The General Election 1979

Question 1

What happened by spring of 1979?

Answer 1

-1978 Callaghan teased gen elec but chose to wait
-by spring 1979 political landscape reshaped by WoD, econ situation deteriorated + reputation of TUs damaged
-both skilled + unskilled workers began vote cons

Question 2

What happened in march 1979?

Answer 2

-lab gov lost VoNC on issues of Scottish-devolution by cons gov who hoped minor parties would rally to their side
-by single vote commons declared no confidence in gov + gen elec called

Question 3

How did the media resoond to the lab gov failures?

Answer 3

-images of WoD dominated media
-The Times, The Sun, the Maine + the Express supported cons

Question 4

How did the new advertising firm for Thatcher impact the lab gov?

Answer 4

-Saatchi + Saatchi developed new poster campaign
-focused on key lab issues of health, education + unemployment
-slogans like ‘education isn’t working’ + ‘Labour isn’t working’

Question 5

What was significant about the poster ‘Labour isn’t working’?

Answer 5

-featured long dole queue snaking away into distance
-reflected the 1.3 million unemployed
-‘labour’ dual meaning — the party + their policies on employment

Question 6

How did Callaghan’s personal decisions affect the outcome of the election?

Answer 6

-middle of WoD he went on holiday to Caribbean island ‘Guadeloupe’
-pictures of him swimming + sunning himself didn’t improve national mood
-when returned approached by press asking about crisis — famously responded ‘crisis! What crisis?’

Question 7

What was the outcome of the election?

Answer 7

-not a foregone conclusion
-lab vote held up quite well - dipped 3% overall

Question 8

How did the cons win?

Answer 8

-benefitted from drop in support for libs + SNP
-result on landslide but cons majority of 43