Labour Party Flashcards
Explain why the Liberal Party formed an electoral pact with the Labour Representative Committee (LRC) in 1903.
- Consensus- joint concerns between the LRC and the Liberals- 1902 Education Act - Chinese Labour- Free trade over tariff reform -> Ramsay Macdonald leader of LRC = moderate not radical 2. Enabled them to win more seats- ensured a degree of political growth for Liberals because it was based on ensuring the Party would be able to stand in anti-Conservative constituencies and there would be no opposition from the Labour - Conservative Party was becoming increasingly unpopular during the years 1902 to 1906. - inevitably benefitted the emerging Labour movement. In order to further- exploit this development the Liberals formed the pact with the LRC3. Economics of election- Labour + TU closely linked -> considerable financial support -> £150k - financial strength of the LRC made it an attractive partner in the eyes of the Liberals. - did not need to campaign in constituencies which Lib knew Lab would win -> reduced cost
How did consensus between minority groups cause the Labour party to develop?
-> All wanted nationalisation - Some members of the trades union movement became interested in moving into the political field, and after further extensions of the voting franchise in 1867 and 1885, the Liberal Party endorsed some trade-union sponsored candidates.- With the growing attempts by the bourgeoisie to increase levels of exploitation there was also a concomitant growth of socialist ideas and organisation amongst the working class.
How did new working class voters contribute to the development of the Labour party?
-> need for a new political party to represent the interests and needs of the urban proletariat
WC -> new voters - 1884 3rd Reform Act-> established a uniform franchise throughout the country-> brought the franchise in the counties into line with the 1867 householder and lodger franchise for boroughs- recently been given franchise- WC voters needed a party to represent them- New demographic which had increased in number Link: great expectations that workers’ conditions could improve if they had a voice in parliament.
How did failures of the Conservative government give rise to the development of the Labour party?
- Taff Vale Judgement 1901 -> took away the right of the worker to strike -> decision not reversed by Balfour -> only set up a ‘royal commission’ - Chinese slavery 1902-4 - lost opportunity to work -> lowered amount of av. jobs- giving GB jobs to immigrants- reminder of Taff Vale -> Balfour didn’t reverse decision- prevented them from immigration- worried about policy applying in GB
How did dismay with the Labour party give rise to industrial unrest?
-After the gains the Labour Party made during the 1906 election there were great expectations that workers’ conditions would improve now that they had a voice in parliament. -It didn’t take long for these ideas to be dispelled as the Labour Party in parliament cosied up to the Liberal government.- While Liberal gov introduced a series of reforms, the most notable being the National Insurance Act of 1911, -> still not enough to tackle the growing problem of both unemployment and cuts in wages.
Belief that if the government was not going to tackle these problems, workers needed to take measures into own hands
Why was Syndicalism seen as an alternative?
- full time officials were more interested in negotiations rather than settling the dispute in favour of the members. -> led to increasing anger amongst the members, especially younger members -> younger union members began to be pulled towards syndicalism.- appeal of syndicalism was in its rejection of political parties-> working class needed was new forms of union organisation which did away with sectional organisation and replaced it with one union in one industry. -strength of syndicalism lies in the recognition that worker strength lies at the point of production-capitalism will be replaced after workers have staged a general strike and have taken control of the workplace.
How did successful strikes cause more strike action?
Strikes carried out by these young union members were proved to be effective
- Syndicalism provided an organisational method for many young worker militants -> first major strikes of this period which was the 1910 strike by Durham miners, which was held against the wishes of the conservative leaders of the Durham Miners Association. -> 8 weeks over an attempt by coal owners to establish a three shift pattern of working rather than the two- lasted for 12 weeks and was followed in 1912 by a national strike demanding a minimum wage-What began in 1911 in Liverpool quickly spread as many rail workers took strike action often against the advice of their union leaders.
Explain why the Labour Representation Committee (LRC) formed a political pact with the Liberals in 1903.
- Consensus- joint concerns between the LRC and the Liberals, including opposition- 1902 Education Act - Chinese Labour- Free trade over tariff reform -> Ramsay Macdonald leader of LRC -> felt Gladstone would ensure the reform desired by LabourLink:2. Ensured a degree of political growth for Labour -> based on ensuring the Party would be able to stand in anti-Conservative constituencies and there would be noopposition from the Liberals- the LRC was relatively new and it needed additional political support to strengthen itschances of influencing decision making nationally- TU not fully behind the Party. The LRC needed some guarantee of political support over and above the Trade Unions and the pact provided thisLink: Conservative Party was becoming increasingly unpopular during the years 1902 to 1906. 3. Growth of LRC-benefitted the emerging Labour movement. In order to further exploit this development the LRC formed the pact with the Liberals-the Taff Vale judgement reinforced the LRC’s support from some trade unions. This not only suggested considerable financial support but also electoral support from manyunion members. The financial strength of the LRC made it an attractive partner in the eyes of the Liberals. -The LRC exploited this financial strength
How did the Lib-Lab pact benefit Labour?
- The LRC was relatively new and it needed additional political support to strengthen its chances of influencing decision making nationally
- The Lib-Lab Pact saved them money, as they didn’t have to pay to oppose them
- benefitted the emerging Labour movement.
- In order to further exploit this development the LRC formed the pact with the Liberals
- Liberal had agreed not to oppose them in 30 constituencies, which worked as they won 29 of these seats in the 1906 General ‘Khaki’ Election, which soon became 30.
- The Lib-Lab pact recognised that Labour was being a force to be reckoned with.
How did industrial unrest benefit the Labour party?
- the ILP itself strengthened greatly between 1906-1914. In 1906, the working class had already begun turning to the ILP for representation with 30 MP’s in the ILP of industrial background without a university degree.
- By 1908, the ILP had gained support from the miners federation of GB.
- This was a huge blow to the liberal party because this sense of opposition to the government great contributed to the many strikes which took place between 1910 and 1914.
- A prominent example of this being the ‘Ely Pit Coalfield’ riots where the situation became so out of hand that the mine owner had to ask for police assistance.
- Successful strikes which occurred in the mining industry placed a domino effect on all other industries
- these strikes of course were supported by the ILP as 50% the Trade Union Congress were affiliated with the ILP.
- These strikes highlighted the great division between the rich and poor in this time period.
- An issue to which reforms were promised when the Liberal government was elected.
- However, these electoral promises continued unfulfilled and the public of GB, especially the working class, began to turn to the ILP for reform.
How did Liberal success reduce the power of the Labour party?
- In 1906 an Education Act was passed which provided children with free school meals.
- The Act was shown to be successful as by 1914 158,000 children a year were receiving free meals.
- This helped improve the health and fitness of children and helped to prevent malnutrition.
- In 1908 the Pensions Act was passed.
- This was welcomed by many old people, and by 1914 970,000 people a year were claiming a pension.
- In 1908 the Labour Exchanges Act was passed.
- They were shown to be a success as in 1912 they helped over 560,000 workers find work.
- Labour seemed insignificant to many after the rise of ‘New Liberalism’. Their policies were very similar to Labour’s
