The Labour Party

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THE LABOUR PARTY LOST 4 GENERAL ELECTIONS BETWEEN 1979AND 1992. THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY LOST 3 GENERAL ELECTIONS BETWEEN 2005. WHY?
An extract from Arthur Marwick- “British Society Since 1945”:
The fall of Labour Party: the labour government has had a very difficult time leading to the general elections of 1979. The years between 1976-79 proved to be intense ones, filled with economic problems, intensified with labour movements looking to rejuvenate. This led to the party changing some of it’s policies and its position changed. The changes led to a division in the party: some members’ saw the party was being radicalised; therefore, they opted out of the party.
The government saw unemployment grew, inflation was at an annual 8.6 percent, stagflation also set in due to the demand of higher wages by workers, as wages increase so does the price of goods.
Dissatisfaction on how Labour government handled national issues such as the “winter of discontent” the trade union action had hit the country so hard that most of the sectors in the economy grind to a halt. The electorate knew that labour could not cut the trade union powers because of their left trade union origins and in this period people were sick and tired of how the trade union was holding the nation to ransom.
Another factor that contributed to the decline of labour was the internal dispute of its members over the party's ideology, issues regarding the relationship between the trade union and labour.
The problem with the economy compounded the issue for the government. The inflation rate surged an overall inflation running at 20%; there was a decline in the value of the pounds and growing debit balance of trade also threaten to make Britain bankrupt.
The Labour election mani...

... middle of paper ...

... it in a way acceptable to the electorates. Labour party won the 1997 election due to these factors.

The Blair led government continued to enjoy high popularity towards the 2001 elections: Labour enjoyed a good first term: inflation was down, and employment went up, living standards of the middle class rising along with a housing boom.
The Conservatives went on to lose another to elections to the Labour party as a result of a division in the conservative party: there has been internal conflict leading to the party having two leaders in the space of two years. The party has moved further right of the political spectrum, making the party out of the focal point of the electorate. Similarly to what happened to Labour during Thatcher’s reign, the Conservative party lacked a leader who had a good personality, enthusiasm and credibility that could match that of Blair.

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