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. Two cabinet ministers resigned in protest &ndash . Homefront experiences had also caused a rise in support for Labour: evacuees educated many people to the realities of poverty in Britain's cities and the Blitz brought people together in communal bomb shelters and broke down social barriers. Hi there, would you like to get such a paper? However by 1945 Labour was a strong, organised and well respected party, whilst the Conservatives were weakened by the war and internal splits. 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. spring of 52' due to the Kings tour of Australia it hit the party at a Between 1948 and the election year 1950, Labour was committed to a period of tighter spending and more austere demands placed upon citizens. 'consolidation', Division also came as Bevan was resentful in Labour Paul Addison, however, argues that the campaign was important because Attlee's reputation rose during the 1945 electoral campaign. accepting the ideas of NHS and 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. Just over a year later, with the Labour government in deep internal crisis and running out of steam, yet another election was called. Explanation: The war had undoubtedly played a major role in the elections, being seen as a people's war it broke down social boundaries and caused a shift to the left. Conservative pre-war blunders played a key role in Labour's victory due to the electorate remembering these mistakes. It had several effects, all of which were harmful in both the long and short term. 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. Labour's election record in the 1930s was poor, as they were disorganised and divided. propaganda, The view that another Labour ","created_at":"2015-05-24T10:39:56Z","updated_at":"2016-02-19T08:09:05Z","sample":false,"description":"","alerts_enabled":true,"cached_tag_list":"britain, history, 1951, labour, defeat, alevel, attlee, churchill, election, victory","deleted_at":null,"hidden":false,"average_rating":null,"demote":false,"private":false,"copyable":true,"score":35,"artificial_base_score":0,"recalculate_score":false,"profane":false,"hide_summary":false,"tag_list":["britain","history","1951","labour","defeat","alevel","attlee","churchill","election","victory"],"admin_tag_list":[],"study_aid_type":"MindMap","show_path":"/mind_maps/2798048","folder_id":675903,"public_author":{"id":348222,"profile":{"name":"alinam","about":null,"avatar_service":"gravatar","locale":"en-GB","google_author_link":null,"user_type_id":141,"escaped_name":"alinam","full_name":"alinam","badge_classes":""}}},"width":300,"height":250,"rtype":"MindMap","rmode":"canonical","sizes":"[[[0, 0], [[300, 250]]]]","custom":[{"key":"env","value":"production"},{"key":"rtype","value":"MindMap"},{"key":"rmode","value":"canonical"},{"key":"sequence","value":1},{"key":"uauth","value":"f"},{"key":"uadmin","value":"f"},{"key":"ulang","value":"en_us"},{"key":"ucurrency","value":"usd"}]}. Please read our, {"ad_unit_id":"App_Resource_Sidebar_Upper","resource":{"id":2798048,"author_id":348222,"title":"Why did Labour lose the 1951 election? highly controversial and cost The disadvantages and advantages of pesticides. sects ( religion/ groups), Issue in Iran with Oil efiniry nationalised, wasn't handles, Election results 1951 By 1947, more than one fifth of British industry had been drawn into public ownership. 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. Outcome. Beveridge aimed to create a minimum standard of living and full employment and believed the five evils blocking these aims and reconstruction were: Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. 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. Labour Fundamentalists including Bevan wanted further reforms, specifically more nationalisation meanwhile Morrison called for party unity. The need for a better post war Britain was felt amongst all classes and Labour's support of the Beveridge Report brought widespread support. 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 . Atlee used this as an opportunity to emphasise that although Churchill was a great wartime leader he was not such a good domestic politician. Technicalities. priorities, Coal mining-1947 In the summer of 1950, the Korean War broke out. In contrast to the break-up of the MacDonald Labour government in 1931, there was no 'bankers' ramp' or dramatic and overwhelming financial crisis. The party's manifesto was named Mr Churchill's Declaration of Policy to the Electorate, in the hope of taking advantage of Churchill's huge popularity. 1946/47 winter which had dire food/ fuel opportunity for the other Conservative 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. There are three main sub-categories for this answer; the Conservatives strengths, Labours weaknesses/ limitations, and uncontrollable factors. He set in motion key reforms to wipe out the image of the Conservative party being upper class elitists who do not understand the people that had been so prevalent in the last election. Labour had made so many promises before the 1945 election that peoples hopes were set too high, many felt that Labour failed to deliver. which led to more sophisticated Cole suggested that its success was the inevitable consequence of the emergence of class politics. future plans, Budget of 1951 heavily criticised by and were in decline - government supporting These problems, however, would have been inherent to any government of Britain at the time, but the fact was, Labour were held accountable. so much about economics, They also caused higher taxes, and the unstable economy caused many voters to demonise labour in 1951. In the 1950 election, the Liberals put up 475 