general elections

Question 1

what contributed to labours win in the 1997 general election

Answer 1

-the conservatives suffered internal divisions (eg. Europe), poor leadership and wasn’t relevant to contemporary society
-They hadn’t dealt with the 1990s financial crisis well
-Blair modernised the labour party which appealed to middle-class voters and emphasised constitutional reform

Question 2

1997 election- age

Answer 2

-Labour achieved more votes across all age groups
-Particularly the 18 to 24 female group (53%)
-The conservatives largest reduction in votes was the 35 to 54 age group

Question 3

1997 election- class

Answer 3

-approximately 50% of the working class voted labour and 1/3 of the middle-class

Question 4

1997 election- gender

Answer 4

-The male/female vote for labour was 45/44%
-More women were working by the 90s
-new Labour had more family friendly policies

Question 5

1997 election- ethnicity

Answer 5

-70% of all non-white voters voted labour, 18% for the Conservatives
-labour gain 66% of Asian votes and 82% of black votes

Question 6

1997 election- media

Answer 6

-The press turned against the Conservative party
-The Conservatives faced scandals
-Labour had a highly polished campaign

Question 7

1997 election- employment status

Answer 7

-45% of all employed voted labour and 64% of unemployed
-The percentage was slightly lower for the self employed and those in the private sector

Question 8

2017 general election- age

Answer 8

-Young people were less likely to vote than old people
-in the 10 constituencies with the highest proportion of 18 to 24-year-olds, there were increases of 14% in the labour vote

Question 9

2017 general election- gender

Answer 9

-Women were equally split between labour and conservative
-Men slightly more in favour of Conservatives

Question 10

2017 General election-education

Answer 10

-conservatives support decreased among the more educated voter, this was opposite for labour and lib dem

Question 11

2017 General election- class

Answer 11

-Class is no longer a good indicator voting intention
-Labour best among semi and unskilled manual workers, unemployed people and those in the lowest grade jobs

Question 12

2017 General election- employment status

Answer 12

-The Conservative party was 39 points ahead among retirees
-Labour was 45 points ahead among full time students

Question 13

2017 general election- brexit

Answer 13

-Cut across party loyalties and contributed to the revival of the Conservative and labour parties
-Labour was seen as the soft Brexit party
-UKIP votes collapsed and were picked up by the conservatives

Question 14

What was the issue with Callaghan in the 1979 election

Answer 14

He was a centrist labour PM and resisted calls to be more radical and left wing

Question 15

Why had Callaghan struggled as PM

Answer 15

He had a minority government

Question 16

How did Callaghan try to control inflation

Answer 16

Imposed a 5% cap on wage rises

Question 17

How many ford employees went on strike during the winter of discontent

Answer 17

57,000

Question 18

What are other examples of workers who went on strike during the winter of discontent

Answer 18

Lorry drivers, nurses, railway + ambulance drivers, Liverpool gravediggers, London rubbish men

Question 19

How did the tories use the media in the 1979 election

Answer 19

Hired PR specialists while labour was relying on fair reporting

Question 20

What did the tories do weaken the labour party before the 1979 election

Answer 20

They tabled a vote of no confidence in March, labour lost by one vote so the government fell

-Callaghan didn’t get to call the election when he wanted
-labour was seen as defeated

Question 21

Why was John major not a strong candidate in the 1997 election

Answer 21

-difficulty keeping the party together
-only got the job as the least divisive candidate
-won the 1992 election but majority had dropped from 102 to 21

Question 22

Example of Tory controversy before the 1997 election

Answer 22

Minister resigns after his wife commits suicide apparently over his affairs

Question 23

What were the four elements that helped labour win the 1997 election

Answer 23

-appeal to the middle classes
-appeal to the tabloid press
-appeal to lib dem voters
-tories economic reputation

Question 24

Why did Gordon brown lose the 2010 election

Answer 24

-timing (didn’t call an election before the financial crisis struck, he had no mandate)
-personal image (not charismatic)
-the press was unkind to the labour party

Question 25

What was unique about the 2010 election campaign

Answer 25

First ever televised debate between the party leaders

-cameron came across ok
-brown was a bit wooden
-clegg came across well

Question 26

Why did the 2010 election lead to a coalition

Answer 26

Brown was unpopular but Cameron wasn’t popular enough to win outright