1950/1951 General Election

Question 1

Strengths of the Conservative Party in the 1950 general election

Answer 1

• party organisation improved by lord woolton, had led to better run and more active local Tory parties
• fighting fund of £1 million raised
• changes to the boundaries of constituencies- led to the creation of 17 more seats which helped the conservatives more than it helped labour
• Churchill more moderate this time- did not make any more gestapo references, only accused labour of putting the ideals of socialism before the needs of the people

Question 2

Weakness of the Labour Party in the 1950 general election

Answer 2

• cripps austerity programme, devaluation of the pound and rationing were deeply unpopular and contributed to the resentment of labours rule and the continuation of rationing post ww2 triumph led to the public becoming increasingly disillusioned with labours policies, which were their core, foundational base
• internal divisions- bevans resignation as a result of prescription charges in 1951 is indicative of tensions in 1950
• tensions/incompetence evident in when gaitskell reneged on cripps promise not to devalue the pound
• gov was shown to be incompetent over the failure of a scheme to encourage ground nut growing in west Africa in 1949
• this would provide oil for margarine
• huge investment in this was made- £36 million, but this failed as the conditions were wasted so the money was wasted
• nationalisation- failure, iron and steel not nationalised

Question 3

Why was another election held in 1951 despite labour winning the 1950 election?

Answer 3

• gov faced problems abroad- Korean War
• forced substantial rearmament which cost approx £4,700 million over 3 years
• caused increased taxes and charges to for spectacles and dentures

Question 4

1951 Tory victory- weaknesses in Labour Party

Answer 4

• economic mismanagement/disillusionment within public
• austerity programme continued + rationing- unpopular
• Korean War deeply unpopular
• divisions in the Labour Party- gaitskell and bevan fell out- over prescription charges, gaitskell devalued the pound in 1949 despite cripps aiming not to, labour looked incompetent
• prescription charges and high taxes- betrayal of w/c interests
• failure of nationalisation
• can be argued that the success of the NHS, national insurance etc was not yet to be seen as had only recently be implemented.