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changing party fortunes Flashcards

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1
Q

who was the leading party before 1918?

A

liberal democrats

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2
Q

what did the liberal party believe in in 1918?

A

free trade

party for social reform

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3
Q

what happened to the liberal vote in 1918?

A

began to decline, middle class and working class stopped voting for them.

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4
Q

who was the leader of the liberal party from 1916-1922

A

Lloyd George

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5
Q

what was the reason for the liberal decline 1918?

A

1) Lloyd George was sellling peerages and knighthoods June 1922 - 1,500 knighthoods and hundreds of peerages
2) rise of the labour party
3) rise in popularity and appeal from lower classes to the conservative party.

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6
Q

labour party 1918?

A 
came from trade unions 
1918 representation of the people act made them popular
Ramsay Macdonald (1924) - pm, passed the housing act which increased the housing budget.
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7
Q

why did popularity of the Macdonald governement change in 1924?

A

the motion of no confidence - was only narrowly one.
he was accused of having communist views by opposition which was a real fear of the public.
a secound motion of no confidence was passed and he resigned.

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8
Q

conservative party 1918?

A

the used to be seen as a party for the landed gentry, however after the war tried to appeal to the working class who wanted to better themselves through work.

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9
Q

signifigance of the october genral election 1924?

A

labour were damaged by a communist article in the paper
the lib dems vote declined by 12%
stanley baldwin eleceted.

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10
Q

stanley baldwin 1924-1929?

A

wanted to appeal to everyone as he was afraid of a class war.
he represented an end to the threat of communism
general strike in 1926

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11
Q

who replaced Baldwin in 1929?

A

Ramsay MacDonald.

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12
Q

what were the social reforms passed by Ramsay MacDonald during his second time as prime minister>

A

housing act 1930 - cleared 3/4 of slum houses
coal mines act 1930 - better pay and better working conditions
unemployment insurance act - provided public work schemes.

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13
Q

what economic problems did MacDonald face in 1931?

A

rummors of an unbalance budget, soreaded fear amongst American banks who had invested money in english banks, which meant they began exchanging the £ for other currencies, making the value of the £ go down.

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14
Q

what did fears of the unbalanced budget in 1931 cause MacDonald’s government to do?

A

they had to raise taxes and cut public spending. this including a 10% cut in unemployment assistence, which cause a divide within the labour party and leading to the resignation of Stanley Baldwin.

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15
Q

what signifigant change occured in politics during the post-war period?

A

1945 - a political consensus between all parties occured which involved:
a commitment to full employment
creation of a welfare state
mixed economy - regarding industry
creation of the NHS
communication between trade unions, governenment, industry regarding wages.
investment in defence

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16
Q

who won the 1945 election?

A

labour - clement Attlee

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17
Q

what did labour achieve during the first 5 years regarding welfare post 1945?

A

established the NHS 1945
the national insurance act
the national assistance act
housing act 1949 - build affordable houses for all member’s of society.

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18
Q

reasons for the decline in the labour votes post 1945?

A

continuation of food rationing after the war e.g. bread

changing constituent boundaries = loss of labour safe seats.

inability to improve post-war austerity imediately

increased taxation to pay for welfare.

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19
Q

what does the term “butskellism” refer to?

A

the mixing of the labour and conservative chancellors, butler and gaitskell - to describe the overlapping or similar political views of conservartive and labour party.

20
Q

eden 1955-1957?

A

was fairly young
popular politician
1955 he held an election to see if he had a strong mandate and it showed his popularity.

21
Q

what was the suez crisis?

A

the “Suez” canal which ran through Egypt was used by britain to get to india when it was a colony. however when they gained independence in 1947 - the canal was used to transport oil. however Egypt PM wanted to have the canal belong to them and was willing to pay a fair price. france and eden planned a secret attack and did consult america. this caused issues and he was forced to resign.

22
Q

who was Eden replaced with?

A
  • Harold Macmillan who was his chancellor of the exchequer (1957-63)
23
Q

why was Harold Macmillan’s government popular?

A
  • he inherited a mixed economy, with rising living standards, low unemployment and declining social innequality which made him seem popular.
24
Q

what happened in the 1958 general election?

A

the conservatives increased their majority and got 49.4% of the vote

25
Q

who resigned from the conservative party in the late 50’s and why?

