why did labour lose the 1951 electionwhy did labour lose the 1951 election

why did labour lose the 1951 election11 Mar why did labour lose the 1951 election

The first years, between 1945 and 1946, saw fervour for rapid reform in many areas of government. Gaitskell had imposed upon the health service prescription charges for glasses and false teeth, which to Bevan and other NHS idealists represented the betrayal of NHS founding principals. We provide reliable homework help online and custom college essay service. Labour's manifesto was based around the Beveridge report and the Nationalisation of industries, ideas that had been tested during the war and were found to work. Indeed, after signing the Munich Agreement, Chamberlain was heralded as a hero: 'saving' the country from another bloody war. The Labour government called a snap election for Thursday 25 October 1951 in the hope of increasing its parliamentary majority. Labour entered the 1950 election confidently, while the conservatives were uncertain of themselves, effectively a role reversal from 1945. As he struggled to justify his November emergency budget tightening spending and committing to an exchange rate policy subservient to US demands, Dalton resigned as Chancellor. While ill health may have played its part in weakening the Labour party, the lack of enthusiasm put into manifesto commintments was by far more significant. Concerns about the permissive society e.g. Between 1948 and the election year 1950, Labour was committed to a period of tighter spending and more austere demands placed upon citizens. 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This brought about a little unrest within working class support but it was the effect on middle class attitudes and the cracks opening among the Parliamentary partys support which began to harm electoral credibility. Appeasement wasn't, at the time, a hugely contentious issue however after the war many people believed this was a large reason for the war and the Conservatives were blamed. The report was met by huge public enthusiasm and Labour's wholehearted backing. By 1947, more than one fifth of British industry had been drawn into public ownership. UNHAPPY PARLIAMENT, Labour majority The Labour party had suffered after 10 years in government, and their MPs had begun falling ill, some even dying. His frugality extended to his welfare policies, which involved the further tightening of benefit payments. How valid is this view in relation to the 1951 general election? legislation, Commitment to full employment and a mixed economy, Said to focus upon its previous to change in later Then, the second ministry saw a fractious Parliamentary party being further divided over the Korean War and the advancement of the National Health Service, leading up to a comfortable Tory win in the October 1951 election. The campaign is all too often seen as the most important factor in Labour's landslide victory in 1945, however it is of less importance than the war or their policies, for example. Conservative opposition fell off quickly, however, when the popularity of the NHS became increasingly apparent following its inception in 1946. The year 1947 brought an abrupt end to the honeymoon, as the government was forced to shift focus from massive reform to crisis management in response to fuel and trade shortages. Why didn't Labour win the election 1948 Representation of the People Act What was the name of the 1948 law which changed constituency boundaries Liberal Party What party saw their vote fall from 2.6 million to 730,556 Sets with similar terms POLS 315 Exam 3 67 terms Leiigit_Kae American Gov Unit 4 Exam 91 terms Alexis_Martyn45 Labour argued that they had earned their independence by fighting in WW2, and that it was not economically viable to sustain them. The population was also swelling, not to mention the return of service men and women from abroad, and the total number of properties in Britain had fallen by over 700,000 due to bomb damage. the Tories as 'lower than vermin' alienated Mr Churchill's Declaration of Policy to the Electorate. Labours answer focused on working class interests. drugs. Thirdly, it brought about a further drop in voter confidence as external signs of infighting brought into question the competence and clarity of direction Labour could offer. should remain, Bevan an Labour 1951. Paul Addison, however, argues that the campaign was important because Attlee's reputation rose during the 1945 electoral campaign. Food subsidies were sustained in order to negate inflation in living costs; levels of progressive taxation were preserved; regional development was the favoured way to control mass unemployment in the areas of urban industrial decline; nationalisation was seen as the solution in reviving core industries such as mining, which had been faltering in private hands. 1951 General Election Why did the Conservatives win the 1951 General Election? Churchill however made a gross error in saying that Labour would need a Gestapo like organisation to enforce socialism upon Britain. The Blitz also, more obviously, caused a huge rise in support for Labour's housing development plans. Similarly, Labour simply made too many promises that were out of their reach, however they did fulfil most of their promises. positive light, Presented themselves as a united In 1951 Winston Churchill's Conservative party, won the general election, and this would be the start of 13 years of Conservative rule pning three prime ministers. Labour's election record in the 1930s was poor, as they were disorganised and divided. The 1946 National Insurance Act was also a key domestic reform of the Attlee government. In 1951 labour actually polled more votes than the conservatives and in 1945 Labour only polled 8% more than the Conservatives yet gained a landslide of seats. While the more right-wing Gaitsgillites wanted more concentration on an aggressive foreign policy on issues like the cold war. Labour's promises of social reforms won them many votes, however it was these promises which led to their failure in 1951, when many people believed that the promises hadn't been delivered. Developments during the war made a considerable contribution towards the shift to the left, with more support for collectivism and rationing. Labour - 295 seats, Conservatives - 321 seats, Liberals - 6 seats In 1951 the Liberals put up 109 candidates, in 1945 they had put up 475. Why did labor lose the 1951 election? Labour's election record in the 1930s was poor, as they were disorganised and divided. protecting against the Why did the Conservatives win/ Labour lose the 1951 UK general election? To gain an understanding of the election one must study the context surrounding the election. Just by losing a core of middle class voters, Labour lost a great many marginal contests and most particularly in the well-to-do constituencies of southern and south-eastern England. Britains involvement in the Korean War also enabled the Conservatives to play on Churchills war hero status. Attlee was aware that these changes to the voting system may The Conservatives were back in power once more, but they did little to. Conservative pre-war blunders played a key role in Labour's victory due to the electorate remembering these mistakes. Then, in the summer of 1947, problems arose with the US war loan to be paid to the British government, in the form of the convertibility clause. Firstly, the Parliamentary party was split in its loyalties to the party leadership, and cohesion within the legislature was less assured. As the night drew . After the First World War, the Lloyd George Coalition had made many empty promises concerning reconstruction. Having been given such a considerable mandate to rebuild the country in 1945, the Attlee post-war government lost popular support considerably over the next six years. On average in these 'red wall' constituencies, Labour lost about 2% to the Tories and about 7% to the Brexit Party. In February 1957, Labour won the seat of North Lewisham in what was their first by-election gain from the Tories in almost twenty years. spring of 52' due to the Kings tour of Australia it hit the party at a Whilst in 1951 the Labour government was punished for its unrealistic promises made in 1945. time of economic downfall- seen to be short lived as by 1952 the In 1945 Labour had won 11.99m (47.8%) of the vote, and went on to attain 13.95m (48.8%) of the vote in 51. A defeated conservative MP at the time, Macmillan, claimed that . The split ran deep within the Labour party and consequently it was deeply weakened, so when it came to the 1951 election, Labour found it much harder to fight against the now united Conservatives who had been re-organisation under a new leader. Atlee used this as an opportunity to emphasise that although Churchill was a great wartime leader he was not such a good domestic politician. 419 million defecit was yet again in the surplus, Disagreements over For many voters and MPs, the buck stops with the Labour leader. The results of the 1945 general election exceeded the hopes of the most fervent Labour supporter. Industrial relations problems e.g. While this gave them a temporary boost in the polls, it did nothing but hinder them in the long term. Instead of indroducing new reforms and methods to improve living conditions, Attlee decided to focus on fighting the election based on the partys previous successes, claiming that the Conservatives could not be trusted with the reforms they had introduced. Although there was some tangible degree of divisions within the party over the banality and unradical approach, with many backbenchers urging a return to the early zealousness for national change, it was not this issue which harmed the party most. Act. Mainly because the Brexit Party split off some of their voters. The 1945-1946 period of Labour government sought to address some key difficulties facing the nation following World War II. Both clearly agree that the pre-war period was significant, however they differ on why it was significant. WW2) needed loans to sustain economy, Keynes 1945 secures This was at a time when the economy could least handle it, and Labour was blamed by a weary public in 1951. Conservative opposition fell off quickly, however, when the popularity of the NHS became increasingly apparent following its inception in 1946. But Labour didn't lose in 1983 because it was too left wing; rather, Thatcher won because of the Falklands War. In the 1950 election, the Liberals put up 475 candidates and secured 2.6 million votes (9.1% of the entire vote). Certainly a major factor in the 1951 election was the redrawing of constituency boundaries, which dwarfs in significance the factors which should have mattered indeed electoral systems were crucial to both elections. 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The result of the election caused much surprise. administration (up to which Gaiskell set out For the first time, the government provided a catch-all benefits system which hypothecated a proportion of tax revenue thence to be paid against sickness, elderliness and unemployment to name but three key entitlements. Why then, did Labour go on to lose so many seats in 1950 before losing the General Election in 1951? The electorate clearly did not see it this way though, believing that the Labour party had lied to them, this feeling of betrayal saw many voters return to the reliable Conservatives in the 1951 election. Who was the worst prime 1.5 billion from Canada rather than 0% From the research Ive done, Ive attempted to form what I consider to be that clear answer. 1940 was the year when the foundations of political power shifted decisively leftwards for a decade By the autumn of 1942 a major upheaval in public opinion had taken place. In 1945 Labour had won 11.99m (47.8%) of the vote, and went on to attain 13.95m (48.8%) of the vote in 51. billion he had hoped for, Repayable at That was three million less than the number of summonses, warrants and benefit deduction orders issued for poll tax non-payment. The war had played a crucial role in Labours 1945 victory, by bringing them into the public eye - they were left effectively to their own devices to rule the homefront as Churchill struggled on with the war effort. Why did Harold Wilson win the 1964 Election. As Labour struggled to legislate effectively, and following another badly-handled balance of payments crisis in the summer of 1951, Attlee dissolved Parliament in September and Labour subsequently lost albeit narrowly the October election. The popularity of the 1942 Beveridge Report, which laid much of the groundwork for the establishment of the NHS and the Welfare State, was an endorsement of Labour politics. The outcome was widely credited to the deft materialism of Harold Macmillan, and the slogan `You've never had it so good', which the Conservatives, in fact, did not use. there had been limited industrial reform and It was not Churchill who lost the 1945 election, it was the ghost of Neville Chamberlain. Labour's manifesto was based around the Beveridge report and the Nationalisation of industries, ideas that had been tested during the war and were found to work. The 1918 constitution that eventually emerged was a curious mix, unmatched on the continent: theoretically socialist in its commitment to public ownership via the 'old' Clause IV, but in reality gradualist, 'labourist' and in huge debt to the more conservative trade union movement. The first-past-the-post system played a key role in both winning Labour the vote in 1945 and losing it in 1951. Gaitskell had imposed upon the health service prescription charges for glasses and false teeth, which to Bevan and other NHS idealists represented the betrayal of NHS founding principals. Cost of Living KOREAN WAR Austerity LINK TO COMPULSORY MILITARY SERVICE - cost of heating, clothing, education and food (and other necessities) was increasing; dissatisfaction amongst the people - defense spending increased whilst public spending decreased; led to NHS prescription charges Resource summary. While the more right-wing Gaitsgillites wanted more concentration on an aggressive foreign policy on issues like the cold war. After being elected in 1945, the Labour Government introduced changes to welfare, employment and housing that would last a generation. There are three main sub-categories for this answer; the Conservatives strengths, Labours weaknesses/ limitations, and uncontrollable factors. disadvantaged by 1st Past post members, Alongside this was the memory from However, in 1951 they could only manage 109 candidates, gaining just over 700,000 votes (2.6% of entire vote). So a better question is why did labour lose so many seats in '50. Furthermore, an apparently humiliating trade policy including subservience to US demands was particularly discrediting in the eyes of post-colonialists who identified this as betrayal rather than pragmatism. Labour's popularity was also dented by their foreign policy, in granting sovereignty to some of Britain's most successful colonies Labour were seen as dissembling an empire that had taken hundreds of years to attain. Labour Fundamentalists including Bevan wanted further reforms, specifically more nationalisation meanwhile Morrison called for party unity. Britains economic resources were being drained from all directions; Foreign Policy, Nationalisation, Welfare and Austerity. however not the 6 The campaign is all too often seen as the most important factor in Labour's landslide victory in 1945, however it is of less importance than the war or their policies, for example. Yet, despite this they won 26 more seats than Labour, this seems somewhat disproportionate and illogical and can once again be traced back to the first-past-the-post system. These acts included the reforms set out in the Beveridge plan, various other reforms and nationalisation. Labours answer focused on working class interests. Following Cripps resignation on grounds of ill health, Hugh Gaitskell took over as Chancellor during Attlees second government. This caused widespread discontent as even during the war, bread had not been rationed. Indeed, Robert Pearce claims it seems very unlikely indeed that the campaign was crucial, Paul Addison, however, argues that the campaign was important because . The Labour Party was created in 1900: a new party for a new century. 419 million in 1951, Increase in defence expenditure by 4.7 billion, Issues rose in party opposed to the split labour, His limited standing within the House of The Conservatives, on the other hand, met the report with lukewarm support, disliking Nationalisation and the Welfare State. Chamberlain's actions before the war had indeed lost the Conservatives much respect and had made them look weak to many people who saw Labour as the only reliable alternative. leadership remembered in a Divisions over appeasement, foreign policy and rearmament deeply weakened Labour. Indeed, after signing the Munich Agreement, Chamberlain was heralded as a hero: 'saving' the country from another bloody war. Majority of party Just over a year later, with the Labour government in deep crisis about a number of ill-conceived policies, yet another election was called. Postal voting also They suggested the election should take place the following year, in 1952, hoping the government would be able to make enough progress towards economic improvement to win the election. social reform and nationalisation. The newly recruited young members dramatically contrasted with the aging Labour cabinet and presented the Conservatives as a rising party fit to govern. For all of my fellow A2 AQA historians out there, I hope this helps! While Labour managed to retain much working class support largely because of the role class identification was playing in determining partisan support at this time the middle class had quickly become disaffected. '51 was an attempt that backfired to increase the labour majority - but in reality they only lost 22 seats in that election. Then, the second ministry saw a fractious Parliamentary party being further divided over the Korean War and the advancement of the National Health Service, leading up to a comfortable Tory win in the October 1951 election. The opposite happened in 1974 when the system meant the Conservatives lost out to Labour. spectacles and dentures. 2% interest Just by losing a core of middle class voters, Labour lost a great many marginal contests and most particularly in the well-to-do constituencies of southern and south-eastern England. The first-past-the-post system emphasised each election's result. higher percentage of votes Just over a year later, with the Labour government in deep internal crisis and running out of steam, yet another election was called. Labour's campaign, although not crucial to their success, was better organised, funded and planned than the Conservatives' and, as such, made Labour look strong - in contrast with the Conservatives. league at peak had 100,000 In the summer of 1950, the Korean War broke out. Economically the Labour government of 45-51 struggled, with the electorate all too aware of he post-war shortages, the continuing rationing, increased taxes, and the general dislike of austerity the feeling of being under the thumb of the Americans. future plans, Budget of 1951 heavily criticised by

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