General Election Of 1929

Question 1

Factors why conservatives lost

Answer 1

• the general strike 1926, problems with the trade unions
• lack of effective and imaginative conservative policies to deal with unemployment
• Labour growing- moving away from socialism, offering a variety of plans, including public works, nationalisation, more electrification and assisted emigration
• conservative campaign- ‘safety first’, asking voters to trust Baldwin, boring, didn’t appeal to voters as it was uninspiring and passive in a time of economic crisis

Question 2

Factors why labour won

Answer 2

• enfranchisement of women meant the electorate expanded to many young women who would be sympathetic to labours aims and welfare focused message
• moving away from socialism, more moderate
• pacifism in WW1 was an asset as voters looked for peaceful solutions to European conflict-e.g. the nationalist agitation in India
• also had the support of the liberals

Question 3

Results of the election

Answer 3

Labour= 287 seats
Conservatives= 260 seats
liberals= 59 seats

Question 4

Overall, why did baldwins gov lose the election

Answer 4

• general strike, inability to deal with the trade unions, had created nationwide disturbance
• economic problems and the rise in price of exports- caused by putting Britain back on the gold standard, good financially but not good for industry
• failure to tackle problems of industry- decline of the staple industries and unemployment
• rise of the Labour Party- more moderate, had distanced themselves from trade unions and general strike etc