Reasons for Conservative defeat in 2001 and 2005

Question 1

What were the main divisions in the Conservative Party in both 2001 and 2005 that made them unelectable?

Answer 1

The divisions in the party over:

• Thatcher
• Europe
• Social liberalism

Question 2

What were the other main reasons as to why the Conservatives were unelectable in 2001 and 2005?

Answer 2

• The failures of leadership
• The failures to learn lessons from electoral defeats
• The resistance to reform

Question 3

How was Hague’s ‘ordinary’ personality mocked?

Answer 3

He was mocked for wearing a baseball cap, for appearing at the Notting Hill Carnival and for his boast of drinking 14 pints a day as a teenager.

Question 4

How did Thatcher’s involvement impact Hague?

Answer 4

It further undermined Hague’s leadership and reminded some voters of why they had rejected the Conservatives previously. They lost by another landslide.

Question 5

Why was the Tory defeat in 2005 significant?

Answer 5

This was despite Labour’s unpopularity over the war in Iraq and more obvious divisions appearing between the Blairites and the Brownites.

Question 6

How did the Tory manifesto in 2005 emphasise that the party had not changed?

Answer 6

Right-wing policies: a tough line on immigration, travellers, and law and order, combined with tax cuts and a reduction to the public sector.

Question 7

What did Michael Portillo describe the 2005 as?

Answer 7

The ‘Victor Meldrew’ manifesto – a grumpy old man complaining about the state of modern Britain.