candidates and secured 2.6 million votes (9.1% of the entire vote). - NEW Jeremy Corbyn. British housewives 20thcentury British politics had been dominated by the conservatives, and Labour had never formed a workable majority before 1945. They had beaten the Conservatives by a clear 8% however in 51 they only had a 0.8% lead on the votes, as to why they didn't win after getting more votes one has to examine the first past the post system. After 2003 Labour experienced a severe decline in its public standing, not least because of public unease with Blair's role in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Churchill however made a gross error in saying that Labour would need a Gestapo like organisation to enforce socialism upon Britain. Why did Labour win the 1945 election and lose in the 1951 election? Since 2015, the problem of electoral 'bias' means Westminster's voting system has advantaged the Conservatives. 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. In his budget, the Chancellor, Hugh Gaitskell, sought to balance his budget by imposing charges on false teeth and spectacles. Their living standards had not radically altered since 1945, and the significance of many of these voters is that they voted in marginal constituencies. 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. social reforms were needed. The Conservatives were back in power once more, but they did little to. 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. billion he had hoped for, Repayable at Britains economic resources were being drained from all directions; Foreign Policy, Nationalisation, Welfare and Austerity. why did Labour lose the 1951 election? socialist the party 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. On a high turnout Labour's tally of votes had actually increased in absolute terms (to 13.9 million, compared to 13.2 million in the 1950 cent) than the Conservatives, though the Conservatives came out ahead in seats, This is especially so when one considers the crises they faced in that year, making the 1945 blue-skies, New Jerusalem thinking incredibly difficult to sustain. 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. This was an admittedly small majority, but reflected a changing public mood. As the night drew . We have detected that Javascript is not enabled in your browser. Labour's election record in the 1930s was poor, as they were disorganised and divided. Pearce's reinterpretation argument makes the most sense because policies like appeasement were relatively popular at the time. Although it did help to achieve this end, Churchills party was able to lament publicly the humiliation the government had brought upon the British currency, and at the same time place blame on the government for the continuing food scarcities and long queues. It is at this point that the switch from socialist idealism to pragmatic consolidation might be identified as a cause of voter disaffection. To achieve these aims he argued that there needed to be better cooperation between the state and the individual. Conservatives 1 to 10, Election of 1950 The Bevanites, being more left-wing, wanted to focus Britains resources on further nationalisation of industry. In this essay, I will look at the factors which led to the Labour . 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This divided party had stood no chance against the organised, well-funded Conservatives. 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. Prior to the war of April-June 1982, the Conservative Party was slumped at a consistent 27 per cent throughout late 1981, with a slight recovery in early 1982. Britain to become a world exporting power, Bevin's speech 1948 where he referred to legislation, Commitment to full employment and a mixed economy, Said to focus upon its previous The first-past-the-post system played a key role in both winning Labour the vote in 1945 and losing it in 1951. Although this was not much in terms of the popular vote, Labour lost 78 seats and the Conservatives gained 101; Labour were left with a majority of just five seats. In addition, Morrison became Home Secretary and Bevin Minister of Labour and National Service. In opposition to the Conservative Party, it has been the major democratic socialist party in Britain since the early 20th century. In the election, Labour suffered considerable losses, but was able to retain a slim majority. Once more, it was the objection of the middle class voters to austere conditions which brought about the Parliamentary swing. was really in their early Labour Fundamentalists including Bevan wanted further reforms, specifically more nationalisation meanwhile Morrison called for party unity. why did labour lose the 1951 election. In 1945 the Conservatives had suffered from being divided and disorganised, while Labour had been strong and united. It was not Churchill who lost the 1945 election, it was the ghost of Neville Chamberlain. 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. ministers to show their political competence, Work of Butler in transforming the You need to log in to complete this action! 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. 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. 