Unit 1.3 Flashcards
The New Right
The New Right is a collective name for a number of academic and theoretical organisations which challenged the Keynsian orthodoxy.
They drew on the work of Milton Friedman and Friedrich von Hayeck both of whom worked at the Chicago School of Economics. The New Right included the Centre for Policy Studies, established by Keith Joseph after the 1974 election defeat, and the Adam Smith Institute formed in 1977 to promote free-market policies. It attracted a number of converts such as Peter Jay, an economist who was also James Callaghan’s son-in-law, and a previous editor of the left-wing New Statesman magazine, Paul Johnson. Socially Conservative but liberal in economics.
Margaret Thatcher
Studied Chemistry at Oxford and came from a suburban trade family. She was resolutely middle class, self-resilience and self-improvement lay at the heart of the Thatcher’s upbringing and informed her political beliefs.
She was a conviction politician and was dismissive if the post was consensus. Thatcherism was based on some traditional conservative thinking, as well as a number of New Right think tanks + academics who rejected Keynesism in favour of free market and monetarist economy.
As Leader, she cut back on state spending and returned to policy of industrialisation. She also favoured tough policing to maintain law and order.
How the Conservatives won the 1979 election - results
Conservative - 43.9%, 339 seats
Labour- 36.9% , 269 seats
Liberal - 13.8%, 11 seats
How the Conservatives won the 1979 election - Labour Weaknesses
-The 1979 election was decided largely in London, the south of England and the Midlands where approximately 40 seats changed hands from Labour to the Conservatives. These voters were punishing Labour for its perceived failure to deal with inflation, unemployment and the ‘over-mighty’ trade unions whose reputation had been damaged, even many skilled and unskilled workers began to consider voting Conservative.
-As in previous elections, the Liberal vote was also significant in determining the outcome. Although the Liberals held on to most of their seats in their strongholds, their total vote dropped by over a million because some voters blamed them for keeping Callaghan’s government in office since 1977.
-Then, in March 1979, the government lost a vote of no confidence in Parliament, on the issue of Scottish devolution. The government was forced to resign, the first time since 1924 that a government was brought down by a confidence vote.
-The images of the ‘winter of discontent’ dominated the media and the press for weeks on end. Most of the press, including The Times, The Sun, the Mail and the Express, were supporting the Conservatives. The Conservatives were able to fight the campaign mostly by hammering away at the unpopularity of the government, especially on the issues of unemployment, law and order, and the excessive power of the unions. In fact, many of the strikes in 1979 showed the weakness of the old union leaderships and their failure to control the new militancy of their workers.
How the Conservatives won the 1979 election - Conservative Strengths
-In many constituencies in the Midlands and south, the collapse of the Liberal vote was enough to hand the seat to the Conservatives even though the Labour vote did not significantly decline.
-The previous decades had created an enlarged middle class who felt increasingly resentful about strikes and trade union power. The piling up of rubbish during strikes in 1979 seemed symbolic of a decline in standards.
-The Conservatives benefited from a sharp drop in support for the Liberals and for the Scottish Nationalist Party.
-Right Wing Media Support
-First Female PM- Thatcher came across as strong
How the Conservatives won the 1983 election - Result
Conservative - 42.4% , 397 seats
Labour - 27.6% , 209 seats
Liberal- 13.7%, 17 seats
SDP- 11.6 %, 6 seats
(Liberal/SDP Alliance) - (25.4%) , (23) seats
How the Conservatives won the 1983 election
The rise in unemployment and economic problems had reduced the popularity of the government by 1981, but the election of 1983 saw another Conservative victory, even with a reduced popular vote. The victory in the Falklands War was seen as a sign of Britain’s greater confidence and unity. It increased the personal popularity of Thatcher in her own strongholds.
However, the disastrous split in Labour and the selection of Michael Foot as leader in November 1980 played an important part in the outcome. Foot lacked an assured manner on television and his belief in unilateral nuclear disarmament, further nationalisation of industry and government regulation seemed old fashioned. He and his policies made little appeal outside traditional Labour voters. The more moderate elements in the Party split away to form the SDP in March 1981, massively damaging the Labour Party.
The Labour manifesto was described as ‘the longest suicide note in history’ because it was so out of touch with the country as a whole. The Alliance between the Liberals and the SDP - the beginning of the modern Liberal Democrats - succeeded in splitting the anti-Thatcher vote. This allowed Conservative gains in some traditional Labour seats in the north.
How the conservatives won the 1987 election - results
Conservative - 43.4 % , 376 seats
Labour - 31.7% , 229 seats
Liberal- 12.9%, 17 seats
SDP- 9.7 %, 5 seats
(Liberal/SDP Alliance) - (22.6%) , (22) seats
How the conservatives won the 1987 election - Conservative Party
When Thatcher called an election in June 1987 the Conservatives were well ahead in the opinion polls.
*The government’s policies of selling council houses and shares in privatised industries appealed to many middle-class and skilled working-class voters.
* These people were either better off, or believed that the government supported their desire to increase their wealth and status.
* Unemployment was falling and the pound was strong.
* In both 1983 and 1987 the Conservatives benefited from a split in the left. wing vote.
How the conservatives won the 1987 election - The Labour Party
The Labour Party had not fully recovered from its defeat in 1983 but its new leader, Neil Kinnock, had very publicly criticised prominent left-wingers and brought the party back towards the centre.
Labour polled over 1.5 million votes more than in 1983 and won 20 more seats. However, Kinnock’s style had limited appeal to many voters. He was often long-winded in speeches and Thatcher seemed to be the stronger leader with a very firm hold over her colleagues and a growing international reputation. Labour was more affected by the Alliance who contested every seat in 1987, splitting the anti-Conservative vote.
Sir Geoffrey Howe
served as trade minister in Heath’s government until 1974 and was Mrs
Thatcher’s first Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1979 to 1983. He presided over the application of monetarist principles to economic policies. From 1983 to 1989, he was foreign minister but his views on Europe came into conflict with Thatcher’s. His resignation speech in 1990 helped to cause her fall from power.
Norman Tebbit
was an outspoken Essex MP who was appointed Trade Secretary in Margaret
Thatcher’s first cabinet and later became party chairman. His down-to-earth and abrasive style made him very popular with the new Thatcherites though not their opponents; Michael Foot described him as a semi-house-trained polecat. In 1987, he left the government, though he remained loyal to Thatcherite ideals.
Micheal Heseltine
was a millionaire who became a leading Conservative politician in the 1980s. Because of his long hair and flamboyant style, his nickname was “Tarzan. His ‘One Nation’ and pro-European views brought him into conflict with Thatcher and he resigned from her cabinet in 1986 over the Westland affair. Many Thatcherites blamed him for the fall of Thatcher in 1990. He was later deputy prime minister to John Major.
Nigel Lawson
served in Thatcher’s first term as Howe’s number two at the Treasury and replaced Howe as Chancellor in 1983. His expansionary budgets of 1987 and 1988 created the
‘Lawson boom. In 1989, Lawson resigned from the government, furious about the excessive influence wielded by Thatcher’s private economic adviser,
Professor Alan Walters.
Neil Kinnock
was a left-wing Labour MP from South Wales.
He succeeded Michael Foot as party leader in 1983. Kinnock changed his mind on key left-wing causes such unilateralism, nationalisation and withdrawal from the EEC.
He strongly attacked the hard left and set out to move the Labour Party back towards the political middle ground. He also started the process of modernising the party organisations and improving party discipline. Kinnock led Labour to two election defeats in 1987 and 1992 but did much to restore Labour’s political credibility.
