1979 Election

• Social factors : - stats

  Class:

  • ABC1= Tory: 56% Labour= 24%
  • C2DE= Tory 38% Labour 45%
  • Fun fact= C2= 41% Tory + 21% 1974
• Social factors - stats

  Age:

  • 18-24= Tory: 42% Labour= 24%
  • 25-34= Tory 43% Labour 38%
• Social factors - stats

  Genders

  Male: Tory: 43% Labour: 40%

  Female: Tory: 47% Labour 38%

  47% - Thatcher is a woman?

• Short term: Issues/Policies

  • Labour - Callaghan struggled with running a minority government.
  • Labour - He also managed the 'winter of discontent' poorly
  • Tory- Focused on how Labour 'isn't working' (high unemployment)
  • Tory- Proposed the 'Right to buy' social housing + tax cuts
• Short term: Party leaders/opinion polls

  • Callaghan was +20% more favourable in polls - interestingly..
• Short term: Media

  • Thatcher appeared well in the media (tasting tea, talking to people across the country)
  • Opinion polls - closing gap encouraged Labour voters to turnout - this may have triggered Tory voters to turnout in order to secure the win
  • The Sun (Tory) 3.9 M readers in 1980 vs Daily Mirror (Labour) 3.1 M readers.
• Short term: valence issues: Labour

  • Governing competency: Poor handling of trade union strikes 1978-9
  • Economic: Labour was responsible for high inflation
  • Party unity: Left wing vs Moderate section of party
• Electoral campaigns

  • Labour ran a poor campaign - implying that Margaret Thatcher couldn't run the country because she is a woman
  • Conservatives: hired Saatichi brothers - focus on how 'Labour isn't working.
• Results

  • Conservative won: 43 seats
  • Labour lost 62 seats
  • First ever female PM
  • Began Conservative streak for 18 years
• Media - The Sun

  • Sun: 'Crisis, what Crisis' - Callaghan and his poor approach to strikes