1a Politics
🇬🇧 Leadership of Lloyd George was the main reason for the decline of the Liberal Party, 1
Leadership of Lloyd George
During wartime, Lloyd George had backed the Defence of the Realm Act (1914) which
powers like economic control, conscription and rationing
Some liberals saw this against their foundational ideas as it was the state encroac
freedom
Although he had set himself up to be a man of the people it was discovered in 1922 th
selling knighthoods for around £10,000 this undermined people’s trust in him
He was seen as a warmonger over the Chanak Crisis in Turkey with ideological splits
Greek Liberals and the pro-Turk Conservatives who made up the coalition governmen
This ultimately led to the 1922 meeting at the Carlton Club in which the conservat
break from the coalition, Bonar Law led the group into the next election and won t
Rise of the Labour Party
Representation of the People Act (1918) meant that all men over the age of 21 were on
was no longer limited to property owners
This mean that the male franchise increased by 5.2 million
With this incorporation of working class men, there was a new voter base for the
to take hold of, the connection with the TUC meant that it could be seen as a legit
working class interests
With the break down of the Liberal Party, the Labour Party was able to develop its ow
Liberals, with ideas such as nationalisation, internationalisation, and social reform form
constitution in 1918
1918 Election was strongly influenced by patriotism
The Labour politicians that took a popular anti-German line were rewarded hands
Internal organisation allowed for more labour candidates to stand, which boosted cha
improved the image of labour, promoting that it was a strong, national party
Conservative strength
Representation of the People Act (1918) also introduced the right to vote for women o
property owners
, Loss of 80 Nationalist MPs who supported Liberals, meanwhile Conservatives ret
Irish MPS
Labour found it difficult to widen their reach out of the industrial working class heartla
1931 Labour is very divided on how to handle economic crisis
Overall:
Yes, DLG’s lack of organisation, scandals and relative weakness made way for other parties t
own.
It can be said that it was instead the electoral system that meant that the Liberal Party went in
electoral system would have had varying effects on Conservatives and Labour but instead fo
as they had lost credibility so were not even in the race for winning over voters due to their im
🇬🇧 How accurate to say that there was changing party fortunes for the main political part
Liberal Decline
Liberals went into decline due to varying scandals and issues with DLG’s leadership
FPTP favoured a two party system so once the liberals had a small decline and the ot
a magnified impact due to the voting system
Labour Growth
Representation of the People Act (1918) introduced millions of working class men to th
likely to vote Labour
Representation of the People Act (1928) gave women the vote on equal terms with me
was a large influx of working class women voters who were more likely to vote Labou
Seats went from
57 in 1918 general election
142 in 1922
191 in 1923
Conservative Same
Their voter base increased slightly with ROPA (1918), but not as much as the Labour P
masculine orientated topics which came across as more civilised, so gained more wo
Also gained some support from DLG’s Liberal supporters who were more right wing
Cons would always have constant support due to being associated with the upper an
protect their interests
, The public associated this with a drab and boring way of living with two many gov
not popular
Labour had lost touch with its original identity as it was torn between socialist based
centre-left approach
An example can be between the Bevanites and the Gaitskellites
Due to this factionalism, there was a confusion over party direction
Labour had continued with rationing during peacetime, with rationing on things like br
this was incredibly unpopular
Conservative Strength
Under the Cons, wages were higher rationing had ended, people were healthier and b
number of them were better educated
Conservatives adjusted themselves to changing Britain and followed what was nickna
Butler the conservative chancellor of the exchequer and Hugh Gaitskell, the Labour s
The economic and welfare policies were reflective of that of the post-war consen
similar ideas about the economy and welfare.
July 1955 Britain reaches its lowest unemployment figures in recent history with only
work
Butler was an important reason for Conservative strength
Managed to lower taxes while not affecting public spending on industry like educ
1941 Butler Act
Kept full employment which enforced ideas of prosperity
Showed country was doing well
Showed government had control
Eden’s Resignation (1955)
After the Suez Crisis which was an international failure which showed that Britain
US, Eden resigns
However this did not show a divided and factional party, instead it created cohere
stronger PM to take over so that they would not lose the next election
Media
Conservatives effectively used the media to broadcast their election campaigns
Able to successfully compare themselves through use of propaganda to associate co
and Labour with austerity
MacMillan said in 1957 that Britons ‘never had it so good’
, Experience of WW2
Capitalised on public desire for post-war reconstruction
Led to a change in people’s attitudes
‘Total war’ policy required ‘total solutions’ which meant that there was unprecede
increased levels of centralised state control and power
Emergency Powers Act (1940) - each person required to male themselves and
the war effort, allowed gvt to punish those who went against the defence regu
Expansion of the state meant that people had new expectations that the state
society
Shared experiences led to a changing zeitgeist and more universalist attitudes
Evacuation of 3 million inner city children to the country took poverty to the d
middle classes
Impact on people and infrastructure of Britain
Urgent need for post-war reconstruction; 2 in 7 houses destroyed by bombing
41% of public saw housing as biggest challenge facing postwar britain
Reform of health service necessary, 41% of soldiers found unfit for combat
People weren’t content to go back to restricted government spending of the inter
Appeal of the Labour Party
Labour capitalised on the shifting zeitgeist titling their manifesto ‘Let Us Face the Futu
overhaul of society along socialist, collectivist and universalist lines
Progressive vision for a post war Britain that was in tune with social desire for refo
Influenced by popular Beveridge Report (1942) which called on governments to ta
Labour figures had gained experience as wartime ministers and now were seen as a ‘
had the skills and experience necessary to steer Britain through reconstruction
FPTP inflate Labour popularity
Labour’s support was strongly concentrated in urban and industrial areas, where
They won 47.7% of the popular vote, which translated to 61.4% of seatd
Weakness of Conservative Party
Conservatives failed to appeal to the public zeitgeist and relied heavily on Churchill’s
were biter memories of the conservative pre war governments and economic hardshi
Churchill’s comments that Labour would rely on a gestapo of enforce its social reform
Tory leaders had been in office for a very long time and the leading figures appears ti
ideas