chapter 13 Flashcards
how did thatcher describe her politics?
conviction politician
what was a feature that differentiated her from previous PMs?
dismissive of the post-war consensus
saw it as a reason for britain’s ills & laziness
what was thatcher’s background?
middle class, daughter of a greengrocer / working man
saw hard work as the only cause of success and that britain desperately needed more incentive
wanted more self-reliance and improvement for brtit
what was thactcher’s career background?
studied chemistry at oxford
was a lawyer
what is a famous quote that reflects thatcher’s leadership style?
‘you turn if you want to, the lady’s not for turning.’
1981
what was thatcher’s political ideology influenced by?
trad tory thinking, enoch powell & ‘new right’ academics
what were thatcher’s economic policies called?
monetarism, free-market economics
why was the free market considered to be useful?
encouraged individuals to take responsibility for their actions - personal & economic decisions
what did thatcher and similar policitians believe about society at the time?
was too permissive & needed order
thatcher: ‘who is society? there is no such thing as that!’
who was norman tebbit?
trade secretary in thatcher’s first cabinet & later party chairman
popular with new thatcherites
agreed with beliefs of ‘too permissive’ society
give examples of wets
willie whitelaw - home secretary
jim prior - employment minister
give examples of dries
geoffrey howe - chancellor of exchequer
keith joseph - dep. of industry
nigel lawson - economic role
what were the main disagreeements between thatcher and prior?
anti union legislation
prior was seen as too friendly with with trade union leaders
was moved to NI office in 1981 (demotion)
why did thatcher have so many opposing politicians in her close cabinet?
to keep them under minister loyalty and stop them spreading shit about thatcher
when were the main years of labour divisions?
1979-87
when was the SDP founded and what does it stand for?
social democratic party
1981
what was the SDP and what were the effects?
a completely new party formed by key personalities
caused shocking loses in 1983/87
how did the formation of the SDP begin?
foot was elected instead of obvious candidate healey
labour had become far too extreme
believed best way to save labour was to start a new party of a middle ground
who was michael foot?
left wing
bevanite
supporter of CND
elected in 1980
who was in the gang of four that originated the SDP?
david owen, roy jenkins, shirley williams & bill rodgers
what was the event that caused many moderate labour members to give up on the now extremist party?
-party conference in Jan 1981
was hostile and demonstrated new party priorities and beliefs
what was the SDP-liberal alliance?
formal agreement between the two parties
worked together in 1983 & 87 elections
how were relations within the alliance?
tense - differences between david steele and david owen
was still able to take over labour as a credible opposition to thatchers gov until 87
why was labour ignored during these elections?
so messy that it was seen as unelectable
what happened to regular labour voters?
labour could no longer rely on trad working class support
some voters became thatcher conservatives
some voted for the alliance
some did not vote at all
what was the public perception of labour as the extremist left took over?
loosened loyalties of working class & unions were less of strong supporters
lost touch w people it was meant to serve
may cease to be a potential party of gov
when did neil kinnock replace michael foot as labour leader?
1983
how did kinnock help labour’s deteriotating state?
less extreme. helped bring labour back to political mainstream
criticised scargill for failing to hold a strike ballot in 1984 miners strike
what was militant tendency?
a newspaper/organisation of trotskyite revolutionary socialism
seeked infiltrating the lab party from within
biggest success in labour where it broke laws of council capping
what did kinnock succeed in 1986?
removing militant tendency from the party
was still percieved as dominated by left and trade unions
what was the main reason for thatcher’s 1983 victory?
quick falklands victory
was previously one of the most unpopular PMs
what was thatcher’s approach to the falklands war?
immediate full-scale military effort
ignored recommendations from labour, UN and europe
how was the victory percieved?
due to thatcher’s strong and skillful leadership
orginal opposition to the war but the victory brought a huge wave of patriotism and approval from the press
how did falkland’s help thatcher within her party?
galvanised grass-roots tory activists
thatcher gained self-confidence and could dominate
how did the FF affect her personal image?
ability to make tough yet successful decisions in the war encouraged people to believe she could do the same with home politics
what is an alternative reason thatcher managed to win in the 1983 election?
labour leadership lacked credibility due to foot’s poor leadership in the face of the divisions
labour manifesto was the ‘longest suicide note in history’ of extremely left policies
what were some of the policies in labour’s disasturous manifesto?
unilateral disarmament
withdrawal from the EEC
abolition of fox hunting
what is a reason the first-past-the-post system allowed thatcher to win the 1983 election?
the anti-conservative vote totalled 16 million - 3 million more votes than the tory vote
tories still had huge majority of 144 seats
what was the seat statistics for the 1982 elections?
397 - tory
209 - labour
how was the state of the labour party by the 1987 election?
kinnock as new leader had done as much as possible to save it but still suffered massive loss
how was other political opposition weak during this election?
the alliance found it hard to maintain the support gained in 1981-82
due to ideological differences as the party was mostly formed on disliking thatcher
personal differences between the two leaders
1987 election results?
375 tory seats, 229 lab
42.2 tory seats, 30.8 lab, 22.6 alliance
what were thatcher’s political beliefs regarding ireland?
strong unionist sympathies & did not want to give into terrorism
what is an infamous strike event in 1980?
no special category status for IRA prisoners
hunger strikes led by bobby sands
sands dies
9 died before it was called off in 1981
what was thatcher’s response to the hunger strikes?
it was a loss as the special category status was not achieved
caused her to become a hate figure for NI republicans as sands became a hero
who became sinn fein president in 1983?
gerry adams
what was the brighton bombing?
thatcher was staying in a brighton hotel in october 1984
during a tory party conference
the hotel is bombed
five are killed, causing national british outrage
what was the 1985 anglo-irish agreement?
permanent intergovernmental cooperation between uk and RoI
intended to enhance security cooperation between IR and UK & strengthen moderate nationalists against sinn fein
what was the republican response to the anglo-irish agreement?
opposed as it confirmed nothern ireland as a part of the UK
why was the paramilitary group ulster resistance set up in 1986?
iain paisley rallying those who didnt want RoI terrorist input on their gov
