1979

• the election in 1979 followed what?

  the ‘winter of discontent‘ strikes
• how many seats did the conservatives win in the 1979 election majority?

  • 43
• there was more MEDIA focus on leaders than before

  • thatcher used television photo opportunities to raise her profile
  • the sun newspaper switched from Labour to Conservatives
• the conservatives focused on what in 1979?

  • improving the economy
  • lowering unemployment
  • preventing strike disruption
  • tax cuts and the ‘Right to Buy‘ scheme which gave council tenants the right to buy their council house heavily discounted
• in 1979 there was a successful ‘Labour isn’t working‘ campaign by the conservatives which focused on the high unemployment
• thatcher’s majority allowed her to begin transforming britain in 1979 by

  • privatising public industries
  • reducing union strikes
  • adopting a monetarist economic policy which led to unemployment doubling by 1983
• who was the labour candidate in 1979?

  james callaghan