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. hoped for, Marshall Aid 1948 Their time in opposition led to the rebuilding and remodelling their policies to allign with post-war consensus (mixed economy, welfare state etc). Maybe not the most important factor, but definitely worth noting, is the fact that the UK employs a first-past-the-post electoral system. Morisson, the Deputy Prime Minister, believed that. spectacles and dentures. Then, as the Cripps years failed to bring an end to food scarcities and food queues, Labours perceived impact upon the national way of life was minimal to voters in the most crucial swinging constituencies. Why did the Conservatives win/ Labour lose the 1951 UK general election? In fact, Dennis Shanahan wrote in The Australian: Morrison didn't just beat Labor in this election. From the research Ive done, Ive attempted to form what I consider to be that clear answer. seats 1950, By changing the timing of the election to be in 1951 rather than 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. This split was a key moment in the demise of Attlees government. assortment of industries', Following clause IV The thought of being involved in another war, let alone one happening thousands of miles away with no real impact on Britain, was not very palatable to the British public, who were still dealing with the . The very honesty and simplicity of the campaign helped enormously. Although it did help to achieve this end, Churchills party was able to lament publicly the humiliation the government had brought upon the British currency, and at the same time place blame on the government for the continuing food scarcities and long queues. Furthermore, the Conservatives were able to exploit Labours failures to improve living standards. Americas way of In 1945 the Conservatives had suffered from being divided and disorganised, while Labour had been strong and united. Essay on why Labour failed to renew itself after it fulfilled its 1945 manifesto What seems stingingly ironic is that in 1951 the Labour party actually received the largest percentage of the vote than any other party had in Britain's history and still lost the election. The changes appear to have been hugely beneficial to the majority of the population. my could least handle it, and Labour was blamed by a weary public in 1951. Named Let Us Face the Future, it emphasised that Labour were the only party that could be trusted to deliver a strong Britain and Beveridge's plans. administration (up to Why Was There a Consensus British Prime Ministers 1951-1964 'Oppositions don't win elections, governments lose them'. Why did Labour lose its seats in 1951? How about receiving a customized one? Activision's Spycraft: The Great Game is the product of a very specific era of computer gaming, when "multimedia" and "interactive movies" were among the buzzwords of the zeitgeist. Atlee became the deputy Prime Minister during the war. Whilst in 1951 the Labour government was punished for its unrealistic promises made in 1945. 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. Statisticians calculated that should it be repeated, Labour would secure a majority of 85 seats at the next election. Also in both cases the campaigns were of negligible importance. These party reforms and the reorganisation proved worthwhile, as can be seen in the 8% boost in votes. why did labour lose the 1951 election. So, at the 1950 election there was a 2. On Friday morning the. Churchill however made a gross error in saying that Labour would need a Gestapo like organisation to enforce socialism upon Britain. His frugality extended to his welfare policies, which involved the further tightening of benefit payments. 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. Looking at the Labour government in these four sections of reform, of crisis, of consolidation and of division helps us to see where the party lost its huge majority. However, in 1950, Labour won by a tiny majority of 5 seats and in 1951 the Conservatives won by a majority of 17. 1950 Surplus 297 million fell to This is considered an important factor in Labour's victory by many historians Support for Labour in 1945 represented above all a reaction against pre-war Conservatism argues Adelman. 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. 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. 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. 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. disadvantaged by 1st Past post disadvantage the Labour party however he did not postposne them 'Labour Lost the 1979 Uk General Election Due to the Strength of the Conservative Opposition'. This is especially so when one considers the crises they faced in that year, making the 1945 blue-skies, New Jerusalem thinking incredibly difficult to sustain. Labour had problems with trade unions- more strikes in the country. Conservative opposition fell off quickly, however, when the popularity of the NHS became increasingly apparent following its inception in 1946. Outlined in the report were: all working age people would pay a National Insurance tax, and Benefits would be paid to the sick, unemployed, retired or widowed. The Conservatives voted against the creation of a centralised health service in 1946, preferring rather the idea of state provision of healthcare administered at local level. Labour 295 (48.8%) The 1942 Beveridge Report was the most important report that contributed to Labour's success in 1945. 