved to be a disastrous political miscalculation, as the public lost faith in the Labour government during the Winter of Discontent.

Question 6

what was the winter of discontent

Answer 6

the trade unions had a lot of power and were demanding a pay increase

waves of strikes by public sector workers leading to bins being left unemptied, shortages of power and public transport

People didn’t think callaghan could deal with them and he was very out of touch because he appeared oblivious to it all eg THE SUN wrote “crisis? what crisis?”

Question 7

callaghan VONC

Answer 7

had a vote of no confidence and was voted against by just one vote so was forced to call a general election

Question 8

demographic issues around the 1979 election

Answer 8

sharp decline in number of people describing themselves as ‘working class’ which helped the conservatives

Question 9

the campaign for thatcher 1979

Answer 9

focused on earning the votes of traditional Labour voters, first-time voters, and voters in marginal seat constituencies

Traditionally, working-class housewives voted Labour, but Thatcher wanted to convince them she was one of them. This appeal to the working classes is known as populism.

her campaign was called ‘labour isn’t working’ and highlighted the unemployment issues. she planned to return to free markets and to reduce union power

Question 10

demographic issues surrounding 1997 election

Answer 10

labour realised that with the traditional working class reducing in size very quickly they couldn’t rely on their vote, so they tried to win over the middle class which was part of conservatives core vote by adopting centrist policies

the young were also persuaded to vote labour because it presented themselves as breaking away from traditional politics

Question 11

why did the conservatives lose so much popularity before the 1997 election

Answer 11

• was increasingly divided over Britain’s position in Europe
• Britain experienced a recession at the beginning of both the 80s and the 90s : economic hardship made the cons unpopular
• During John Major’s government, several Conservative MPs were involved in scandals of corruption and illicit sexual affairs.

Question 12

the contrast between major and blair

Answer 12

• Major was a likeable, but bland and uninspiring character.
• Blair was younger, and captured the public’s attention, spearheading the campaign of ‘New Labour’ in 1997.

Question 13

what were key political issues going into the election that needed fixing 1997

Answer 13

the NHS and education
- both had been in decline and labour promised to make huge investments to raise standards
- the chancellor gordon brown promised to be financially responsible which was a strong message because labour had a reputation as a ‘tax and spend’ party
- the economy was already recovering so when labour took office they paid for improvements in public service

Question 14

why was 1997 such an impactful election

Answer 14

labour were in office for the next 13 years, as the torys tried to get their image back
New Labour modernized politics
- blairs use of spin doctors: their job was to judge the public mood and present government policies to the public in a favourable light - essentially ‘spinning’ a story

Question 15

what were demographic issues surrounding the 2019 election

Answer 15

the red wall fell in the north east who had traditionally voted labour but they voted conservative in large numbers
- was the worst election result for the labour party since 1935

Question 16

public opinion of boris johnson

Answer 16

he was seen as the man who could unite the conservative party - in comparison with May, who had been very unpopular because she was very weak with her majority

Johnson’s stance on BREXIT was popular with these voters especially after 3 years of delays and negotiations since the 2016 referendum - ‘get brexit done’

Question 17

what are factors that helped the tories win

Answer 17

• media dragged corbyn for expressing anti-semitic views and backed bojo
• Cons had a very simple campaign to get brexit done which was repeated a lot compared to labour who had mixed policy aims
• the cons were very safe in their policy

Question 18

why was this 2019 election good for BREXIT

Answer 18

johnson had a very large majority which allowed him to pass brexit legislation
it was unusual for the party in power to increase their majority by so much and this gave his cabinet a large mandate