Preview

The main reason for Conservative dominance in the years 1951 to 1964 was Labour disunity.’

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1460 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The main reason for Conservative dominance in the years 1951 to 1964 was Labour disunity.’
The main reason for conservative dominance in the years 1951 to 1964 was labour disunity?” Access the validity of this view
I agree with this statement as the labour party leaders were ageing. The labour leaders were from the pre-war era therefore it meant that they were not in touch with the population. This led to labour disunity throughout the years as it caused Attlee to retire, he found that he couldn’t understand what the young wanted. For the public they left their trust with the labour party and put it in the conservatives as they felt that labour had failed to create the consumer revolution that everyone had hoped for. By 1951 the public were also fed up with the rationing that they still had to endure even though the war had ended 6 years ago therefore this helped the conservative dominance in those years.
Another reason as to why labour disunity was to blame for labour dominance was the growing split in the party caused by the Bevanites and Gaitskillites. The split in the party was due to Gaitskell introducing prescription and dentistry charges. Bevan supported the left wing of the party whereas Gaitskell supported the right wing of the party and followed Attlee in becoming the next leader of labour government. The split led to disunity as Gaitskell didn’t have the full support of the party; his ideas were always going to be argued against.
Another reason why the split caused disunity in the labour party was to do with the trade unions. The trade unions were supporting the left wing of the party; this was a problem particularly during the Scarborough conference in 1960. Frank Cousins was the leader of the one of the most powerful unions, TGWU (transport and general workers) and was an extreme left wing. He led fierce opposition to Gaitskell over Britain’s nuclear weapons. Gaitskell wanted Britain to have nuclear weapons because of the looming threat of Russia, during the cold war; they could wipe out countries at any time. At the party conference
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Explain why the Cpnservatives won the General Election of 1959
    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Explain why the Cpnservatives won the General Election of 1959

    Another reason why Conservatives won is that in there manifesto they promised to stabilise the cost of living which would close the gap between rich and poor and double everyone’s standard of living. This was helped by Labour being identified with the working class rather than the nation as a whole. This was a problem as 40% of manual workers now considered themselves middle class so the Labour policies for the unemployed and working class no longer appealed to them, instead they…

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Balfour's Leadership Was Responsible for the Decline in the Popularity of the Conservative Party Between the Years 1902-1906. Explain Why You Agree or Disagree with This View.
    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Balfour's Leadership Was Responsible for the Decline in the Popularity of the Conservative Party Between the Years 1902-1906. Explain Why You Agree or Disagree with This View.

    Balfour's leadership along with other key factors, including chamberlain's influence, the Boer war and the liberal party's actions, overall led to the decline in popularity for the conservative party giving the liberals their first taste of power in the 1906 general election.…

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Effective Were the Social Reforms of 1906 Essay Example
    • 1892 Words
    • 8 Pages

    How Effective Were the Social Reforms of 1906 Essay Example

    The liberal party led by Henry Campbell Bannerman won a landslide victory over the conservatives in the 1960 general election. They won 377 seats giving then an enormous majority of 84 over all other parities combined. Bannerman retired in 1908 and his successor Herbert Asquith, who brought about an increasing shift towards reform, originating from the initiatives of Lloyd George the Board of Trade and Winston Churchill the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Both of these characters were very influential in the idea of New Liberalism. New Liberalism was completely committed to radical, social reforms. This is exactly what the government tried to enforce between the years 1906-1914 and the ‘lib-labs’ (radical liberals) passed several reforms to try and liberalise Britain from the previous conservative rule.…

    • 1892 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Far Was Concern over National Security the Real Reason for Liberal Reforms Passed Between 1906 and 1914?
    • 1468 Words
    • 6 Pages

    How Far Was Concern over National Security the Real Reason for Liberal Reforms Passed Between 1906 and 1914?

