1951 election voting behaviour

Class based voting

• 2/3 of the working class voted Labour

• 4/5 of the middle class voted Conservative

• Highest point of class alignment

Partisan alignment

• most voters felt strongly aligned with a party as a result of their class

• During the 1950s most voters referred to class when asked what party they stood for

• Unusual for voters to switch party allegiance

• 1964 - 92% of voters identify with a party

Gender voting

• conservative - labour lead was 12% women and 5% men

• Women tend to have a more traditional outlook

• Women live longer and old people tend to be more conservative

• Women less likely to be employed in the unionised industries

Age voting

• older more conservative

• Younger more socialist

Context

• 1945 labour landslide (welfare state, NHS, acceptance of mixed economy)

• By 1951 the public thought that labour were out of ideas since their campaign was run on past achievements not what they were going to do next

Why did Labour lose?

• cabinet seen as aging

• Party divided by ideological/ policy disagreements

• Majority of the party wanted ‘consolidation’

• Most of the 1945 election manifesto promises complete, party now directionless

• Nationalisation was becoming unpopular

• Attlee fought election based on past successes

Why did the Conservatives win?

• accepted the labour reforms of the welfare state

• Political machine very effective, large donations, sophisticated propaganda and the majority of newspapers supported the Tories

• Regarded as a party of continuity/ efficiency - promised consolidation not innovation

• Able to exploit labours failures to improve living conditions (Continuation of rationing specifically bread which hadn’t been rationed during the war)

• Promised to build 300,000 more houses but admitted not much could be done in terms of rationing in the manifesto

The campaign

• claims rhat labour victory would produce ‘straight totalitarianism’

• Fears of wider nationalisation, neglect or economic prosperity and class-oriented legislation

• C Offered a new direction

• Attlee went on a 1000 mile tour in his family saloon car with his wife and a single detective

Churchill used the trains for his travel (exciting?)

Uncontrollable factors

• liberals put up 475 candidates in 1950 and got 2.6 mil votes (9.1%)

• 1951 could only manage 109 candidates and only got 2.6% of the vote

• conservatives benefitted from the decreased presence of the liberals because they appealed to their voters more than labour