Thatcher Flashcards
why was 1979 election called
- Called after Callaghan’s government lost a vote of confidence by 1 vote (following the Winter of Discontent and defeat of the Scottish devolution referendum).
1979 election results
- Thatcher’s Conservatives ousted Callaghan’s Labour to win a majority of 44 seats. This was the first of 4 consecutive election wins for the Conservatives, and Thatcher became Europe’s first elected female head of government.
1979 election effect on labour’s politics
- Led to the Labour Party shifting even further to the left in the 1980s (believing their defeat had been due to a lack of ideological commitment), leading to the 1981 SDP (social conservatism with centre left economic policy and support for social market economy- rejected trade unions) break-off and enabling the Conservatives to move further to the right.
1983 election results
- Incumbent Conservatives increased their majority to 144 seats (the most decisive election victory since Attlee’s Labour in 1945).
1987 election results
- Incumbent Conservatives lost 21 seats but retained a large majority.
1992 election results
- Surprise 4th consecutive win for the Conservatives (now under Major) – a narrow majority whilst receiving the largest number of votes in British electoral history.
1997 election results
- Blair’s Labour won a landslide 418 seats ,the most seats the Party has ever held.
- Huge Conservative-Labour swing of 10.2% on a national turnout of 71% (the last national vote where turnout exceeded 70% until the 2016 EU Referendum).
Scottish devolution referendum 1979
64% voted for a Scottish assembly but since less than 40% of the population voted yes(considering turnout), the act was repealed
Heath as photo Thatcher/ right wing
- Cut income tax in his first budget
- Lifted £2bn of corporation tax in his second budget
- Successfully restricted the Post Office strike of 1971.
- Passed the Industrial Relations Act 1971 without consulting the trade unions – required state registration of unions, made collective agreements legally enforceable, and limited ‘wildcat’ (unofficial) strikes.
Heath - economic interventionism
Abolished financial targets for nationalised industries, and provided a fiscal stimulus to the economy through a £100m public works programme.
* 1972-74 actually ended up being the peak of Keynesianism, despite the 1970 ‘A Better Tomorrow’ manifesto promising lower taxes and spending.
pragmatic Tory?
Heath and nationalisation
- Nationalised the aero-engine division of Rolls Royce in 1971 when it went bankrupt (because its production was necessary for the armed forces).
- Bailed out Upper Clyde shipbuilders in 1972 after a Communist-led sit-in.
Heath economic discontent
unemployment had broken 1m in January 1972, and the humiliation of the miners’ strike in February 1972.
inflation – it peaked at 26.9% in the 12 months to August 1975.
international oil crisis which quadrupled energy prices
Heath intervention in wages
Introduced a statutory incomes policy in 1972- wage and price controls
1974 election
Labour emerged as the largest Party despite the Conservatives winning the most votes and, when the Conservative coalition talks failed (the Liberals could not uphold a defeated government), Wilson formed a minority Labour government.
when did thatcher become Tory leader
1975
Tories euro centrism pre Thatcher
Britain’s entry into the EEC in 1973 (it was the Conservatives who were the pro-EEC/EC/EU Party compared to Labour in the 1970s),
Heath on NI
- Short-lived achievements: Power-sharing in Northern Ireland (shattered shortly after February 1974 election).
external opposition to Heath
- Rise of militant unionism and the student movement–law and order was declining, and Heath had to impose five states of emergency.
external economic failures under Heath
o Nixon ended the Bretton Woods Agreement (which had fixed world currencies against the Dollar) in August 1971, creating instability.
o Huge rise in commodity prices when Heath was seeking to curb inflation.
o OPEC oil crisis in 1973, which quadrupled energy prices.
Heath as a wet Tory
- Despite his 1970 ‘A Better Tomorrow’ manifesto promising lower taxes and spending, Heath was ‘wet’ and U-turned on this (e.g. promising a £100m public works programme in the July 1971 Special Budget), and 1972-74 ended up being the peak of Keynesianism.
How Heath’s u turns influenced Thatcher
The abandonment of the 1970 manifesto (based on free-market economic policies) led to the creation of the ‘Selsdon Group’ in 1973, whose policies influenced the Thatcher and Major governments.
Thatcher’s victory in leadership election
- In the 1975 leadership election, she won 130 votes vs. 119 for Heath, due to:
- Her‘ conviction politician’ personality–the facts he was not Heath.
- The fact she was willing to challenge Heath when others would not (she was the only candidate in the first round – Whitelaw entered too late in the second round).
The skill of her campaign manager (Neave) – he deliberately underplayed her strength ahead of the first ballot, thus encouraging MPs to vote for her who would otherwise have abstained. This momentum carried her through the second ballot.
Thatcher as distinctly anti socialist
o By lowering inflation, dismantling the corporate state and ending the rhetoric of class war, Thatcherism promised healing and reconciliation.
o Sutcliffe- Braithwaite: No previous leader had made anti-socialism so central to their message, or talked so confidently of the elimination of socialism from British politics.
Labour defection to Tories
o Crucial role was played by Labour defectors who were drawn to Thatcher in remarkable numbers. Some were instinctive rebels, transferring their allegiance to a new rebel project; others strongly anti-Soviet; while many were essentially libertarians, who now thought union power the chief menace to freedom.
eg Reg Prentice flipped on 1977- not tons of defections but defo him