How Is The Defeat Of The Conservative Party In 1945 Best Explained?

After WW2, Britain’s domestic life was in upheaval and most people wanted peace and to return to normal, the war also brought on an urge to broaden Britain’s wealth. This meant the new Conservative government was expected to

Labour disunity was a huge contributing factor as to why the conservatives were able to dominate from 1951 to 1964. However, there are also other factors that assisted conservative dominance. Whether that be conservative strengths, good timing, the end of austerity or their handle on public opinion, all factors contributed to the dominant years. However, how long the conservatives actually dominated is also a question. Did they dominate for the whole period, or just part of it? The years 1962-1964 question conservative dominance and how labour reunited.

Secondly, as Wilson faced crises in the failure of Trade Union reform and a stagnant economy, the Tories moved steadily to the right, many seeing this as a successful move by Heath. The move to the right got a massive publicity boost in Selsdon Park Hotel at a shadow cabinet meeting (January 1970) in the run-up to the election. In the public eye, the term ‘Selsdon Man’ (a phrase readily clutched by the media) meant a return to free enterprise -which directly contrasted Wilson’s policies of interventionism - the return to the values of hard work, trade union reform and a more efficient and independent industry. These ideas, although not particularly revolutionary in terms of policy for Tories, in election year provided a real incentive to frustrated voters, who looked at the struggling Wilson government whose interventionist policies were having little upswing effect on the economy. Many see the conference as an end of consensus politics, and the start of a marathon political battle between the two leaders. The fact that the Tories gained such publicity at Selsdon, and managed to convince the electorate that contrasting policies to the labour government such as the move to a more free market economy was necessary, showed Heath to be a successful leader in the outset of his campaign.

The year was 1940; the world’s second great World War was in full swing, with Britain and Germany at the forefront. The fall of Britain’s closest ally, France, stunned the British Empire and threw it into disarray. Through the chaos, Winston Churchill emerged. Churchill would be an inspiring leader who was able to rally the entire nation in times of hardship. Through his leadership, the “British Bulldog” would face the Axis powers and come out victorious, as well as become a public hero for the British people. Yet, immediately after the war, Churchill did not return to the prime minister seat because of a shocking defeat in his re-election, despite his immense reputation he gained from the war. Though lauded by the British population for his prowess as a wartime leader, Churchill’s conservative politics were out of touch with a population ready for post-war relief and led to his defeat in the 1945 election.

However, Balfour cannot be solely to blame for the decline in popularity from the Conservative party. A key issue in the defeat of the Conservative party was Tariff reform discussed previously, although Balfour cannot be blamed for this issue as it was Chamberlain in favour of the reform and was the one that put it into place, therefore it was his responsibility for the split of the Conservative party, not Balfour's.

This period of Labour rule is often marked down as a poor performance on behalf of the labour party, critically looked upon by many historians. There were many failings under the rule of this government however the circumstances they were placed in caused severe restraints in their options.

Even though these difficulties Brown still produced the ‘National Plan’ which aimed at the economic targets set out in the General Election of 1964. It was an achievement to create this plan which aimed at stimulating industrial production and exports by encouraging cooperation between the government, employers and trade unions. It was a success that the plan was drafted however it was a failed attempt. The grand expansion targets set out in the plan were not met because at the time it was

Even before the climactic World War II, Churchill’s mental war starts with the Indian Independence movement. Churchill was brusque about his opinion on the movement, knowingly showing his opposition to the public. “To Churchill, all Indians were the pedestal for a throne. He would have died to keep England free, but was against those who wanted India free.(Tondon, n.d.)” With this ornery still in the mind of the public and government officials, Churchill’s 1940 election was met with opposition. In Churchill and Orwell, “Peter Eckersley, a Tory MP, predicted that “Winston won’t last five months.”(Ricks, pg. 91)” The general public were critical of such a disposition leading the United Kingdom during a time struggle. Even with the public’s pessimistic prospect of him, Churchill’s resilience will become a favorable trait to exhibit in this psychological war.

When the Conservative Party came to power in 1951, they won the election by a slim majority of 26 seats, leaving them with very little power to make important changes. However, their number of seats increased throughout their thirteen years in office, leaving them with a majority of 107 in the 1959

In 1997, Labour were very much in touch with the electorate and focused on salient issues, whereas the conservatives focused on issues such as trade unions and devolution which were not deemed as salient. This benefitted Labour as they gained a huge win at this election and rather than personality playing a huge part, it may have been their policies.

The Conservatives were merged from two parties: the Progessive Conservatives and the Canadian Alliance. Under the leading of former leader Brian Mulroney, the party went to the right-wing direction who called for lower taxes, deregulated, and privatized government which can generate greater wealth and prosperity of the people. The party values and respects traditions and holds conservative opinions on sensitive topics.

In the 1935 election, the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation party won thanks to their competent leader with powerful and persuasive speeches, a strong platform and the failure of the opposition to gain the voters’ certitude . The leader of the CCF was knowledgeable and had an exceptional understanding of the party platform which allowed for proper and methodical responses and rebuttals. The leader, backed by a reliable support team was able to present key questions to the opposing parties which degraded the reputation of those parties in the view of the voters. The CCF party appealed to all voters instead of focusing on getting one specific voter group to vote for them. The other parties failed to win the election because they had a lack

This would mean that wartime coalition ministers from all major parties were far more willing to cooperate with each other. Paul Addison (1975) argued that pre-war and wartime conditions led to a unique situation in post war Britain which led to a coming together of thinking in politics and society. This was strongly influenced by the Beveridge Report’s ‘Five Giants’. As mentioned before, this cooperation was also aided by the fact that fears of an extreme Labour government in 1945 had been disproved, meaning that key policy makers in the Conservative Government could be seen to be ‘One Nation Tories’; keen to build on national cooperation to maintain and essential post war consensus. Another fundamental aspect of post war consensus was the idea of the necessity of a ‘Big Government’; many Conservatives were now convinced of the government intervention in social and economic policies, resulting in them being far more in tune with public opinion and so accepted Labour's welfare policies such as Keynesian economics. With regard to Winston Churchill, his government were seen to indeed follow Keynesian economics, but

At the end of World War One in November 1918 the Labour Party emerged as a strong political Party. Prior to this it was the Liberal Party that was expected to be the main opposition to the Conservatives, with Labour as a party who used the popularity of the Liberals to become noticed. However, it soon became apparent that the Liberals were a weak and flagging party who were unable to unite as one to make decisions. It is evident that the First World War may have been an important factor in the growth of Labour and the decline of the Liberals.

During her term of office she reshaped almost every aspect of British politics, reviving the economy, reforming outdated institutions, and reinvigorating the nation's foreign policy. She challenged and did much to overturn the psychology of decline, which had become rooted in Britain since the Second World War, pursuing national recovery with striking energy and determination. In the process, Margaret