Labour in power Flashcards
When did many say the war to be over ?
May 1945 even though the war against Japan was still not over
What did people want from the next government after the war ?
homes, jobs and a chance for a better life for rationing was currently worse and it would take time for factories and farms to switch to peace-time production
What did Churchill (conservative) and Attlee (labour) want ?
To keep the coalition government going until Japan had been defeated but the labour party and liberals wanted an immediate election and many conservatives also wanted an election soon (believed Churchills success in Hitler’s defeat would help win a majority)
When did Churchill resign ?
23rd May 1945 and an election date was set for 5th July 1945
What did the conservatives focus on in the election ?
Churchill and the war - not the party or the future. One of their slogans was ‘Let him finish the job’ - showing they used Churchill as their main argument
What did labour focus on in the election ?
Focused on the future and promised reform - built on the desire for social change that war had produced - many supported them for they felt they had fought hard fro a better, fairer society
Who won the 1945 election ?
Labour
1945 election results (no. of votes + seats)
Labour = 11,967,746 votes - 393 seats
Conservative = 9,101,099 votes - 197 seats
Liberal = 2,252,430 votes - 12 seats
Others (5 parties) = 1,168,538 - 21 seats
Why did labour win the election ?
- many didn’t trust the conservative promises of reform - conservative MPs had seem years opposing reforms that would build new homes and supported the poor
- many remembered the days of the Great Depression and poor attitudes of the conservatives to unemployment and poverty
- conservatives relied on Churchill too much - didn’t develop convincing policies whereas labour laid our policies for change
- Churchill made a huge mistake in his first election broadcast : said you could not have a socialist state without a Gestapo - therefore comparing Labour to the Nazis when Attlee (labour) was his deputy during war
What did Ernest Bevin,minister for labour, set up during WWII ?
a committee to suggest how to improve life in Britain after the war - chaired by William Beveridge
When was the Beveridge report published ?
1st December 1942 - 300 pages long and sold 70,000 copies in first few days
Who disagreed with the Beveridge report ?
Many MPs - mostly conservatives, but they were aware that it had a huge amount of public support and that it would be harder to avoid welfare responsibilities once war was over
Recommendations of the Beveridge report ?
- The state should support its citizens ‘from cradle to grave’
- The state had 5 giants to fight
The five giants
- Want; the lack of basic needs such as food
- Ignorance; the lack of proper education for all
- Disease; the lack of proper medical care for all
- Squalor; poor living conditions
- Idleness; unemployment
What was the purpose of the Beveridge report ?
to research how to improve Britain after the war
Public response to Beveridge report
Very popular - people wanted the government to fight its giants and saw it responsible to improve lives
-from 1942 to the election in 1945 the government debated what changes to make - during the war it had set up free school meals and milk in 1942 as a wartime measure but after the war it put permanent measures in place
When did the national government implement the Beveridge report ?
from 1944 but the labour party was voted back into power because people didmd believe that a conservative government would act upon Beveridge’s report
Education Act
1944
(ignorance) - free education up to 14
- Coalition government
Government building schemes
from 1945 (idleness) - provided work -coalition/labour government
Family allowances act
1945 (want) - paid 5 shillings a week for each child after the first and was paid to the mother. Although passed by the National government payments didn’t begin until August 1945 - people instead credited Labour
National insurance act
1946 (want) - took NI payments from workers and employers and provided unemployment, maternity and sickness benefits - also provided old age pensions
*workers paid 4s 11d into the national insurance scheme per week
National assistance act
1946 (want) - poor law and earlier benefits abolished - National Assistance boards set up to provide government help to homeless, disabled and mentally ill
1946 New towns act and 1947 Town and Country Planning Act
(squalor) - 17 new towns were built in England and 4 towns greatly enlarged (Crawley, Peterborough, Northampton, Warrington). 5 new towns in Scotland, 1 new town in Wales.
Huge local authority house-building programme ; by September 1948, 750,000 new homes built (number destroyed in war)
Clearance of slums and bomb damaged housing
Education Act 1947
(ignorance) - free education up to 15
Children act
1948 (want) - local authorities forced to set up services to protect children
Housing Act
1949 (squalor) - massive programme of building new housing up to the latest specifications
National health service act
1946 (disease) - free medical, dental and eye care for all - implemented in 1948
