Labour in Opposition

Question 1

Who was the labour leader and when was he elected?

Answer 1

Michael Foot became leader in 1980

Question 2

What was Foot’s manifesto dubbed and why? What were some proposals?

Answer 2

‘The Longest Suicide Note In History’ because it was extremely left wing - for example it proposed direct control over bank lending and withdrawing from the EEC

Question 3

Who were the SDP founders?

Answer 3

Roy Jenkins, David Owen, William Rodgers and Shirley Williams

Question 4

Militant Tendency

Answer 4

A Marxist faction of the Labour Party founded in 1964 with aim of forcing revolutionary policies on the Labour Party

Question 5

Who replaced Foot and when?

Answer 5

Neil Kinnock in 1983

Question 6

What did Kinnock want to do? Whose help did he enlist?

Answer 6

Modernise the party and shift it towards the right. He did this with the help of Peter Mandelson and Charles Clarke.

Question 7

What policy did Kinnock drop?

Answer 7

EEC withdrawal