The Labour Party 1979 - 1983
- Created by: yazmintaylorx
- Created on: 03-05-18 17:35
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- The Labour Party 1979 - 1983
- Personalities
- personality clashes caused a divisive campaign to succeed Callaghan
- Dennis Healey was defeated by Micheal Foot
- Michael Foot was more left-wing than previous leaders
- Neil Kinnock later did much to unite the party but also struggled to measure up to Thatcher
- A Two-Party System
- British politics is basically a duopoly
- the SDP phenomenon was a short-lived one
- once Lab. became less extreme in the mid/late 1980s support for the SDP faded
- SDP having two leaders (David Owen & David Steel) was also confusing for voters
- The Formation of the SPD
- 'Gang of Four'
- David Owen
- Shirley Williams
- Bill Rodgers
- Roy Jenkins
- four top Lab. figures quit Lab. Party in 1981
- they felt Lab. was now too left-wing & unelectable
- they formed a new centre party the Social Demoractic Party or SDP
- 28 other Lab. MPs joined
- they formed an alliance with the Liberal Party & came very close to Lab's share of the vote in the 1983 election
- the SDP was the biggest new development in Uk politics for decades
- 'Gang of Four'
- following the collapse of Callaghan's govt & the 'Winter of Discontent' Lab. would be out of power for 18 years & have 4 different leaders
- Party would eventually re-align itself in the centre ground & it eventually came to accept many of the policies of the Thatcher govt. e.g. privatisation
- Personalities
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