Chapter 13-The Thatcher Governments Flashcards
what did thatcher describe herself as
a conviction politician
what was thatchers background
middle class - daughter of a grocer
chemistry at Oxford
lawyer
what did Thatcher say at the peak of discontent of her policies at the 1981 party conference
‘You turn if you want to- the lady’s not for turning’
what school of economics did thatcher believe in
Chicago school of economics
what was the new right
a collective name for academic and theoretical organisations that rejected Keynesian orthodoxy
what ideology was thatcher influenced by
The new right
conservative intellectuals
what did the new right favour over Keynesian policies
free market economy
monetarism
what did Norman Tebbit claim was responsible for ‘today’s violent society’
‘attitudes of post war funk which gave birth to the permissive society’
what did thatcherites strongly believe in regard to the law
the strength of the police
what were ‘wets’
those who were soft regarding the social outcomes of monetarist policies
what were ‘dries’
those who supported the policies of monetarism
what were examples of ‘wets’ in the cabinet
willie whitelaw- Home Secretary
Jim Prior- employment minister
what were examples of ‘dries’ in the cabinet
Geoffrey howe- chancellor of the exchequer
Keith Joseph- department of industry
Nigel lawman given key economic post
what did Howe become famous for
his resignation which condemned thatcher and played a part in her fall from power
what posts did Geoffrey howe hold
chancellor of the exchequer- 1979-83
foreign minister 83-89
what was Nigel lawson responsible for
the lawson boom in 1989
when was lawson chancellor of the exchequer and why did he resign
1983-89
furious at thatchers use of Alan Walters for economy
why did Michael hessletine resign in 1986
the Westland affair
when was the SDP formed
1981
who were the gang of four who started the SDP
David Owen
roy Jenkins
shirley williams
bill rogers
how many labour MP’s left for the SDP
28
what convinced moderates such as Shirley Williams to start the SDP
the Wembley conference which was dominated by the labour left and had far left hecklers
what seat did Williams sensationally win in November 1981
Crosby- previously tory
what seat did Jenkins win in march 1982
Glasgow hillhead
who beat labour in the Bermondsey by election
the liberals
what Wass the alliance
the merging of the two centrist parties the liberals and the SDP
what was the issue with the alliance
tensions between the two parties- particularly David Steel and David Owen
what caused there Labour Party to be so divided
Foot elected leader over obvious candidate Dennis Healey
Healey beat Tony Benn to deputy in Blackpool in 81
left leader and centre-right deputy
who did Labour voters begin to vote for
some became ‘;thatcher conservatives’
liberal or SDP
some didn’t vote at all
who replaced Michael foot as leader of the opposition in 1983
neil kinnock
who did Kinnock expell from the party in 1986
militant tendency
who were militant tendency
far left group named after the magazine militant that preached Trotskyite revolutionary socialism
who else did kinnock take on within the party
Bennites
Union leaders
why was the labour manifesto for the 1983 election so unpopular
was extremely left wing
what things did the labour manifesto in 1983 include
unilateral disarmament
withdraw from EEC
bamn on fox hunting
what did the Labour MP Gerald Kaufman describe the 1983 manifesto as
‘the longest suicide note in history’
how many more anti- conservative votes were there than pro-conservative votes
3 million
13-16
how did the tories still win a 144 seat majority even with 3 million less votes
first pasty the post system
how many less votes did the alliance have compared to labour
500,000
how many more seats did labour have than the alliance
186
209-23
how many seats did the tories win
397
why was the alliance less successful in the 1987 election
not enough to unify the party other than a dislike of thatcher
the two davids had different personal views
labour became more centrist and favourable
what percentage of the votes did the alliance get in 1987 and how did this compare to 1983
24%
down from 40%
what did the conservatives promise if they won the 87 election
stronger defence
more economic growth
lower taxes
how many seats are won by the main three parties in the 1987 election
tories- 375
labour- 229
alliance- 22 down 1
what percentage of the votes did the main three parties get in the 1987 election
tories- 42.2%
labour- 30.8%
alliance- 22.6%
what side did thatcher sympathise with during the troubles
unionists
why was there a hunger strike in 1980 among IRA prisoners in H-block of the Male prison
they wanted to be seen as political not ordinary prisoners
who led and died as a result of this hunger strike
Bobby Sands
how many hunger strikers died before it was called off in October 1981
10
what happened at the grand hotel in Brighton in 1984
bomb set off at tory party meeting
5 died
what was signed at Hillsborough in November 1985
anglo-irish agreement
what did the anglo-irish agreement include
set up permanent intergovernmental cooperation between UK and republic of Ireland
what was the aims of the anglo-irish agreement
enhance security cooperation between Britain and republic of Ireland
strengthen moderate nationalists against Sinn Fein
who supported the anglo-irish agreement
the alliance
the SDLP
what was the response to the anglo-irsish agreement in Northern Ireland
outrage- 200,000 protested in Belfast
Ulster resistance paramilitary group set up in 1986 as a response
what were examples of bombings due to the troubles under thatcher
July 1982- Hyde park bombings by IRA- 11 soldiers killed
December 1983- harrods bombing by IRA- 6 killed
October 1984- bombing of grand Brighton hotel
May 1987- 8 IRA members and a civilian killed by SAS
how many pits did the NCB say they were going to close in 1981
23
who was the head of the NCB in 1984
Ian Mcgregor
how many more pits did the NCB plan to close by 1987
75
what was the UDM
union of democratic mineworkers
split from NUM in 1984
formed in Nottinghamshire
what did the UDM accuse scargill of
caring more about far left politics than the minors
how many were involved at the battle of greave
5000 miners
8000 police
how many did the coal industry employ in 1979 compared to 1990
1979- 200k
1990- 60k
how did union membership fall from 1979-90
dropped by a third
what was inflation by 1980
15%
what was unemployment by 1980
2 million
how did VAT on petrol change from 1979-88
increased almost every year
how did GDP rise under deregulation and how did this compare to the USA and Japan
britain- 2.4%
Japan- 4.1%
USA- 2.8%
by how much did unemployment rise from 1979-90
600k
what did unemployment peak at under thatcher
11.9%
by the end of 1990 what percentage of British oil came from North Sea oil
85%