Changing political and economic environment Britain 1918-1931 Flashcards
What is plural voting
Plural voting allowed people who lived in one constituency and owned property in another to vote in both constituencies - ended up favouring the conservatives
What was the impact of constituency boundaries being redrawn in 1918
Gave middle class suburbs greater representation - these people tended to vote Conservatives
What was the impact of the first past the post system
Exacerbated the unevenness of representation
What was the impact of the (1921) Irish Free State?
Liberals lost the support of 80 MP’s, while the conservatives maintained 10 MP’s from Northern Ireland
What caused division within the Liberals?
1916 DORA (Defense of the realm act) caused a split between Lloyd-George’s Liberals and Herbert Asquith’s Liberals
How did the Liberals remain in power after the 1916 split?
The conservatives joined a coalition propping up LLoyd-George’s Liberals despite Herbert Asquith being the leader of the Liberal Party
When did the Conservatives leave the coalition
1922, after the knighthood scandal and the massive unpopularity of the 1921 Geddes Axe
What did the Geddes Axe do?
Cut the budget for health, welfare and housing from £205.8 million to £182.1 million
How did Labour affect the Liberals and Conservatives
Labour struggled to get out of their heartlands, though they took more Liberal supporters than Conservative
What was the impact of the 1926 General Strike on Labour?
It gave many people a healthy fear of socialism and this meant many were sceptical of Labour
How did Labours time in government impact voters?
During their short stints in government they failed to establish trust with the electorate
They also could not reconcile the general public while remaining loyal to the TUC
How did the Campbell Affair and Zinoviev Letter impact Labour?
The Campbell affair meant that the Liberals withdrew support for Macdonald’s Labour gov, forcing it to resign
Zinoviev Letter further brought into question Labours right to rule, despite it being revealed to be fake
How did Baldwin rebrand the Conservative Party
Moved from the idea of privilege and wealth to the idea of ‘One Nation Conservatives’ - which was designed to pull in the uncommitted working class voter
How was Baldwins reputation helpful for securing Conservative dominance
He was known to run his steel factories fairly and promote good relations with employers and workers
He also had a reputation as economically competent which attracted wealthy Liberals
How did the Conservatives organise during this period
Developed a true national party structure with organised local branches
Internal organisation was also developed with the Conservative Research Department being created in 1929 which was responsible for research and drafting all documents
