Thatcher Revolution 1979-90: 6 Labour during the Thatcher years Flashcards
what were Labour’s main issues whilst Thatcher was in power?
- lost 4 consecutive elections 1979-90
- Callaghan and winter of discontent
- strong links to unions seen as a factor of industrial strife and Labour’s inability to govern
- image of a divided party
- split between left and right of party
leader was Michael Foot from 1980-3
Labour and Tony Benn
Benn had renounced his peerage, was left of the party and viewed election losses due to labour not being left enough
right newspapers portrayed him as dangerous and part of the ‘loony left’
he was opposed to Britain joining the EEC and later the EU
when was the SDP formed? and who were they?
1981 by the ‘gang of four’ including Roy Jenkins
factors that led to the breakaway:
- election defeat in 1979
- Michael Foot as leader in 1980
- Labour’s constitutional changes that pushed it further left
aimed to be radical not socialist
gained a quarter of votes in 1983 election but never established itself as a credible alternative to larger parties
1990s merged with the Liberal Party forming the Liberal Democrats
why did Labour lose the 1983 election?
- Foot was an uninspiring leader
- party was weakened by internal disputes
- ill-planned manifesto later nicknamed ‘the longest suicide note in history’
- Thatcher and the Falklands
- pacifism during the Falklands war made Foot and Kinnock appear unpatriotic during a national crisis
who replaced Michael Foot in 1983?
Neil Kinnock a member of the left however he was realistic enough to appreciate that a hard left approach would not win public support
1985 denounced the Militant tendency councillors at a party conference - believed the party had to adapt to the real world or it would be condemned to permanent powerlessness
how did Kinnock’s conference speech in 1985 destroy the SDP?
creating the notion of a party wedded to reform whilst avoiding extremes - what the SDP had set out to do
however personally for Kinnock he had to make multiple u turns on policy that made him untrustworthy within his party and the electorate as a result he was replaced in 1992 with John Smith who was succeeded by Tony Blair in 1994