A
  • 1959
  • Chancellor Peter Thorneycroft
  • Nigel Birch
  • Enoch Powell
  • they all resigned due to them believing Macmillan’s government were spending too much and storing up economic problems for the future
26
Q

what did the men that resigned propose?

A
  • spending cuts
  • tax rises
  • and an end to subsidies to nationalised industries
27
Q

why was the resignation of the three conservative men resigning a problem for Macmillan?

A
  • it was an embarressment to the government

- but due to the period of low unemployment and inflation their exit had little impact of the public.

28
Q

what was the “night of long knives”?

A

1962

  • popularity of the cons were declining due to Macmillan’s and many other memeber’s up his party was upperclass and etonian backgrounds made the public percieve them as out of touch,
  • dramatic increase in consumer spending led to unforeseen economic issues
  • he need to look as though he was in control
  • sacked seven ministers and replaced them wiith young men
29
Q

how was Macmillan perceived by the public after the night of long knives?

A
  • initially ruthless

- but then he was seen as being capable of taking control and his sackings were popular by the public.

30
Q

why did the conservative party begin to be distrusted regarding national security?

A
  • at the height of the cold war, three high profile spy scandals rocked the gov
  • John Vassall = 1952 62 a naval attache at the British embassy in Moscow passed on top secret information to the soviets
  • Harold “Kim” Philby = 1963 Britain’s most senior intelligence agents was a double agent for russia.
  • John Profumo = 1963 6 months later; was having an affair with Cristine Keeler, who was also having a relationship with Soviet attache Yevgeny Ivanov
31
Q

what a when forced Macmillan to resign

?

A

ill health and mounting problems

  • 1963 he was replaced by Sir Alec Douglas home
  • he was ridiculed for his image represnting the etonian PM and the cons he was only pm for a year
32
Q

who replace Douglas-home

A
  • Harold Wilson 1964-70
    leader of the labs
  • he presented the party as meritocratic and classless.
  • the TV presented him as the modern face of Britian
33
Q

what happened in the 1964 general election?

A
  • labour won 44.1% of the vote

- cons won 43.3%

34
Q

what did Wilson and his Chancellor James Callaghan discover during their first few days of office?

A
  • £800 million budget deficit
  • left by the cons
  • economic problems were alot worse than they thought
  • he had promised to increase pensions and build houses however this left with an issue
35
Q

what did Wilson refuse to do which would of made paying off accumulated debts alot easier

A
  • devaluing the pound
  • he didnt want the lab party to be seen as the party of devaluation
  • however in 1967 he was forced to do so anyway leading to huge embarrassment leading to his resignation and he was replaced by Callaghan.
36
Q

what significant social and educational reforms did Wilson achieve in his 6 years ibn office

A

1964-70

  • a series of new universities and polytechnics were built
  • open university was established
  • laws on abortion and homosexuality and death penalty was liberalised.
37
Q

what was wilson’s achievements undermined by?

A
  • economic problems
  • his popularity declined as unemployment began to creep up at the end of the 60’s
  • number of days lost due to strikes increased.
38
Q

when was Heath pm?

A

1970-74

39
Q

what did Heath attempt to do?

A
  • bring about radical political change from 1970’s onward

- he wanted a break from the post war consensus and rejected commitment to full employment

40
Q

what was Heath forced to do in the first 18 months of taking office?

A
  • take a u-turn in policy and had to increase intervention in the economy over the next two years of his time in office
41
Q

what was Heath’s biggest problem in gov?

A
  • relationship with trade unions
  • ## 1974 heath’s gov endured two minor strikes and face critisism for opposition and his own party
42
Q

what group did Keith Joseph and Nicholas Ridley form>

A

“seldom group” 1970 due to them believing heath was a traitor, going back on what he promised at the seldom meeting - the group wanted free market policies and reducing state intervention.

43
Q

why did Heath declare a state of emergency?

A
  • because the minor’s second strike and the winter of discontent 1973-74 led to him calling a general election in 74
  • asking people “who runs Britain” he lost due to his inability to control the minors.
44
Q

when did Harold Wilson return to office?

A
  • 1974 - 79 after edward heath
  • optimism towards the labour party that existed in the 60’s was diminished
  • ## Wilson was older and had poor health and no longer possesed modernising qualities.
45
Q

what was the first priority of the third Wilson government ?`

A
  • end union unrest by reappealing to the industrial relations ac

British History (20 decks)

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