Why were the Conservatives able to dominate interwar politics? (1a) Flashcards

1
Q

How were the Conservatives able to dominate interwar politics?

A
  • Government coalition
  • Withdraw of coalition
  • Won 1924 election
  • Agreed to be part of National government
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2
Q

When was the coalition government?

A

1918-1922

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3
Q

How many seats did the Conservative party have in the 1918 coalition?

A

335

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4
Q

How many seats did the Liberals have in the 1918 coalition?

A

133

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5
Q

What year did the conservatives withdraw from the coalition?

A

1922, won following election

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6
Q

What happened in the December 1923 election?

A

Conservatives lost overall majority but remained largest party

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7
Q

How many seats did the Conservative have in the 1923 December election?

A

258

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8
Q

What happened during the 1929 general election?

A

Conservatives lost, no party had overall majority

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9
Q

What did the Conservatives do during the creation of the national government?

A

Agreed to participate and became dominant party in coalition until 1945

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10
Q

Why were the conservatives able to dominate interwar politics?

A
  • Electoral system of 1918
  • Weaknesses/divisions of opposition parties
  • Effective party organisation
  • Effective leadership and image
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11
Q

How did changes in the electoral system help the conservatives?

A
  • Plural voting
  • Constituency boundaries were redrawn
  • First past the post system
  • Irish free state
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12
Q

How long did plural voting remain until?

A

Until 1948

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13
Q

What did plural voting allow people to do?

A
  • Enabled businessmen who lived in constituency and owned a property in another to vote in both
  • University students could aslo vote in 2
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14
Q

When were the constituency boundaries redrawn?

A

1918

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15
Q

Why were the constituency boundaries redrawn?

A

Reflect population movement

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16
Q

How did the new constituency boundaries affect middle class suburbs?

A

Gave them a greater representation

17
Q

What is the first past the post system?

A

Candidate who receives the most votes wins, even if they did not receive a majority of the votes

18
Q

Who were the main opposition to the Conservatives before 1918 and what happened to them?

A

Liberals, there was a division mainly due to DLG

19
Q

What happened to the Liberals by 1931?

A

Many right wing Liberals split off and became National Liberals forming a close alliance with the Conservatives, this ment there was no healthy opposition

20
Q

Why did Labour find it difficult during the interwar years?

A
  • Found it hard to grow outside industrial working class

- Fear of communism

21
Q

What happened to the Labour party in the 1931 economic crisis?

A

Deeply divided over how to handle economic crisis, decimated in general election that year

22
Q

How were the conservatives able to stay organised?

A
  • True national party structure
  • Conservative Research Department
  • Funding not a problem
23
Q

What did the true national party consist of?

A
  • Organised local branches

- Network of professional agents

24
Q

When was the Conservative Research Department created?

25
What did the Conservative Research Department do?
Responsible for research, drafting speeches and preparing party documents (election manifestos)
26
How were the Conservatives able to successfully project their image?
- Rebranding of the party - Stanley Baldwin - Promoted good working relationships - Destroying DLG coalition
27
How did the Conservatives rebrand?
Moved away from party of wealth and privilege to 'one nation tories,' designed to attract working class
28
What ideas did the conservatives introduce as part of rebranding?
- Empire - Patriotism - National defence
29
How did Stanley Baldwin present himself?
Straight-talking man of the people, although could be seen as dull 'safety first' campaign
30
Who did Baldwin promote a good working relationship between?
Employers and workers
31
What reputation did Stanley Baldwin gain?
Reputation for economic competence, helped attract wealthy, middle class Liberals
32
What did Baldwin do in the 1922 election?
Broke off the coalition
33
What did Baldwin support in 1922
Free trade, taking away the policy that united the liberals