A changing political and economic landscape 1918-1979

• Who was in government 1918? Who was PM?

  liberals and conservatives - wartime coalition

  Lloyd-George
• what was the ROPA 1918? What did it do?

  the Representation of the People Act

  expanded suffrage to women who owned a house and men aged 21+

  7.7 - 21.4m
• Why did the Liberal party split during the FWW and when?

  Impact of the FWW

  1916
• What/When was the Defence of the Realm Act?

  How did this impact liberal unity?

  Gave gov increased controls. 1914

  was illiberal because it challenged people's freedoms. Many liberals such as PM Asquith opposed it but others such as Lloyd-George supported it. Liberals divided and Lloyd-George became the new PM in 1916
• what are the main reasons the Liberal Party declined in the first part of the 20th century?

  Party split

  Impact of the FWW

  Representation of the People 1918 Act

  1918 Coupon Election

  Conservative dominance in coalition

  Lloyd-George's personality
• Why did the Liberals split in the 1910s?

  there was a vote of no confidence in Asquith's leadership

  divisions of opinion and support for the Defence of the Realm Act 1914
• How did the ROPA 1918 impact the Liberal party?

  Liberals replaced by Labour as the party of the working class

  tripled number of voters

  most went to labour and tory

  liberal vote did increase, but not as far as the Lab and Con share ddid
• How did the 1918 Coupon Election impact the liberal party?

  Decline in the number of voters

  Asquith-supporting liberals received few votes

  Lloyd-George votes declined and they were no longer the dominant party in the coalition
• What was the seat share in the 1918 election between the 2 types of Liberals and the Conservative?

  28 - Asquith Liberals

  133 - Lloyd-George liberals

  335 - Conservative
• what was the impact of the 1918 coupon election on the various Liberal strands?

  Lloyd-George liberals were the minority in a Liberal-led coalition

  Asquith liberals were a minority in the commons
• why was the 1918 election a 'coupon election'?

  D Lloyd-George didn't have enough Liberals to support him in parliament, so joined with Tory before the election

  and MP who was standing for the Liberal/Conservative coalition was given a coupon
• How did Tory dominance in the coalition impact the Liberal party?

  there was difficulty passing policy

  they held a meeting in the Carlton Club where they decided to abandon the Liberal party (they held majority so were able to solo)
• how did Lloyd-Goerge's conduct negatively impact the Liberal Party?

  he would sell peerage and honours for 10,000£
• why did Lloyd-George sell honours?

  the Liberal party had low funding
• what happened to the Liberal Party once abandoned by the Conservatives?

  Declined

  tried to reunite but didn't work because:

  • insufficient funding
  • could not attract their old or any new voters
  • replaced by Labour as one of the 2 dominant parties in the HoC
• when did the Labour Party become a political party?

  1900
• how many seats did Labour have:

  • 1918
  • 1922
  • 1923
  • 1924
  • 1929
  • 1931


  1918 = 57

  1922 = 142 (increase)

  1923 = 191 (increase + government)

  1924 = 151 (decrease)

  1929 = 287 (increase + government)

  1931 = 43 (decrease)
• Why did the Labour party develop so well at the start of the 20th century?

  Labour popularity:

  • 1918 ROPA
  • 1911 Wage for MP
  • Party unity
  • Fall of the Liberal party
• how did the 1918 ROPA benefit the Labour Party?

  all men 21+ could vote which gave many working class ,men the vote who opted for the Labour party
• how did party unity increase Labour popularity?

  Stability when instability was prevalent at the time (other party and FWW)

  The strong commitment to trade unions + working class was appealing to electorate
• How did the decline of liberal influence benefit the Labour party?

  they replaced them as A - opposition, and B - represented the working class
• Why was the Tory party dominant in the early 1900s?

  ROPA 1918

  Pragmatic/adaptable

  Electoral system

  Age/instability of others

  effective leadership + image
• how did the ROPA 1918 impact the Tory party?

  they took a significant share of the voters:

  • aspirational working class voters
  • middle class women
• how was the Tory pragmatic nature a reason for their dominance and successes in the early 1900s?

  they appealed to all areas of society
• how did the electoral system benefit the Tory party?

  do not need a majority of voters to have a majority of seats
• how did the Age/instability of other parties aid Tory party successes?

  Labour:

  • party in 1900 only
  • fresh and only appealed to the working class
  • working class couldn't vote until 1918 General Election

  Liberals:

  • corruption and the divisions in the party made them unattractive
  • their abandonment of beliefs made them unappealing.
• how did the effective leadership and image of the Conservative party aid their successes?

  they had stable leaderships when others (liberals) did not

  well funded - 'party of property' (rich and established people)

  One Nation Conservatism developed 1870 which widened their support
• why did the Labour government of 1924 fail?


  Zinoviev Letter

  Harsh economic policy

  Minority status in government - opposition from other parties
• how many seats did the 1924 Labour Gov?

  191

  (about 1/3!)
• why did party fortunes change 1918?

  ROPA - increased electorate

  pragmatic nature

  divisions
• why did the Liberal party slit during the war?

  what were the two sides?

  DORA 1914 (increased government control that infringed on freedoms)

  Asquith and Lloyd-George
• to what extent was there political change 1918-1939?

  1918-1924 = change (liberal fall, increased suffrage, first Labour government)

  1924-1929 = no-change (conservative leaderships)

  1929-1939 = change (economic crises, labour government -1931, national government until end of war, conservative leader from 1935)
• to what extent was there political change 1939-1979?

  high extent:

  • 1939-1945 = SWW
  • 1945-1951 = labour government with implementation of welfare
  • 1951-1963 = consensus (welfarism, full employment, nationalisation)
  • 1963-1979 = mostly dominated by Conservatives; abandonment of welfare state
• what PM 1951-1964?

  Churchill 1951-1955

  Eden 1955-1957

  MacMillan 1957-1963

  Douglas-Home 1963-1964
• what was the country like during the 13 years of consertavie dominance through the 1950s/60s?

  developed a consumer society

  underlying economic issues

  increased prosperity
• why did the 1929 labour government have difficulties?

  WSC and GD (economic hardship)
• when does the National Government come into effect? who are its leaders?

  1931

  McDonald -1935

  Baldwin 1935-7

  chamberlain 1937-1940

  Churchill 1940-1945
• who won the post-war general election? by a large or minor margin?

  Labour

  Landslide election
• what was the nature of the post-war labour government?

  Welfare:

  • NHS
  • Nationalisation
  • Full employment
• what was the reason for the downfall of the labour government post-SWW?

  they had to retain wartime measures eg: rations, austerity.