Labour Weaknesses 1951-64

• Lack of Unity

  • The leader Hugh Gaitskell wanted to modernise the party which was still committed to a Socialist regime, even though this was obviously less popular than in 1945
  • There was a strong left-wing element within the party with Aneurin Bevan, the former Minister for Health, who wanted an extension of the welfare state, public ownership of industry and redistribution of wealth
• Nationalisation of Industry

  Bevan argued that Clause IV of the party constitution should still be a major policy, this was a major part of Labours commitment to nationalising industry and its most obviously 'socialist' principle
• Aneurin Bevan: 'In Place of Fear' was a famous speech made by Bevan in 1952 advocating public ownership of industry'
• Nuclear Disarmament

  • Many in the party didn't like Britain having Nuclear weapons for moral reasons and also because of its costs, they argued it reduced money for social reforms and encouraged a dangerous race between the West and the USSR
  • Others thought that Britain couldn't be defenceless in a world where the USA and USSR had Nuclear weapons, in 1960, the party voted for unilateral disarmament as an official policy, though this was later reversed
• Foreign Policy

  • Bevan and the left of the party disapproved of Britain's policy toward West Germany which had been allowed to rearm and join NATO, this was rejected by the leadership and Bevan was expelled in 1955
• Other Reasons for Labours electoral failures between 1955-59

  • Clement Atlee didn't appear to be as robust as Eden in the 1955 campaign and seemed tired and unwell
  • The party had a negative attitude to joining Europe which gave them an isolationist and old-fashioned image, given the EEC's high growth rates
  • Hugh Gaitskell, the moderate Labour leader, wasn't seen as being able to wield authority over a divided party
  • During the 1959 campaign, Labour made unconvincing statements about being abe to raise social spending e.g. pensions without raising taxes
• In 1959, 13.7 million voted Conservative and 12.5 million Labour with the Liberals only winning 1.6 million votes, a decline from the 10% who voted Liberal in 1945, many of these votes went to the Conservatives
• Reasons for blaming Labour for their defeats

  • Poor handing of the 1955 and 59 election campaigns
  • Their policies seemed little different to the Conservatives who had accepted popular ideas such as the welfare state and full employment
  • The left of the party were promoting policies which were popular in industrial sectors but less so in within the growing middle-class
  • Labour had also failed to take advantage of the unpopularity of the Conservatives during the Suez Crisis
• Reasons for not blaming Labour for their defeats

  • The Conservatives offered attractive low-tax policies
  • Until 1961 they had enjoyed economic prosperity
  • Macmillan's personality and his ability to find strong phrases captured the public support
  • The gap in the vote wasn't so great as in 1959, the Conservatives won 1.5 million more votes but 107 more seats
• What the victory of 1964 shows about Labours performance before that

  • A younger, more classless leader emerged
  • Labour looked more toward the future and argued for modernisation and technological change
  • Divisions were less obvious
  • By 1964 there was less prosperity and less effective leadership on the Conservative side
• Labour struggled to cope with the 1950s economic boom and rise in living standards up to the early 1960s
• The Conservatives were able to take credit for the economic boom and rise in living standards
• Under Attlee and Gaitskell, Labour found it difficult to position itself as a socialist party in a society dominated by materialism
• Labour was internally divided over policy issues and personal rivalries, especially 1951-55
• The Bevanites wanted Labour to be more left-wing and Bevan resented Gaitskell's lack of deep roots in the labour movement
• The Gaitskellites wanted Labour to stick to the post-war consensus to appeal to middle-class swing voters
• This division damaged Labour's appeal to voters
• The Conservative victory in the 1951 election was narrow, and Labour's share of the popular vote actually increased that year and was higher than the Conservatives
• After Gaitskell became party leader in 1955, there was increasing unity, by 1960 Bevan agreed to be shadow Foreign Secretary and then deputy leader of the party
• In 1955 Bevan rejected unilateralism, by the 1960s Gaitskell united the party against EEC membership
• Wilson's leadership from 1963 showed more sensitivity to the public mood
• Wilson united his party behind the theme of a technological revolution and economic modernisation
• Wilson achieved victory in the 1964 election with a 3.5% swing to Labour in the popular vote