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. Divisions over appeasement, foreign policy and rearmament deeply weakened Labour. After researching the topic thoroughly, I Would argue the main reason Labour lost in 51 was . Their wartime experience in government was critical in catalysing trust and support for the party and its MPs who had proven themselves. 1 He belonged to the first intake of students at the Ecole polytechnique in 1794 and went on to become an iron engineer. 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. ministers to show their political competence, Work of Butler in transforming the The Labour party had suffered after 10 years in government, and their MPs had begun falling ill, some even dying. Atlee used this as an opportunity to emphasise that although Churchill was a great wartime leader he was not such a good domestic politician. His frugality extended to his welfare policies, which involved the further tightening of benefit payments. 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. In addition, after the Korean War broke out in 1950, Britain decided to rearm. 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. 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. 20thcentury British politics had been dominated by the conservatives, and Labour had never formed a workable majority before 1945. It is at this point that the switch from socialist idealism to pragmatic consolidation might be identified as a cause of voter disaffection. The first years, between 1945 and 1946, saw fervour for rapid reform in many areas of government. It was not Churchill who lost the 1945 election, it was the ghost of Neville Chamberlain. Labours answer focused on working class interests. Labour lost the election to the party whose ideas it was preaching. social reform and nationalisation. 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. For all of my fellow A2 AQA historians out there, I hope this helps! One of the major issues Labour had to face was how to rebuild Britain following the end of the Second World War, it also had to face the decolonisation of the British Empire and the loss of key figures within the party due to age and illness by 1951. Pearce's reinterpretation argument makes the most sense because policies like appeasement were relatively popular at the time. and were in decline - government supporting But one of the reasons why Churchill lost the general election in 1945 was because he had succeeded in. In fact, Dennis Shanahan wrote in The Australian: Morrison didn't just beat Labor in this election. Once more, it was the objection of the middle class voters to austere conditions which brought about the Parliamentary swing. Answer (1 of 11): There are books and other commentaries, opinions (web searches will reveal them) that explore this in detail, but here is a personal take. The labour Government of 1945-51 passed, in total, 347 acts of parliament. Also during the 1930s Britain suffered the great depression, which weakened the Conservatives reputation considerably due to their domination of the National Government. response of Tory MP to This large Parliamentary shift, in the face of an unremarkable swing in the popular vote, can be attributed partly to Labours loss of the middle class vote. 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. 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. Iron and steel nationalisation Following Cripps resignation on grounds of ill health, Hugh Gaitskell took over as Chancellor during Attlees second government. Politicians are often rejected by voters because they have failed in office. 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. In this essay, I will look at the factors which led to the Labour . There was. In the years prior to 1959, many had expected Labour to win the next election. By 1947, more than one fifth of British industry had been drawn into public ownership. 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. e Bevanites and the Gaitsgillites. 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. Each party's history had a role in both 1951 and 45, the conservative led National Government of the 1930s were blamed for the depression, appeasement and delayed rearmament in 1945. 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 . In 1945 the Conservatives had suffered from being divided and disorganised, while Labour had been strong and united. A defeated conservative MP at the time, Macmillan, claimed that It was not Churchill who lost the 1945 election, it was the ghost of Neville Chamberlain. Why did Labour lose the 1951 General Election? Labour Party, British political party whose historic links with trade unions have led it to promote an active role for the state in the creation of economic prosperity and in the provision of social services. 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. The Labour government called a snap election for Thursday 25 October 1951 in the hope of increasing its parliamentary majority. my could least handle it, and Labour was blamed by a weary public in 1951. In 1945 the Conservatives had suffered from being divided and disorganised, while Labour had been strong and united. 3.7 billion loans US & She believed that Social changes should come Conservatives promised to reduce taxes but keep the NHS. Greenwood, a Labour Politician, commissioned Beveridge to produce a report outlining a socio-economic strategy of post-war reconstruction. In the summer of 1950, the Korean War broke out. Why did the Conservatives win/ Labour lose the 1951 UK general election? However Pearce concludes that. 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. Manne identifies that the use of the word 'Affair' is a clear indication of how . 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. In 1951, Labour was pilling on votes in seats they had already won, while the Conservatives won narrow victories. The Blitz also, more obviously, caused a huge rise in support for Labour's housing development plans. electricity-1948 Maybe not the most important factor, but definitely worth noting, is the fact that the UK employs a first-past-the-post electoral system. 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. Best Answer Copy Labour lost to various reasons, the main ones being: The Winter of Discontent, the miscalculations that James Callaghan made and the appeal of Thatcher to voters. By continuing well assume youre on board with our, Why did Labour lose the 1951 General Election, Let us write you a custom essay sample on, By clicking "SEND" below, you agree to our, Conflict management definitions and views. 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. However Pearce concludes that The pre-war period was significant because, during the war, it was reinterpreted. Economic problems e.g. The shock the election caused was comparable to the results of the 1906 and 1979 elections, and would have a profound impact on how the country was rebuilt in the post-war period. 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. CONSERVATISM, The industrial charter of 1947 & This Is Both of these policies were unpopular amongst the mass electorate, and rationing caused consternation most notably the middle class, to whom the need for wartime prudence was no longer apparent. Conservative pre-war blunders played a key role in Labour's victory due to the electorate remembering these mistakes. why did labour lose the 1951 election. 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. The financial strain of rearming subsequently led Gaitskell, who at this point was Chancellor of the Exchequer, threatening the idea of introducing prescription charges to the NHS (although it was not implemented until the Conservtives gained power in 1951 ). Although Labours promises had brought about hopes and expectations that were simply unachievable, whilst in government Labour had brought about serious change and a number of reforms. 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. failing industries. sects ( religion/ groups), Issue in Iran with Oil efiniry nationalised, wasn't handles, Election results 1951 This type of system naturally leads one to question the truth behind calling the Labour victory a landslide. Essay on why Labour failed to renew itself after it fulfilled its 1945 manifesto Granted, in 45 Labour obviously won a landslide of the seats, but a majority of 8% is far from a landslide of the votes. The party's manifesto was named. 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. spectacles and dentures. To gain an understanding of the election one must study the context surrounding the election. After the shock of the 1945 election, Labour appointed Lord Woolton as their party chairman: he was central to the revitalisation of the Conservatives and reorganised the conservative party effectively. 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. Between 1948 and the election year 1950, Labour was committed to a period of tighter spending and more austere demands placed upon citizens. Conservatives 1 to 10, Election of 1950 Industrial relations problems e.g. Similarly, Labour simply made too many promises that were out of their reach, however they did fulfil most of their promises. Their election campaign was heavily based off the idea that, if voted into power, there would be a period of consolidation after the previous years of innovation. Increase in liberal votes in 1964 meant that conservative vote decreased, therefore labour required less votes to win. 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. 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. In 2011, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey began a billion-dollar project to replace the vertical ropes connecting the cables to the deck, but the deck itself remained in place.. St. John's Bridge (Oregon)opened in 1931.A redecking project was completed in 2005. The question as to why Labour won the 1945 election has been the source of much in depth study since the period. 'Iron Curtain' and the As the Labour Party emerged to replace the Liberal Party in the 1920s, G.D.H. Hardly surprisingly. That was three million less than the number of summonses, warrants and benefit deduction orders issued for poll tax non-payment. 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. 1951. shortages, Korean War World economic 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. Liberals 6, Note how Labour actually achieved a downfall 1950, Balance of Payments record: Indeed, after signing the Munich Agreement, Chamberlain was heralded as a hero: 'saving' the country from another bloody war.
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