Why Did The Cons Win + Why Did Lab Lose 1979 Flashcards
Why did Cons win in terms of their manifesto?
-contained valence issues
What are valence issues?
-issues that are important ti people at the time of the election
-focus in key issues prevalent in 1979 alone
What did their manifesto promise in terms of inflation + why was this popular?
-lower inflation
-popular with middle classes + people with mortgages/savings
What did their manifesto promise in regards to TUs?
-bring TU power under control
-popular with business owners due to strikes etc.
What did the manifesto also promise that was popular with the working classes?
-the sale of council houses
-reduce unemployment
How did labours performance in government reduce their chances at winning?
-1979 winter of discontent - 3.5m days lost to strikes
-vote no confidence against Callaghan 1979 - by single vote common declared they had no confidence in gov
What was the outcome of the vote of no confidence?
-Callaghan lost by one vote
-if he had held election 1978 he could’ve won
How was the lab party perceived to look?
-looked tired + ineffectual
-lacking in ideas for future
-Callaghan returned from hols + said ‘crisis - what crisis!’ - this badly affected his rep
In the ‘winter of discontent’ what strikes were going on?
-TGWU called for 30% pay rise + oil tanker drivers in TGWU called for 40%
-workers at Ford’s nationalised rival Br leyland joined + then water + sewage workers
-BBC electricians threatened blackout of Christmas TV
What was the worst blow for the lab gov during this time?
-public sector union NUPE called out over 1m school caretakers, cooks, ambulance men for a £60 week guaranteed min wage
How did this impact the rest of society?
-children’s hospitals, old people’s homes + schools plunged into trouble
-Liverpool parks + cemeteries branch of general + municipal workers union refused to bury dead bodies leaving over 300 pile up in storage
How did Thatcher saw to fame through her marketing companies?
-Saatchi + Saatchi presented Thatcher as a new media savvy
-cons took 61 seats directly from Lab gaining nearly 43% of vote
How did the strikes by the unions alter people’s views of them?
-revived fears of rampant trade unionism that dominated popular perceptions of politics for previous decade
How did this play into thatchers hands?
-she already advocated anti-union sentiments
-and brought them together stating things been going wrong since 60s
