The Impact Of Thatcherism 1979-1987 Flashcards
What was Thatcherism?
Self reliance- rather than relying on state
Self improvement- people should be aspirational
Policies should be based on what is right, not what is popular
Disliked permissive society
Wanted strong law and order policies
Emphasised importance of family
Influenced by New Right inc Milton Friedman and Friedrich von Hayeck
Supporter of monetarist policies
Free market superior to govt intervention
Critical of post-war consensus
Change from upper class Tories- in touch with middle class values
Who were the Conservative Party members who had concerns with the break from the post war consensus?
The ‘Wets’
Willie Whitelaw Home Secretary 79-83, Deputy PM 79-88
Jim Prior Employment 79-81, Northern Ireland 81-84
Michael Heseltine Envionment 79-83, Defence 83-86
What were Thatcher’s supporters in the party known as
The ‘Dries’
Geoffrey Howe Chancellor of the Exchequer 79-83, Foreign Secretary 83-89
Keith Joseph Industry 79-81, Education 81-86
Nigel Lawson Treasury 79-83, Chancellor of the exchequer 83-89
Norman Tebbit Employment 81-83, Trade 83-85 and Party Chairman 85-87
What did Thatcher do with the Wets and Dries?
She made sure Dries were given the key economic posts and promoted more to the cabinet - demoting or sacking the Wets (Heseltine resigned during Westland affair)
OPPOSITION- what was the state of the Labour Party in period 1979-1987?
Debate after 1979 election loss was bitter
Two extremes of party hostile to each other
Leadership election of 1980 won by Michael Foot- candidate from the left (beat centre-right candidate Dennis Healey)
Dennis Healey, however, won Deputy Leadership contest against left winger Tony Benn in 1981
OPPOSITION- How was the Social Democratic Party (SDP) formed?
The SDP formed in 1981 by four leading Labour politicians: Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Shirley Williams and Bill Rodgers
They thought Labour taken over by left wing extremists
Wanted a centre-left alternative
How did the SDP do?
After forming series of by-election results that seemed to suggest electorate rejecting both the Conservatives and Labour
November 1981 - Shirley Williams won Crosby by-election from the Conservatives
March 1982 - Jenkins won the Glasgow Hillhead by-election from the Conservatives
February 1983 - Liberal party won the Bermondsey by-election from Labour
What happened between the SDP and the Liberal Party?
Despite some disagreements between leaders (David Owen SDP and David Steel Liberal) parties formed SDP- Liberal alliance for 1983 and 1987 general elections
At times seemed more of an opposition than Labour
OPPOSITION-what happened to the traditional Labour voters?
Labour could no longer rely assume its traditional voters would support
Thatcher appealed to some of the Working Class
Some Labour voters disliked domination of the left- so switched to the Alliance
Trade Unions no longer seen as a strength
Labour Party lost touch with ordinary people
OPPOSITION- what further Labour divisions were there between 1983-1987?
After 83 election loss Foot resigned- replaced by Neil Kinnock- Welsh, from left of party
Tried to modernise Labour
Changed Labour’s position on issues that proved unpopular in 83- such as unilateral disarmament and withdrawal from EEC
Prepared to criticise leader of NUM - Arthur Scargill during miners’ strike 1984-1985
Took on and defeated hard left extremists such as Militant Tendency- who were expelled from Labour in 1986
Were the Conservative Party popular throughout the 1980s?
For large parts extremely unpopular
However landslide majorities in both 1983 (42.4% vote) and 1987 (42.2% vote) general elections
What were the reasons for the 1983 election result?
Conservatives’ record in office
Success in Falklands
Press support for Conservatives
Thatcher seen as strong leader- capable of tough decisions
Foot seen as weak leader
Labour manifesto ‘The longest suicide note in history’ - Unilateral disarmament and withdrawal from EEC
Split of anti-conservative vote
First past post system
What were the reasons for the 1987 election results?
Conservatives’ record in office
Press support for Conservatives
Labour Party reputation
Tension within the Alliance
Decline of Alliance as Labour became more electable
Split in anti-conservative vote
First past post electoral system
What happened with Northern Ireland under Thatcher?
Troubles continued
Moved to try and reach a POLITICAL settlement
Third party discussions between Britain and paramilitary organisations
Talks between British and Irish government led to the Anglo-Irish agreement - signed at Hillsborough Castle Nov 1985
Row over status of IRA prisoners - hunger strikes began in 1980
Republican paramilitaries continued - Enniskillen Rememberance Day 1987
Often followed by Loyalist response
SAS shot 8 IRA volunteers in 1987
What were Thatcher’s core Economic policies?
Monetarism
Privatisation and Deregulation
Rejection of post war consensus aim of full employment
New Right saw inflation as a bigger danger- so targeted to keep this down instead of
What were Thatcher’s economic policies?
Monetarism
Privatisation and Deregulation
Rejection of post war consensus aim of full employment
New Right saw inflation as a bigger danger- so targeted to keep this down instead
What was Monetarism?
Promoted by Milton Friedman and Chicago school of economics
Inflation could be controlled through controlling money supply
Cut government spending and borrowing
Individuals spend money more efficiently than government- therefore shift from direct to indirect taxation
What were the economic results in the 80s?
Inflation rose to 15% initially then fell to 5% by 1983. Low of 2.5% in 1986- but grew again in late 80s (joined European Exchange Rate Mechanism in 1990 in another attempt to control)
High interest rates (17% in 1979) made it difficult for businesses to borrow and increased value of pound - making exports more expensive
Leading to recession in 1980 - many businesses went bankrupt
Unemployment rose to over 2 million by 1981 and 3 million by 1983
High levels of unemployment meant high spending on benefits was necessary
Tensions grew between left wing local councils and central government as spending was cut - eventually lead to policy of rate capping
Did Thatcher stick with monetarism?
No- she moved away from this during her second term
By 1986, when Lawson abandoned spending targets policy was dropped in favour of Supply-side economics (still change from post war consensus demand side economics)
What was supply side economics?
Deregulation and low taxation for business - encouraging enterprise
Flexible Labour - easy to hire and fire
Employees spend on goods and services during me to low tax
Businesses make profits
Profits encourage expansion/investment
What was privatised during Thatcher governments?
Oct 1979. British Petroleum
Feb 1981 British Aerospace
Aug 1984 Jaguar
Dec 1984 British Telecommunications
Dec 1986 British Gas
Feb 1987 British Airways
May 1987 Rolls-Royce
Dec 1988 British Steel
Dec 1989 Water
Dec 1990 Electricity
What changes from the post war consensus did Thatcher bring in?
Privatisation - move away from nationalised industries
Monetarism and then later supply side economics (rather than demand side)
Focus on inflation rather than unemployment
As a result of privatisation the number of individuals owning shares rose by how much between 1979 to 1990?
From 3 million to 9 million
What were the attractions of privatisation to Thatcher?
It was anti-socialist
Belief that private sector was more efficient than public sector
Thatcher wanted to roll back frontiers of state - to reduce intervention
Cuts to public spending and local government pressures meant there was a drive to outsource goods and services to private sector
Brought a lot of revenue into government