    By the early twentieth century the Liberal Government was worried that Britain’s military capability and general military power was not as strong and it once was. Therefore, the Government’s concern over national security definitely influenced the decision for the reforms. However, there are three main factors that also need to be taken into account when deciding if concern over national security was the real reason for the reforms: the Social reasons, concerns for Britain’s Empire and the Political motive. The Social reasons played a large part in persuading the Liberals to reform. The detailed reports of Booth and Rowntree, and the evidence which was brought to light, highlighted that nearly a 1/3 of Britain’s population lived in poverty. This needed to be addressed by the Government. In addition, criticisms of the Poor Law effectively put pressure on the Liberals. The Boer War shone light on the ineffective and malnourished British Army. Britain’s embarrassing performance and recruitment in the War raised concerns over Britain’s overall military capability and the general health of Britain’s populace. In addition to this, the Liberal Government was concerned that Britain was losing its status as a major industrial power. Political motives for reform include the changing attitudes within the party, New Liberalism, the fear of the ever increasing popularity of the Labour Party and the party advantage which the Liberals would have received from introducing reform.…

    • 1468 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    ‘The main reason for conservative dominance in the years 1951 to 1964 was labour disunity’ Assess the validity of this view.
    • 2226 Words
    • 6 Pages

    ‘The main reason for conservative dominance in the years 1951 to 1964 was labour disunity’ Assess the validity of this view.

    ‘The main reason for conservative dominance in the years 1951 to 1964 was labour disunity’ Assess the validity of this view. (June 2011)…

    • 2226 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    To What Extent Was The Conservative Government In The Years 1951-1964
    • 1367 Words
    • 6 Pages

    To What Extent Was The Conservative Government In The Years 1951-1964

    When Harold Macmillan said in 1957 that Britain had “never had it so good” it was easy to see why he spoke with such optimism. The period of Conservative dominance brought many benefits to the British people including the end of rationing, full employment and a boom in the economy. However, in labour’s 1964 manifesto they described this period as “thirteen wasted years”. It seems difficult to believe that both could be true and in this essay I will be assessing the successes and failures of the Conservative government during this time.…

    • 1367 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Why Did Labour Lose The 1924 Election
    • 944 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Why Did Labour Lose The 1924 Election

    While the 1924 Labour government was undoubtedly one of the most important developments in party politics, there were other factors that contributed to the change from Liberal vs Conservatives in the 1880 to Labour vs conservative with Liberal's downfall by 1951. The 1924 Labour government was arguably a significant development as it was the first time Labour won an election, proving they had progressed from a small independent party to a real opponent of the Conservatives. This was significant as it showed that Labour had finally gotten their foot in the door and how Conservatives had not fully recovered from their decline in the previous 2 decades. The win was a huge shock to the Conservatives, but they won in a weak position and only lasted 10 months.…

    • 944 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Explain Why Did The Republicans Win The 1906 Election
    • 1006 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Explain Why Did The Republicans Win The 1906 Election

    In the1870s, the Conservative Party won three out of four elections and formed the government for 17 years out of a total of 20 years. It reflected the Conservative Party was the most powerful party in England at that time; they even had an overpowering majority of seats in the House of Lords. They had support from everywhere. However, the situation changed dramatically when the Liberal party won the general election in 1906 with an overwhelming majority of 400 seats as against 157 seats for the Conservatives party. This event was marked as the well-known ‘Liberal landslide’. There are several reasons why the Conservative lost such a large amount of seats; national efficiency, the imposition of Education Act and Licensing Act, tariff campaign and Neglect of social reform.…

    • 1006 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Did Lloyd George Fall From Power
    • 1128 Words
    • 5 Pages

    How Did Lloyd George Fall From Power

    Due to this Lloyd George had to concede to the conservatives at times as he did when they demanded that cuts be made and that Lloyd George agree to the Geddes axe. This was a mistake as it led to him earning a reputation of not fulfilling promises of reconstruction and led to a decline in popularity. The conservatives only needed Lloyd George as long as he was popular with the people and therefore an asset to them, his gradual decline in popularity led to the conservatives questioning his worth. His policies also went against what they stood for the most part and even though they remained loyal to the coalition due to Bonar Law, cracks appeared when Austen Chamberlain replaced him as leader of conservatives. However, it can argued that the conservatives were being pragmatic in letting Lloyd George introduce some social reform, especially since working class had received the vote. This did not deter backbenchers and die hards who grew in number and in criticism of Lloyd George’s policies, which culminated in the formation of the anti-waste league who won two by-elections, evidence that they held influence. As Lloyd George’s unpopularity grew so did the conservative attitude change towards him except in the senior members, which also led to the fear that a split may emerge over loyalty to the coalition.…

    • 1128 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Did Balfour Lose The 1906 Election
    • 380 Words
    • 2 Pages

    How Did Balfour Lose The 1906 Election

    The 1906 general election is often referred to as the ‘liberal landslide’, but the success of the liberal party was arguably due more to conservative mistakes than what they offered new politically. A number of key conservative policies (all highly played out in the national press) all played a part in the reversal of almost 20 years of tory rule in the 1906 election.…

    • 380 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Was Attlee a truly revolutionary MP?
    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Was Attlee a truly revolutionary MP?

