Conservatives During New Labour (1997 to 2007) Flashcards
Who was the leader of the Conservatives from 1997 to 2001?
William Hague.
Who was the leader of the Conservatives from 2001 to 2003?
Iain Duncan Smith.
Who was the leader of the Conservatives from 2003 to 2005?
Michael Howard.
Who was the leader of the Conservatives from 2005?
David Cameron.
What was the result of the 2001 election?
Labour won a landslide victory with a majority of 166 seats.
What was the result of the 2005 election?
Labour won with a reduced majority of 66 seats.
What did William Hague do as leader of the Conservatives?
Tries to unify the party on Europe
Forced to support Thatcher which meant no party change
Lost the 2001 election and resigned
What did Iain Duncan Smith do as leader of the Conservatives?
Had little charisma and soon the MPs were against him
Compassionate Conservatism
Eurosceptic
Supported the Iraq War
What did Michael Howard do as leader of the Conservatives?
Unified the party on immigration and law & order
Abandoned Iain Duncan Smith’s work on social justice
Focused on health and education
Lost the 2005 election and resigned
What did David Cameron do as leader of the Conservatives from 2005 to 2007?
Wanted to modernise the party
Tolerant and inclusive => focused on climate change and improvements to gay rights
Eurosceptic
What were the Conservatives widely divided over during the Blair years?
Europe
Who should be the leader
Whether to continue Thatcher’s legacy or move on
Whether to stick to traditional Conservative values or modernise the party
Iraq War
Why did the Conservatives lose the 2001 and 2005 elections?
Blair was a strong and popular leader who could speak well publicly and seemed to be able to relate with the people. He was charismatic, unlike some of the Conservative leaders at this time
New Labour was further right than the party had been previously, meaning there was less for the Conservatives to attack.
New Labour followed the same budget as the Conservatives to prevent attacks on the economic stability
There was a low turnout for the elections
The Conservative leaders didn’t impress or inspire the public
The Conservatives weren’t popular with the media
They were too divided to create strong and clear policies
The Conservatives also supported the Iraq War, which meant they didn’t win that much support from those who opposed it (which was a lot of people)
Memories of the previous government, such as Black Wednesday and continual sleaze
