Thatcher and the end of consensus 1979–1990 Flashcards
What was the post-war consensus in British politics?
- agreement from 1945 - 1979: mixed economy, welfare state, full employment and trade union cooperation
- Both Labour and Conservative government followed these principles
How did Thatcher reject the consensus?
- shifted towards monetarism, privatisation, deregulation and individualism
- abandoned full employment and state control of industry
What did Thatcher’s economic approach represent ideologically?
neoliberalism: small state, free markets, ant-socialism
How did Thatcher’s policies break the political norm?
- emphasis on law and order
- belief in personal responsibility and state dependency
- created the idea of ‘Thatcherism’
Who is a key historian and what do they say about Thatcher?
- Kevin Jeffreys
- ‘Thatcherism dismantled the central pillars of consensus’
Why did Thatcher win in 1979?
- Winter of Discontent 1978 - 79: strikes, big bags in streets
- Callaghan’s Labour seen as weak, economic chaos under Labour
- Thatcher promised strong leadership and economic change
What role did the media play in 1979?
- Press (Sun, Daily Mail) backed Thatcher strongly
- portrayed her as strong and principled
What helped Thatcher win the 1983 election?
- Victory in the Falklands War 1982 restored national pride
- Longest Suicide Note in History 1983: seen as extreme, unilateral nuclear disarmament, withdraw from EEC
- SDP-Liberal alliance split anti-Tory vote
What was the result of the 1983 election?
- Conservative majority: 397 seats to Labours 209
- Vote Share: Con 42%, Lab 27%, Alliance 25.4%
Why did Thatcher win the 1987 election?
- Economic recovery, falling inflation, privatisation popularity
- Thatcher seen as experienced and tough on unions
- Labour still not fully reformed
What were the results of the 1987 election?
- Conservative: 376
- Labour: 229
What was monetarism and why did Thatcher use it?
- Economic theory: inflation caused by excess money supply
- aimed to reduce inflation through high interest rates and spending cuts
Was monetarism successful?
- inflation dropped from 18% in 1980 to 4.6% in 1983
- But: unemployment rose to 3.3 million by 1985
- High interest rates hurt businesses
What was the scale of deindustrialisation under Thatcher?
- Manufacturing jobs fell by 1/3 in the 1980s
- Industrial regions in the North, Midlands, Scotland hit hard
What industries were privatised?
- British Telecom 1984
- British Gas 1986
- Steel, water, electricity
- raised 29 billion between 1979 - 1990
What was the aim of privatisation?
- reduce the size of the state
- promote competition and efficiency
What were the criticisms of privatisation?
- short term revenue but long term loss of public assets
- services became profit-driven rather than public goods
- most ordinary people could not afford shares
What was the Big Bang and when was it?
- 1986
- financial sector was deregulated leading to huge growth
- turned the UK into a global finance hub
When was the Housing Act and what did it do (Right to Buy)?
- 1980
- allowed council tenants to buy their homes at up to 50% discount
- 1.5 million homes sold by 1989
What were the effects of Right to Buy?
- boosted working-class Tory support
- reduced social-housing stock, increasing homelessness
- worsened housing crisis in the long term
What was the Community Charge (Poll tax) and when was it?
- introduced in Scotland 1989 and England 1990
- Flat-rate tax per adult replacing rates based on property value
- regarded as unfair, same tax for rich and poor
What were the consequences of the Poll Tax?
- led to 1990 riots (Trafalgar Square)
- Deeply unpopular, even among Tories
- major factor in Thatcher’s downfall
Why did Thatcher target trade unions?
- Unions seen as too powerful after 1970s industrial unrest
- believed they undermined democracy and economic progress
What acts were passed to weaken unions?
- 1980 Employment Act: outlawed secondary picketing
- 1982 Employment Act: limits of union immunity from damages
- 1984 Trade Union Act: ballots before strikes
What were the effects of the Miners’ Strike?
- Massive defeat for NUM, membership dropped by 84%
- Union power collapsed
- signalled the end of industrial age politics
What happened during the Miners strike and when was it?
- 1984 - 85
- NUM opposed bit closures (Led by Arthur Scargill)
- Thatcher prepared: stockpiled coal, deployed police
- strike failed after a year due to lack of support and poor strategy
How did Thatcher manage her cabinet early on?
- appointed dries (hardline monetarists) and side-lined wets (moderates)
- Cabinet dominated by loyalists
What problems emerged with her Cabinet?
- Resignations over Europe and economic direction
- 1989: Nigel Lawson resigned as Chancellor
- 1990: Geoffrey Howe’s resignation speech criticised her leadership
Why did Thatcher inspire strong support?
- seen as patriotic, anti-communist, strong leader
- popular with aspirational middle class and some skilled workers
- support from right-wing press
Why did Thatcher face strong opposition?
- policies worsened inequality
- accused of destroying communities
- Infamous quote ‘ There’s no such thing as society’
Why did Thatcher’s popularity decline after 1987
- unpopularity of the Poll Tax
- Cabinet divisions
- economic slowdown
What led to Thatcher’s downfall in 1990?
- Michael Heseltine challenged her leadership
- lost cabinet support
- resigned after second round of voting
Which historians speak about the fall of Thatcher and what do they say?
- Ewen Green: ‘Death by a thousand cuts - fatigue and internal dissent’
- John Campbell: ‘She stayed too long’
