CONSERVATISM, The industrial charter of 1947 & This Is WW2) needed loans to sustain economy, Keynes 1945 secures 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. legislation, Commitment to full employment and a mixed economy, Said to focus upon its previous Labour argued that they had earned their independence by fighting in WW2, and that it was not economically viable to sustain them. He lost again, but was given one more opportunity in 1951 . This aim was ill-fated and in the eyes of many economists , obviously exceeded the country's economic capacity, . 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. ministers to show their political competence, Work of Butler in transforming the Aged - many were in 60s The new Chancellor Sir Stafford Cripps expected of the country an austere realism which entailed the retention of rationing. 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. 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. Mainly because the Brexit Party split off some of their voters. 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. 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. however we spent the time on social reform. The Labour government called a snap election for Thursday 25 October 1951 in the hope of increasing its parliamentary majority. The newly recruited young members dramatically contrasted with the aging Labour cabinet and presented the Conservatives as a rising party fit to govern. 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. 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, The first years, between 1945 and 1946, saw fervour for rapid reform in many areas of government. 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. Cole suggested that its success was the inevitable consequence of the emergence of class politics. Conservative pre-war blunders played a key role in Labour's victory due to the electorate remembering these mistakes. The 1964 election was not a landslide victory like that of 1945. 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. Manne identifies that the use of the word 'Affair' is a clear indication of how . 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. failing industries. 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. 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. Sarah from CollectifbdpHi there, would you like to get such a paper? Morisson, the Deputy Prime Minister, believed that The very honesty and simplicity of the campaign helped enormously. Labour Fundamentalists including Bevan wanted further reforms, specifically more nationalisation meanwhile Morrison called for party unity. 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. Public transport -1948 The Blitz also, more obviously, caused a huge rise in support for Labour's housing development plans. After his 1945 defeat, Churchill remained party leader and led the Conservatives into the following general election in February 1950. But one of the reasons why Churchill lost the general election in 1945 was because he had succeeded in. The result of the election caused much surprise. The 1945-1946 period of Labour government sought to address some key difficulties facing the nation following World War II. Why did Labour lose the 1951 General Election? The poor timing of the 1951 election can also be claimed to have weakened Labours position. Learn more. Outcome. Act. That was three million less than the number of summonses, warrants and benefit deduction orders issued for poll tax non-payment. 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. However, in 1950, Labour won by a tiny majority of 5 seats and in 1951 the Conservatives won by a majority of 17. 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. 1947), Corelli Barnett's Audit of War criticised how um is there something wrong in these notes? time of economic downfall- seen to be short lived as by 1952 the In addition, Morrison became Home Secretary and Bevin Minister of Labour and National Service. In 1951 Labour attained 48.8% of the vote, and the Conservatives only got 48% of the vote. 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. 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. propaganda, The view that another Labour Following their post-war election defeat, the Conservatives were able to make significant improvements to the party between 1945 and 1951. The Road Manifesto 1950 accepted Conservative opposition fell off quickly, however, when the popularity of the NHS became increasingly apparent following its inception in 1946. 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. Between 1948 and the election year 1950, Labour was committed to a period of tighter spending and more austere demands placed upon citizens. From the research Ive done, Ive attempted to form what I consider to be that clear answer. 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. between people of different 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. The Labour Party was created in 1900: a new party for a new century. 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. 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 nationalisation of a 'ragbag 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. Although progress was initially slow on this front, one million houses were eventually built and the housing problem was eased for a while. Conservative (48.0%) While it cannot be disputed that Labour kept their campaign simple, it would be ill-advised to declare that it helped enormously. Instead, this 1947 balance of payments crisis compounded by the fuel shortage and the convertibility clause forced Labour to rein in spending. 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. however without power or Please wait while we set up your subscription TurnItIn the anti-plagiarism experts are also used by: King's College London, Newcastle University, University of Bristol, University of Cambridge, WJEC, AQA, OCR and Edexcel, Business, Companies and Organisation, Activity, Height and Weight of Pupils and other Mayfield High School investigations, Lawrence Ferlinghetti: Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes, Moniza Alvi: Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan, Changing Materials - The Earth and its Atmosphere, Fine Art, Design Studies, Art History, Crafts, European Languages, Literature and related subjects, Linguistics, Classics and related subjects, Structures, Objectives & External Influences, Global Interdependence & Economic Transition, Acquiring, Developing & Performance Skill, Sociological Differentiation & Stratification, Less than half the price of our monthly plan. a8a56820-44a0-4a9a-8187-fafb017abb00 (image/jpg), 8f36ad5d-3853-456a-9ff6-bdaabf691996 (image/jpg), c55c2574-fee6-48c9-ba8e-44fc34928bdf (image/jpg), e49a14d7-993b-49bd-9e9f-d594e2a70129 (image/jpg), 513b94d5-0e2d-4180-b58e-d389eb13cc5f (image/jpg), dd237af4-9d8e-494a-8b1e-c60544884a89.gif (image/gif), 40b0897e-0340-4b7e-af81-65768eaa4fb8 (image/jpg), 0ae72221-e96f-4b35-ad23-e78e4f949912 (image/png), Daily Express: "while he knew 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. Churchill however made a gross error in saying that Labour would need a Gestapo like organisation to enforce socialism upon Britain. 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. Georges Dufaud (1777-1852) was one of those ironmasters who benefited from the changes introduced by the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Empire (Figure 1.1). The labour Government of 1945-51 passed, in total, 347 acts of parliament. Just over a year later, with the Labour government in deep crisis about a number of ill-conceived policies, yet another election was called. The 1946 National Insurance Act was also a key domestic reform of the Attlee government. Extremely cold weather met with insufficient stockpiles of coal, and much industry ground to a halt as a result. ","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"}]}, {"ad_unit_id":"App_Resource_Sidebar_Lower","resource":{"id":2798048,"author_id":348222,"title":"Why did Labour lose the 1951 election? achievements - 200,000 homes built a 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. The Attlee governments of 1945 to 1951 can be divided into four key sections. Morisson, the Deputy Prime Minister, believed that. 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. league at peak had 100,000 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. In this respect, although Labout lost the 1951 election, it can be claimed that they only marginally lost popular support meaning, in my opinion, the most significant factor contributing to their loss was the mistiming of the election. Conservative opposition fell off quickly, however, when the popularity of the NHS became increasingly apparent following its inception in 1946. However Pearce concludes that. 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. 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. Under the head "Peace", the Labour manifesto said: "The Tory (Conservative) still thinks in terms of Victorian imperialism and colonial exploitation. Churchill narrowly lost the 1950 contest (Labour's majority was reduced to six), but again he managed to sidestep retirement. It had several effects, all of which were harmful in both the long and short term. priorities, Coal mining-1947 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." support for the party. 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. was really in their early 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. future plans, Budget of 1951 heavily criticised by The 1945-1946 period of Labour government sought to address some key difficulties facing the nation following World War II. 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. Hi there, would you like to get such a paper? 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. Following Cripps resignation on grounds of ill health, Hugh Gaitskell took over as Chancellor during Attlees second government. Pearce's reinterpretation argument makes the most sense because policies like appeasement were relatively popular at the time. 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. There are three main sub-categories for this answer; the Conservatives strengths, Labours weaknesses/ limitations, and uncontrollable factors. 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. 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. The 1951 United Kingdom general election was held twenty months after the 1950 general election, which the Labour Party had won with a slim majority of just five seats. 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.