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. George Washington Bridgeopened in 1931.Two lanes were added in 1946, and a lower deck added in 1962. Failure of liberal party leads to more marginal victories for C's. Labours taxation policies unpopular with middle classes led them to lose the 1959 election. For all of my fellow A2 AQA historians out there, I hope this helps! Both clearly agree that the pre-war period was significant, however they differ on why it was significant. Firstly, the Parliamentary party was split in its loyalties to the party leadership, and cohesion within the legislature was less assured. On average in these 'red wall' constituencies, Labour lost about 2% to the Tories and about 7% to the Brexit Party. The Blitz also, more obviously, caused a huge rise in support for Labour's housing development plans. Labour's achievements, or rather what they did not achieve, can be linked as to why they lost: they had arguably successfully set up a welfare state but had also induced an economic crisis. The first years, between 1945 and 1946, saw fervour for rapid reform in many areas of government. The Conservative victory in 1951 is typically attributed either to the failures of Attlee's government - devaluation, the Bevanite revolt - or to the achievements of Churchill's opposition, including Lord Woolton's reforms and the acceptance of the "post-war consensus". Although interesting they had little to do with shifting the electorate's opinions, indeed in 1945 both parties' campaigns were largely improvised. 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." The Conservative Party made some political headway by attacking the governments credentials with regard to the 1948 devaluation of the pound, which was designed to bring about the much needed rise in exports. drugs. While it cannot be disputed that Labour kept their campaign simple, it would be ill-advised to declare that it helped enormously. People had lost trust in the conservatives and blamed them for Britains military short-comings, and this was important for Labours rise in support. As Prime Minister, he enlarged and improved social services and the public sector in post-war Britain, creating the National Health Service and nationalising major industries and public utilities. The Labour Party, led by Attlee won a landslide victory and gained a majority of 145 seats. 20. century British politics had been dominated by the conservatives, and Labour had never formed a workable majority before 1945. 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 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. Labour to the Conservatives - was enough to tip Labour out of office in the general election held in October 1951. 2% interest Instead, this 1947 balance of payments crisis compounded by the fuel shortage and the convertibility clause forced Labour to rein in spending. however without power or This was at a time when the econo. 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. Similarly, Labour simply made too many promises that were out of their reach, however they did fulfil most of their promises. Labour gave independence to India, Pakistan, Ceylon and Burma, and pulled out of Palestine. 1950 are not the Conservatives of 1935, No one shoots Santa Clause - This split caused to distinct groups to form within Labour; th. This was the fourth of five elections in the twentieth century where a party lost the popular vote, but won the most seats. Conservative opposition fell off quickly, however, when the popularity of the NHS became increasingly apparent following its inception in 1946. His subsequent retirement from the party therefore revealed that Labour was divided in its views and ultimately undermined its unity, providing a poor image to potential voters. Learn more. authority, 1950-1951 labelled as an After the First World War, the Lloyd George Coalition had made many empty promises concerning reconstruction. Mr Churchill's Declaration of Policy to the Electorate. The election was held on Thursday 23 February 1950, and was the first held following the abolition of plural voting and university constituencies. The new Chancellor Sir Stafford Cripps expected of the country an austere realism which entailed the retention of rationing. This caused widespread discontent as even during the war, bread had not been rationed. This massive reform of the 1945-1946 period was dealt a blow in February 1947, when the government faced a fuel crisis. Hardly surprisingly. The term was coined from a particular type of horse racing wherein the winning horse passes the final post and all the others are disqualified. Evidently, the Conservatives were punished in 1945, when they were lucky to not have been in 1935 and, arguably, if elections had taken place in 1940, Labour may have won. The first-past-the-post system emphasised each election's result. Why did Harold Wilson win the 1964 Election. 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. The new Chancellor Sir Stafford Cripps expected of the country an austere realism which entailed the retention of rationing. Sarah from CollectifbdpHi there, would you like to get such a paper? regards to labours 'I think we've got 20 years of power ahead of us,' mused the newly-elected Labour MP for Smethwick. As a response to the housing problem, Dalton committed to building one million new homes, 80% of which were council houses to be rented cheaply to those who most needed them. 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 was welcomed by the electorate. 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. For me, the Attlee government(s) of 1945 - 51, achieved a huge amount, much of which we can still see and experience today, and which we sh. fundamentals he based his politics. The newly recruited young members dramatically contrasted with the aging Labour cabinet and presented the Conservatives as a rising party fit to govern. social reform and nationalisation. So, at the 1950 election there was a 2.9% swing against Labour. Looking at the Labour government in these four sections of reform, of crisis, of consolidation and of division helps us to see where the party lost its huge majority. There are several causes which can be established, first by looking at the events of the Attlee years and then isolating those points at which factors were working toward the party's defeat.The 1945-1946 period of Labour government sought to address some key difficulties facing the nation following World War II.