Why did labor lose the 1979 election?

Answer 1

the main points are:

-record on nationalisation and welfare

-economic problems which worsened due to the winter of 1947

-failure to end austerity and rationing aftr war

-the recovery of the conservative party

internal splits within the labour party

Answer 2

British people wanted social changes after the Second World War, and the Labour Party could offer that as opposed to the Conservatives who wanted to stick to "Laissez faire" Policies of the 1930's..

The reasons why Labour won are the following:

1. They had a clear progressive program for social reform (The Beveridge Report 1942, The Butler Education Act 1944)

2. Churchill was popular as a great war leader, the Conservative Party was not. He foolishly likened Labour rule to that of the Gestapo in an election speech- this did not fit in with the public mood.

3. Voters could still remember pre-war unemployment and the appeasement of Hitler- both of which were under Conservative governments.

4. -Memories of Lloyd George who had failed as a leader after the First World War worked against Churchill.

5. The Tories were in office for 19 out of the 22 inter-war years (1918-39). Their image was out of date and voters seemed to want a change.

6. Socialism and Labour politicians were becoming more respectable, they were no longer unknown or feared as they were before the war.

7. Labour had an optimistic message about rebuilding the future (which was particularly appealing to returning soldiers) and their manifesto was aptly named 'Let Us Face the Future'.

Answer 3

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. There was rising inflation and unemployment from 1970-77 and Callaghan did nothing about it. The debt was so bad, Harold Wilson (preceded Callaghan), had to take a loan of £2.5 billion from the International Monetary Fund. To impress the IMF Callaghan put Britain in a state of financial stringency and put a limit to pay rises to 5%. This made Trade Unions upset and led to the Winter of Discontent which was a series of strikes. The strikes only went on for about 2-3 weeks but it was massively exacerbated by the Tory press. Thatcher took advantage of this greatly. After a series of strikes and pickets there was the Day of Action which was a national strike which was devastating for his rep. Callaghan also delayed the election and called a non-confidence vote which he did badly in, this was a very poor decision. Thatcher was the first PM to visit ordinary people which gave a good image of her. Thatcher was very appealing to female voters and other people as the closeness between Labour and the Trade Unions was now seen as a bad thing. These all led to labour losing. The main reason was probably the Winter of Discontent but they all contributed.