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. This was espoused in George Dangerfield's amorphous study The Strange Death of Liberal England (1934) and by Henry Pelling's more factually based The Origins of the . This split caused to distinct groups to form within Labour; th. While the more right-wing Gaitsgillites wanted more concentration on an aggressive foreign policy on issues like the cold war. of cold war era), Violence broke out in India and Paliastine during decolonisation, Sectarian violence - Violence Both clearly agree that the pre-war period was significant, however they differ on why it was significant. So a better question is why did labour lose so many seats in '50. Labour 315 This aim was ill-fated and in the eyes of many economists , obviously exceeded the country's economic capacity, . Morrison, was moved to minister of employment, Proposed introduction of Indeed, after signing the Munich Agreement, Chamberlain was heralded as a hero: 'saving' the country from another bloody war. 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. Atlee used this as an opportunity to emphasise that although Churchill was a great wartime leader he was not such a good domestic politician. How Did The Petrov Affair Affect Australia. Within the Cabinet, Gaitskells decision to expand the defence budget at the expense of domestic spending enraged health minister Nye Bevan in particular, who resigned as a response to the Korean deployment. The need for a better post war Britain was felt amongst all classes and Labour's support of the Beveridge Report brought widespread support. While it cannot be disputed that Labour kept their campaign simple, it would be ill-advised to declare that it helped enormously. members, Alongside this was the memory from how the radical Labour Gaitskell 1950, Bevan failed to accept compromised proposed by The Labour party had suffered after 10 years in government, and their MPs had begun falling ill, some even dying. This split was a key moment in the demise of Attlees government. 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 Industrial relations problems e.g. and been in government Politicians are often rejected by voters because they have failed in office. It was not Churchill who lost the 1945 election, it was the ghost of Neville Chamberlain. and failed to outline their Labour had made so many promises before the 1945 election that peoples hopes were set too high, many felt that Labour failed to deliver. The Conservatives were back in power once more, but they did little to. Ultimately, the Conservatives profited from the decreased presence of Liberal candidates as they were able to win their votes through appealing to middle class needs, more so than Labour, who was affliated with the continuation of rationing, high taxes, wage freezes and unfulfilled promises for housing. 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Labour had 13, 948, 605 votes Conservatives had 13, 717, 538 votes Liberals had 730, 556 votes Why did the Conservatives win if Labour had more votes? which led to more sophisticated 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. We have detected that Javascript is not enabled in your browser. 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. Although it was hoped that Daltons resignation might offset some of the decline in public confidence in Labours economic policy, the government were never again endorsed by mass popularity as in the previous two years. Nevertheless, the war was clearly more important in raising Atlee's reputation among Britons because Attlee was effectively completely in charge of the homefront for the duration of the war. legislation, Commitment to full employment and a mixed economy, Said to focus upon its previous His reaction in a crisis is to threaten force. Labour has suffered one of its worst general election results in living memory with dozens of seats that the party had held on to for decades falling to the Conservatives. The Labour Party, led by Attlee won a landslide victory and gained a majority of 145 seats. Britains economic resources were being drained from all directions; Foreign Policy, Nationalisation, Welfare and Austerity. Paul Addison argues that 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. People had lost trust in the conservatives and blamed them for Britains military short-comings, and this was important for Labours rise in support. time of economic downfall- seen to be short lived as by 1952 the This people's war was very beneficial to Labour in warming people to socialist ideologies, and their belief on the war being, not just a fight against the fascist Germany, but a struggle for a prosperous post-war Britain. The pre-war period was significant because, during the war, it was reinterpreted. which Gaiskell set out Between 1948 and the election year 1950, Labour was committed to a period of tighter spending and more austere demands placed upon citizens. commons meant that there was an 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. Labour 295 (48.8%) 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. Manne identifies that the use of the word 'Affair' is a clear indication of how . The 1983 general election marked a low point for the Labour Party. Pearce's reinterpretation argument makes the most sense because policies like appeasement were relatively popular at the time. Why did Labour win the 1945 election and lose in the 1951 election? Pre-war Conservatives were labelled Guilty Men by Labour, this was very influential in winning over public opinion for Labour who presented themselves as the only party able to prevent another war. 