Topic 3, Lesson 1: Why did the Conservatives win the 1970 General Election?

Topic 3, Lesson 1: Why did the Conservatives win the 1970 General Election?

The Selsdon Park Conference and ‘Selsdon Man’ (The Conservative 1970 Manifesto)

• What did the Conservative Party agree to at Selsdon Park in January 1970?

• Who was the leader of the Conservative Party at the time?

• What was the name given to this new type of Conservatism?

• Which particular areas of politics and economics did the Conservative Party want to change their approach toward?

• How did Harold Wilson (leader of the Labour Party at the time) insult this new method of Conservative governing?

In January 1970, the Conservative Party held a meeting in Selsdon Park where the party agreed to break away from the Post-War Consensus.

This new type of Conservatism was sometimes referred to as the ‘New Right’.

The Conservatives wanted to turn their attention to promoting a laissez-faire approach to the economy and encourage people to use their new freedom to promote their own interests.

The Conservative party also wanted to cut public subsidies (financial grants) to Britain’s ‘lame-duck’ industries. Lame duck industries were those that no longer played a crucial role in the growth of the economy. e.g. coal was no longer needed because people had other methods of heating and transportation.

This new Conservatism was insulted by Harold Wilson who devised the term ‘Selsdon Man’ as a way of representing an imaginary Conservative voter who rejected the Post-War Consensus.

“The Selsdon Man is designing a system of society for the ruthless and the punishing, the uncaring”

Topic 3, Lesson 1: Why did the Conservatives win the 1970 General Election?

Reasons the Conservatives Won the 1970 Election

• The 1970 Conservative Election Campaign

  • What were the 6 features of the Conservative Party’s 1970 election campaign?

  • How did these features differ to those of the Post-War Consensus?

• Why did Heath appeal as a leader?

• The Rivers of Blood Speech

  • Which class of people did the Rivers of Blood Speech appeal to?

  • What was the Rivers of Blood speech about?

  • Who gave the Rivers of Blood Speech?

  • How many votes did the Rivers of Blood speech gain the Conservative party?

  • What did R.W John claim about the Rivers of Blood Speech?

The 1970 Conservative Party Manifesto Commitments:

1. Tax Reform

2. Better Law and Order

3. Reform to Trade Unions

4. Immigration Controls

5. Cut to Public Spending

6. End to public subsidy to ‘Lame Duck’ industries

The Post-War Consensus:

1. Keynesian Economics

2. Commitment to full employment

3. Nationalisation of Key Industries

4. High taxes

5. Heavy Regulations

6. Strong Trade Unions

7. A generous welfare state

Heath’s Appeal

• Heath was not part of The Establishment

• Appeared as a new face for the Tories

• First Conservative leader to have been educated at a state school

• Had gained experience under Harold MacMillan (as chief negotiator) and on his own as Conservative Party leader from 1965

Rivers of Blood Speech

• Enoch Powell’

• 1968

• Broadcasted his opinion on immigration

• Gained the Conservative party 2.5 million votes

• R.W John claimed that Enoch Powell’s infamous Rivers of Blood speech won the Conservatives the 1970 election.

  He argued that the racist, anti-immigrant sentiment appealed to members of the white working class who traditionally voted Labour or Liberal.

• “Of all those who had switched their vote from one party to another in the election, 50% were working class Powellites”

Topic 3, Lesson 1: Why did the Conservatives win the 1970 General Election?

Reasons Labour Lost the 1970 Election

• Wilson’s Overconfidence

  • Why did Harold Wilson feel that his Labour government would be successful in the 1970 election?

• What opposition did Wilson face during his time as Prime Minister that contributed to his electoral defeat of 1970?

  • Social policies

  • Economic Policies

  • International Policies

• Wilson’s Overconfidence

Wilson felt that he would comfortably win the 1970 general election given that the economy had boomed under Roy Jenkins after the 1967 Devaluation of Sterling.

HOWEVER

• White Heat of Technology failed to resolve Britain’s long-term economic problems

• Britain’s EEC Application had been rejected in 1967

• 1967 Devaluation of Sterling (£)

• Wilson’s inability to publicly condemn the Vietnam War left Labour left-wingers angry

• Withdrawal from East of Suez alongside the Rhodesia Crisis left the Labour right-wingers annoyed

• Opposition to the Permissive Society led by Mary Whitehouse

• Failure to control the Wildcat Strikes of 1966-67

• Abandoning of the proposed White Paper, In Place of Strife (1969)

…

…