A Level Revision Notes: Voting Behaviour - The 1979 General Election

Background:

In 1970 there was an election which Edward Heath (Conservative Party) lost
Then the 3-day week started because Coal Miners went on strike as power was turned off
In 1974, he called an election and Labour won. He gave miners the 28% pay rise they wanted
For 5 years trade unions were perhaps more powerful then politicians going to the government for Beer and Sandwiches.
In 1975, James Callahan took over
In 1976 the UK was in a lot of debt and the IMF bailed us out
In 1978/79 we had the “winter of discontent” where all people in the public sector went on strike
We were known as the “sick man of Europe” as we were behind all other European countries
In 1979, Labour got a vote of no confidence by one vote and a general election had to be called. Conservatives won and Mrs Thatcher won becoming the first female Prime Minister the UK ever had.
She changed the number of people who could be outside on strike not allowing others to go into work
Introduced the secret ballot for strikes to go ahead
And you could only go one strike in one place if you had another job as well
In 1985 she took on the coal miners and didn’t give them anything else – they later all went away.
“Labour still isn’t working”

The Key Policies:

Labour focused on its ability to deal with trade unions. Adopted a moderate financial course. Kept the left quiet.
The Conservatives focused “Labour isn’t working”. The policy included: Right to buy scheme and tax cuts.

The Campaign:

The mass media played a key role as Press conferences were timed to provide a mid-day news story, afternoon walkabouts where leaders met with ‘normal people’. Speeches were timed to catch the evening news.
People didn’t like the adversarial model and leaders avoided attacking each other
Campaign was much more presidential, media focused on the personality of the leaders
Thatcher Factor was significant as she seemed to be more: Less experienced, less in touch, more extreme etc.
Other parties were kept quieter due to the two main parties

Impact Of The Election:

Incumbency Factor: So we had years of Labour rule so we wanted to change
Campaign lead to a tighter election than the opinion polls suggested
Results showed rejection of Labour and a clear victory for the Conservatives despite it being tight.

Campaign was dull and uninspiring
Conservatives got votes off C2 (skilled workers)
However, polices showed the “mood for change”
Opinion polls showed a closing gap between the two parties which meant turnout increased which was good for the Conservative party
Set the tone for presidential style election

Geography	All areas swung towards the Conservatives but that was mainly in the south
Class	Conservatives remained with AB and C1. Labour had C2 and DE but it swung in favour of the Conservatives 11% and 9%
Gender	Men were split even whereas women favoured the Conservatives
Age	Labour won 18-24, Conservatives won everything else. Labour support went down at 35-54 and the Liberal support only came from 35-54
Race	Lack of data for black and ethnic minorities group as it was very small part of the vote - 5%.

Additional Notes:

Longest swing since WW2 (5%)
It brought 18 years of Tory rule
End of an era – Post War Consensus ended by Thatcher. It meant we had both public and private sectors.
The Income policy was introduced
Everyone wanted a pay rise – winter of discontent
1 and half million went on strike on the same day.