    Perhaps, the most ‘revolutionary’ reform that Labour introduced was the NHS. Although there was liberal influence and consensus between the parties over welfare, the clear historical fact remains that Atlee’s Labour party introduced this. The public were in dire need of better healthcare – especially those who couldn’t afford it. Unfortunately, the majority of the population after the war were still living on a very small income and not many people in society could afford health services.…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Far Was It The National Governments Role
    • 582 Words
    • 2 Pages

    How Far Was It The National Governments Role

    Although it wasn’t just the National Government who played a role in reducing extremist parties throughout politics in Britain; The Labour movement also played its part in preventing extremism. Leading trade unionist like Ernest Bevin spent a lot of time of their career fighting communist influence in the trade unions. The labour party rejected all attempts by the communist party to bring in…

    • 582 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Do You Agree With The View That The Con
    • 936 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Do You Agree With The View That The Con

    Some people believed at the time that the “Conservatives were certain to win” [source 7] the election in 1979. A major blow to the Labour party in 1978 was the Winter of Discontent which was seen as one of the most “catastrophic” events of their time in government and a factor that severely weakened the party. “That winter enabled Thatcher to come to grips with Callaghan” [source 7] Young expresses here that the way the Labour party handled that situation showed their weakness as a government giving Thatcher and the Conservative party a chance to observe and analyse what they had to do in order to win the election. Although the Winter of Discontent made out that the Labour party was definitely going to lose the election, “a Labour defeat was not a predestined certainty” [source 9]. Rowe says that “Callaghan might have won if he had gone for an election in 1978” [source 9] as at this time, Thatcher was far from popular and Callaghan was ahead of her in the opinion polls which shows the government had support. In 1978, the Daily Mail did a poll which showed 50% of the population were satisfied by the way Callaghan was running things and only 44% were for Thatcher. But it was the fact that “Callaghan tried to downplay…

    • 936 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Labour weakness was the reason for conservative dominance
    • 562 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Labour weakness was the reason for conservative dominance

    Labour weakness was the most important reason for Conservative dominance from 1951 to 1964. How far do you agree? Between 1951 and 1964, the Conservative's time in power, the Labour party were providing ineffectual opposition. One of the reasons for this was their internal disputes over issues such as unilateralism. However, there were also more important reasons for Conservative dominance, such as the economy and growing prosperity in Britain, the property owning democracy and the greater availability of credit, modern conveiniences and luxury items. Prosperity during this time was growing, and people were in general wealthier than they had been before. A reason for this could have been the manipulation of the economy by the Conservatives; their stop-and-go stagflation lowered and rose taxes in accordance to the election date in order to gain more votes. Though they had no real long-term economic plan and their wily manipulation was often criticised, it did help them to gain votes. The wages also rose during this time meaning people were able to more freely afford luxury items and other things such as mortgages, which links to the property owning democracy.…

    • 562 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Why Did The Liberal Party At The Turn Of The Century
    • 574 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Why Did The Liberal Party At The Turn Of The Century

    The inadequacies of These political figures are only partly to blame, ‘liberalism itself also needed to be reformulated in a sense relevant to a new era’. (Clarke, P 1971 p4.) Part of this need to restructure was actually due to the incredible success of Gladstonian Liberalism, as it achieved the majority of the goals it set out in record time, ‘in short, with the political capital of Gladstonian liberalism fast becoming exhausted, there was need for a new liberalism which could more effectively engage the support of working-class voters’. (Clarke, P. 1971 p4) By the 1900 the Liberal hold on power was growing, in a bid to secure their grasp they formulated the Labour Representation Committee.…

    • 574 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics