How did Thatcher win the 1983 election Flashcards
What is Thatchers initial period described as?
‘Wasted Years’
Why is 1979-83 describes as wasted years under Thatcher?
Thatcher was unable to implement all of the policies that she would have liked,
Why couldn’t Thatcher implement her policies [1979-83]
Mainly because of the large number of ‘wets’ In her cabinet
Examples of ‘Wets’
Lord Carrington as Foreign Secretary
William Whitelaw as Home Secretary
James Prior in charge of department of employment
What change had taken place in the British economy in Thatcher’s first term?
Geoffrey Howe’s budget made significant cuts in public spending; the lending rate was raised by 14% to curb money availability.
Income tax was cut to 30%.
Enterprise tax free zones were created.
Exchange controls were removed.
What economic theory did Thatcher support?
Monetarism
Was Thatcher’s position strong in 1983?
NO, her lack of policy implementation made her look weak.
Why did Thatcher fail to implement change to industrial relations and trade unions?
The initial paper on industrial relations called ‘stepping stones’, was deemed to harsh by James Prior and never published.
Thus there was a lack of support for change.
What was the main change in terms of government policy?
The government under Thatcher moved away from the ideas of the post war consensus.
How did Thatcher move away from Post War consensus?
De-Nationalising and Privatisation
Thatcher was a big fan in self-determination, in part due to her new-right thinking.
What does Privatisation mean?
A government-owned business, operation, or property becomes owned by a private, non-government party.
What was the big budget change between post war consensus and Thatcher’s government?
Under Thatcher public spending was cut and previously nationalised industries were sold off in order to create money for tax cuts.
Under the post war consensus people paid higher taxes however they received a lot of stuff from the government such as water, electricity and rail.
Meanwhile under Thatcher this changed completely as now the government stopped giving handouts.
What does self-determination involve?
Thatcher was a big fan and believer in self-determination so by enacting privatization she is making the normal person work and try harder instead of relying on government handouts.
