Political Developments in the Inter-war years

Question 1

When was the representation of the people act and what did It introduce

Answer 1

1918. it introduced votes for all men over 21 and all women over 30. Elections were to be held on a single day. However, it maintained FPTP.

Question 2

When was the second representation of the people act and what it did introduce

Answer 2

1928. it introduced votes for all men and women over 21. However, peers, lunatics and felons were excluded from voting

Question 3

What did the electorate grow to 1929

Answer 3

it went from about 8 million in 1918 to about 28 million in 1929

Question 4

what were the issues with FPTP

Answer 4

in 1918, Lloyd George and his supporters got almost 70% of the seat share with 47% of the vote

Question 5

what happened in the 1922 election

Answer 5

the conservatives got 37% of the vote and 330 seats; Labour gained 29.4% of the vote and 142 seats; the Liberals (combining 3 groups) gained 29.1% of the vote and 116 seats.

Question 6

what happened in the 1929 election

Answer 6

Labour won fewer votes than the Conservatives, but more seats

Question 7

what is the first election after WW1 referred to as

Answer 7

the coupon election

Question 8

who won the 1918 election

Answer 8

the wartime coalition led by Lloyd George

Question 9

what was the coalition’s majority

Answer 9

322

Question 10

what did conservatives start to view Lloyd George as

Answer 10

a liability

Question 11

where did the Conservatives choose to follow Lloyd George

Answer 11

at the Maurice debate

Question 12

why was it called a coupon election

Answer 12

Where Bonar Law and Lloyd George agreed they would not oppose each other’s candidates to ensure maximum seats

Question 13

what were the issues of the Lloyd George government

Answer 13

the demobilisation of troops, strikes and industrial unrest, government income and expenditure and tensions between himself and the Conservatives

Question 14

what was the honours scandal

Answer 14

where Lloyd George was accused of selling honours to raise money - he sold honours to a south African fraudster

Question 15

When did Lloyd George resign

Answer 15

1922

Question 16

who did the king choose as Lloyd George’s long term replacement

Answer 16

Stanley Baldwin

Question 17

what was the first thing Baldwin did

Answer 17

he called an election, in order to secure a mandate

Question 18

what was the result

Answer 18

conservatives gained 258 seats, labour 191 and liberals 159. This was not a majority

Question 19

when was the first Labour government

Answer 19

1924, although it was a minority

Question 20

what was the fall of Labour in 1924 due to

Answer 20

the Campbell case

Question 21

what was the Campbell case

Answer 21

where J.R Campbell was charged with inciting mutiny but was excused after pressure from the Labour government

Question 22

What did the daily mail do during the election

Answer 22

printed a forged letter claiming to be from Zinoviev, calling on the communists to follow instructions from Russia and carry out a revolution

Question 23

what did the daily mails article do

Answer 23

won the conservatives 100 seats

Question 24

who won the 1924 election

Answer 24

the conservatives and Baldwin

Question 25

who did Baldwin controversially appoint

Answer 25

Churchill as Chancellor

Question 26

what was Baldwin’s second government defined by

Answer 26

the general strike of 1926

Question 27

what did the conservatives do wrong in the 1929 election

Answer 27

their safety first slogan

Question 28

what did Labour promise in 1929

Answer 28

to reverse the controversial 1927 trade disputes act.

Question 29

what was the 1927 trades disputes act

Answer 29

it banned secondary picketing

Question 30

who won the 1929 election

Answer 30

Labour with a minority

Question 31

what happened in 1929

Answer 31

the wall street crash

Question 32

what did Labour propose in response to the WSC

Answer 32

severe pay cuts for public sector workers (including a 20% pay cut for teachers). This was following a large withdrawal of Gold from the country by foreign investors

Question 33

what was the vote on the 10% cut

Answer 33

it passed by 11 votes to nine

Question 34

why was Macdonald called the Lucifer of the Left

Answer 34

MacDonald remained as PM after the divisive cut. He would lead what became known as the National Government

Question 35

what was the composition of the National Gov cabinet

Answer 35

4 labour, 4 conservative and 2 Liberal

Question 36

what was a prime concern of the National Government

Answer 36

to maintain the gold standard and stop the devaluation of the pound. They failed to do so

Question 37

what economic strategy did the National Government follow

Answer 37

Keynesian economics

Question 38

who won the 1931 election

Answer 38

the national government

Question 39

what had the National Government basically become in 1931

Answer 39

a conservative government

Question 40

who won a majority in 1935

Answer 40

the national government. However, MacDonald had lost his seat and was unwell. Baldwin become PM, being replaced by Neville Chamberlain in 1937