The government could not fumction without money so the issue was put to the voters to decide. The Conservatives had to win a large number of seats in order to justify their rejection of the budget, however they did not and ithe election was therefore a defeat for the Conservatives. However, the Liberals no longer had an overall majority in the commons so they could only get their bills passed if they got the support of the Labour party and Irish Nationalists. The Irish Nationalists would only give their support in return for granting of Home Rule for Ireland, so the Liberal party had to include Home Rule in their policy. The Liberals were reliant on the Labour Party as Labour would only support them in return for favourable legislation for trade unions, assistance for working class candidates to become MPs. This allowed the Labour Party to develop links with uniona and allowed them to field more candidates at future elections, enabling them to challenge the Liberal Party; weakening the Liberals. After the election the budget was re-introduced into parliament and was passed by both…
At the time Labour was a significantly divided party with the Gaitskillites and the Bevanites meaning some support of voters was lost through lack of assurance that the party would lead with strength and could make decisions that were right for the nation and not selfish. The Labour economy policies are also a reason why they lost. Gaitskell promised to increase public spending without increasing taxes. This put his credibility under question. Another reason is that although voters were happy with the nationalisation of electricity, gas, atomic energy and airline industries they thought public ownership of coal and the railways had been a failure when they were last in government and there was little enthusiasm for further nationalisation which Labour was committed to by Clause Four of the Labour Party Constitution.…
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.…
The most important factor in the liberal victory in the 1902 election was the involvement of Balfour and miscalculations whilst running the conservatives as Prime Minister. Balfour was not the only cause but was the main reason for the turnaround in electoral fortunes. Salisbury had the conservative party well under control and there were no signs of a turnaround; when Balfour took over everything changed. It is argued that if Arthur Balfour never took over then the electoral turnaround would never of happened. The first major mistake by Balfour was the 1902 education act, Salisbury knew the dangers of the act but Balfour nevertheless carried on with the education bill. The bill was so unpopular with the non-conformist Liberals and due to Balfour supporting the act and having been the one to get the act through…
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.…
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.…
This was the first time the Liberals were reunited since the Boer war. This aided them in an attempt to reunite there votes aswell. This meant that they were the second biggest party after the conservatives. All they needed to do was show the weaknesses of Balfour. The final nail in the coffin was having a decisive manifesto over free trede and how they refused to do it in case it harmed the working class. It was most important to appease the working class because they were the majority of the vote but they were also the poorest people able to vote with decisiveness.…
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.…
Labour Party growth was a key factor in the Liberal Governments desire to introduce reforms affecting children as the Labour Part was emerging as the party for the working class, a position that the Liberals had previously held. In the 1906 elections the Labour Party had gained 30 seats where previously they had held 2 after the 1900 election, between 1907-09 they also made some gains in by elections. David Lloyd George summarised the position of the Liberal Government in a speech where he said that the only way to guarantee Liberal support was through reform. This meant that through the years’ jop 1906-08 the Liberal government passed reforms that affected children as it was hoped it would guarantee support from the parents of the working class as it would be clear that the Liberal Government was interested in helping the working class. Growth of the Liberal Party also resulted in the development of New Liberalism in the Liberal Party which also contributed to the reforms for children.…
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.…
The New Labour Government came in to power in a ‘Landslide’ election victory. The Government was led by Clement Atlee and introduced reforms. The reforms were in Social Security, Health, Housing, Education and Employment.…
The Liberals created many reforms which impacted the lives of British people differing between aid and attention for well being of all ages and insurance for the unemployed or sick. This essay will investigate whether they were of positive or negative on the British people.…
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.…
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.…
‘The Conservatives’ inability to economically modernise Britain was the main reason why Labour won the 1964 election.’ Assess the validity of this statement (45)…