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. Attlee's reputation rose during the 1945 electoral campaign. To the most left-wing Labour MPs and enthusiasts, this was a betrayal of socialist solidarity; on the other hand, to many more involved with the party this represented subservience to US demands. spectacles and dentures. Gaitskell adopted a similarly pragmatic approach to Britains budgetary problems and kept typically socialist long-term economic planning to a minimum. This rule was ended in 1964 by Harold Wilson's reunited Labour party. The labour Government of 1945-51 passed, in total, 347 acts of parliament. disadvantaged by 1st Past post While the more right-wing Gaitsgillites wanted more concentration on an aggressive foreign policy on issues like the cold war. The government's 1945 lead over the Conservative Party shrank dramatically, and Labour was returned to power but with an overall majority reduced from 146 to just 5. Most of us who are interested in gaming history today are well aware of the set of technical and aesthetic approaches these terms imply: namely, games built from snippets of captured digitized footage of . 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. The election was held on Thursday 23 February 1950, and was the first held following the abolition of plural voting and university constituencies. British housewives An Overlooked Reason Why Labour Lost In 1983 Ask almost anyone about the June 1983 general election and you will get standard replies as to why the Conservatives won a landslide and Labour did so badly: The Falklands war Michael Foot's leadership of Labour The Bennite left The Gang of Four splitting away Although it was hoped that Daltons resignation might offset some of the decline in public confidence in Labours economic policy, the government were never again endorsed by mass popularity as in the previous two years. This divided party had stood no chance against the organised, well-funded Conservatives. The first-past-the-post system ensures that the elected government has a workable majority. We provide reliable homework help online and custom college essay service. Churchill however made a gross error in saying that Labour would need a Gestapo like organisation to enforce socialism upon Britain. In Place of Strife, prices and incomes policy etc. Working class voters, on the other hand, remained loyal to the Labour Party and the 1951 election saw Labour poll the highest aggregate popular vote ever achieved in Britain. Atlee used this as an opportunity to emphasise that although Churchill was a great wartime leader he was not such a good domestic politician. Following the 1966 General Election, the Labour Party's Home Policy Committee observed that the party had, "for the first time, obtained a majority of the female vote" and remarked, "it would be very satisfactory if we could retain it." reduces to just 7 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. 25 October 1951 The ageing Conservative leader Winston Churchill won the 1951 election with a comfortable majority. Why then, did Labour go on to lose so many seats in 1950 before losing the General Election in 1951? In this essay, I will look at the factors which led to the Labour . 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 new Chancellor Sir Stafford Cripps expected of the country an austere realism which entailed the retention of rationing. years, Once lend lease had ended in 1945 (end of Following their post-war election defeat, the Conservatives were able to make significant improvements to the party between 1945 and 1951. In 1951 Labour attained 48.8% of the vote, and the Conservatives only got 48% of the vote. called for between people of different In the 1950 election, the Liberals put up 475 candidates and secured 2.6 million votes (9.1% of the entire vote). 9% swing against Labour. However, Attlee wanted to resolve the political uncertainty in Britain befre the Kings scheduled six-month tour of the Commonwealth, and so the election was scheduled for 1951, putting them in a disadvantaged position. The 1951 election ended the post-war Labour governments, put Labour into opposition for 13 years and marked the start of a decade of bitter internecine warfare in the party. People had lost trust in the conservatives and blamed them for Britains military short-comings, and this was important for Labours rise in support. 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. administration (up to Why did the Conservatives win elections from 1951-64 1945-1951 The 1951 General Election 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. Secondly, the split right at the very top of the party meant that organisational preparations for upcoming elections were hampered, and the electoral machine was disarmed. Mainly because the Brexit Party split off some of their voters. 'I think we've got 20 years of power ahead of us,' mused the newly-elected Labour MP for Smethwick. 1950 Surplus 297 million fell to 20. century British politics had been dominated by the conservatives, and Labour had never formed a workable majority before 1945. Finally, splits over the Korean War both over the political justifications for British deployment, and over the cuts in public spending domestically brought about splits in the party which made it poorly placed to fight the 1951 election. Conservative (48.0%) Britains involvement in the Korean War also enabled the Conservatives to play on Churchills war hero status. so much about economics, Just over a year later, with the Labour government in deep internal crisis and running out of steam, yet another election was called. Please read our, {"ad_unit_id":"App_Resource_Sidebar_Upper","resource":{"id":2798048,"author_id":348222,"title":"Why did Labour lose the 1951 election? Cole suggested that its success was the inevitable consequence of the emergence of class politics. This committed the UK government to keeping the value of sterling at a stable rate against the US dollar, and this meant that the governments hands were tied as they sought to address Britains balance of payments deficit by means of international trade. Firstly, the party enacted most of its initial 1945 manifesto pledges in establishing the NHS, founding the Welfare State, and building one million new homes. How many seats did the Conservatives win in 1951, What policies were Labour associated with, What was one area the Labour party were divided on, How did Lord Woolton help the Tories reform, How many houses did the Tories promise to build each year, What did they promise to show rationing had ended, What was the name of the 1948 law which changed constituency boundaries, What party saw their vote fall from 2.6 million to 730,556, Christina Dejong, Christopher E. Smith, George F Cole, Government in America: Elections and Updates Edition, George C. Edwards III, Martin P. Wattenberg, Robert L. Lineberry. 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. In the election, Labour suffered considerable losses, but was able to retain a slim majority. However, in 1950, Labour won by a tiny majority of 5 seats and in 1951 the Conservatives won by a majority of 17. His frugality extended to his welfare policies, which involved the further tightening of benefit payments. The 1959 General Election gave the Conservatives their third successive victory, the first time that a party had won three successive general elections since Napoleonic times. Labour was re-elected in 1950 but lost 80 seats in the process. failing industries. 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. These problems, however, would have been inherent to any government of Britain at the time, but the fact was, Labour were held accountable. 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. Although progress was initially slow on this front, one million houses were eventually built and the housing problem was eased for a while. The weeks leading up to the Feb. 28 election were pretty messy but what's so jarring is how different the 2019 campaign played out an open race after two-term Democratic Mayor Rahm Emanuel . The 1942 Beveridge Report was the most important report that contributed to Labour's success in 1945. These party reforms and the reorganisation proved worthwhile, as can be seen in the 8% boost in votes. '51 was an attempt that backfired to increase the labour majority - but in reality they only lost 22 seats in that election. Once more, it was the objection of the middle class voters to austere conditions which brought about the Parliamentary swing. excessive class orientated To the most left-wing Labour MPs and enthusiasts, this was a betrayal of socialist solidarity; on the other hand, to many more involved with the party this represented subservience to US demands. The party had achieved many of the reforms put forward in their 1945 manifesto, most noteably the implementation of the welfare state, and now lacked new policy ideas. The 1964 election was not a landslide victory like that of 1945. Also during the 1930s Britain suffered the great depression, which weakened the Conservatives reputation considerably due to their domination of the National Government. The Labour party had suffered after 10 years in government, and their MPs had begun falling ill, some even dying. Gaitskell and Morrison (Deputy Prime Minister) both doubted whether Labour would be able to defeat the Conservatives in 1951, owing to their loss of seats in the 1950 election. Why Did Labour Lose Power in 1951 | PDF | Labour Party (Uk) | National Health Service Why did Labour lose power in 1951 - Free download as Word Doc (.doc / .docx), PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read online for free. Labour paper the Tribune, Paul Adleman points out 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. nationalisation of a 'ragbag I feel as though Ive spent days aimlessly searching the internet for a clear answer to this question. Just over a year later, with the Labour government in deep crisis about a number of ill-conceived policies, yet another election was called. was welcomed by the electorate. 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. Divisions over appeasement, foreign policy and rearmament deeply weakened Labour. While it cannot be disputed that Labour kept their campaign simple, it would be ill-advised to declare that it helped enormously. Since 2015, the problem of electoral 'bias' means Westminster's voting system has advantaged the Conservatives. 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. After being elected in 1945, the Labour Government introduced changes to welfare, employment and housing that would last a generation. A defeated conservative MP at the time, Macmillan, claimed that . Although interesting they had little to do with shifting the electorate's opinions, indeed in 1945 both parties' campaigns were largely improvised. Senior Labour MP Margaret Hodge described Baroness Boothroyd as "inspirational" and "a trailblazer for women". The 1945-1946 period of Labour government sought to address some key difficulties facing the nation following World War II. Dunkirk triggered many people to blame the conservatives and their previous leaders for appeasement. It is at this point that the switch from socialist idealism to pragmatic consolidation might be identified as a cause of voter disaffection. As the night drew . Conservatives 290, 1950-51 Labour were in office 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. Lord Woolton was also key in the reformation of the party; holding membership dirves, propaganda campaigns and obtaining donations from bug businesses who were threatened by Labours nationalisation. The very honesty and simplicity of the campaign helped enormously. 1950-1951 labelled as an UNHAPPY PARLIAMENT Labour majority reduces to just 7 seats 1950 By changing the timing of the election to be in 1951 rather than spring of 52' due to the Kings tour of Australia it hit the party at a time of economic downfall- seen to be short lived as by 1952 the 419 million defecit was yet again in the surplus Ministers Following Cripps resignation on grounds of ill health, Hugh Gaitskell took over as Chancellor during Attlees second government. The poor timing of the 1951 election can also be claimed to have weakened Labours position. The Labour government called a snap election for Thursday 25 October 1951 in the hope of increasing its parliamentary majority.