1979 general election

Question 1

results stats

Answer 1

conservative: 43.9%
labour: 36.9%
Lib Dems: 13.8%

Question 2

demographic issues at the time

Answer 2

the middle class was growing, giving conservatives an advantage, and put labour at a loss

Question 3

other factors contributing to conservatives win

Answer 3

• the power of trade unions (winter of discontent), floating voters decided to vote conservative
• the UK economy was in a bad state, with high inflation, growing unemployment and failing growth, but the conservative’s response was a plan to return to free markets and curb union power, which the middle class liked.

Question 4

party leaders

Answer 4

ironically, James Callaghan (labour) was favoured more than Thatcher, he was seen as reliable and likeable

Thatcher was seen as distant and ‘too posh’, meaning party leaders had little impact on the outcome of the election

Question 5

turnout and its significance

Answer 5

opinion polls had an impact on the turnout as they showed a very close race, meaning more conservatives were voting

Question 6

campaigning and its impact

Answer 6

they focused on using the media as part of their campaigns, rather than the media passively reporting on what happened

the parties avoided making attacks on each other

Callaghan was the more popular leader and had a more favoured campaign, but this still wasn’t enough to stop conservatives from winning

Question 7

campaigning and its impact

Answer 7

they focused on using the media as part of their campaigns, rather than the media passively reporting on what happened

the parties avoided making attacks on each other

Callaghan was the more popular leader and had a more favoured campaign, but this still wasn’t enough to stop conservatives from winning

Question 8

important policies from conservatives

Answer 8

conservatives pledges to curb the power of trade unions and proposals for economic reforms

Question 9

trends in region for 1979 election

Answer 9

All areas swung towards the Conservatives, but the swing was much more pronounced in southern England

Question 10

trends in class for 1979 election

Answer 10

The Conservatives remained dominant with the AB and C1 voters.
Labour won the C2 and DE vote, but the

Conservatives gained swings of 11% and 9% respectively across these groups

Question 11

trends in age for 1979 election

Answer 11

Labour won among the 18−24 age group, but the Conservatives won across all other age groups.

Labour support declined most in the 35−54 age group

Question 12

what is the winter of discontent?

Answer 12

when public sector workers went on strike, leading to bins being left unemptied, power shortages and disruption of public transport

Question 13

what was the outcome?

Answer 13

conservatives were in power for the next 18 years