This clip is a video showing the interview between BBC presenter David Dimbleby and defeated Prime Minister Harold Wilson. This interview took place in June 1970, the following morning after the elections had taken place. This clip can be viewed as useful in many ways as it highlights many issues and views that the public had in regards to Wilson and the Labour Party. As well as this the interview also allows the audience during this period to understand more about Wilson’s views leading up to the election and what he had thought the outcome would be in comparison to what it had turned out to be. In addition to this, this clip is also useful for beginning to identify more about the political issues in context of this time period as …show more content…
It is important to understand the reasons why the Labour party had failed to gain as many votes as they had done in previous years, as it adds to a historian’s understanding about the changes in British politics during the 1970’s and what this reflected about the British public’s attitudes during this time. Wilson and Dimbleby discuss how potentially it could have been that certain groups of people such as ‘housewives’ had not cast their vote, which Dimbleby suggested could have contributed towards their loss. It is important to note that during the time when the election was held Britain’s economy had begun showing signs of improvement and by May 1970 Labour had overtaken Conservatives in the opinion polls too. In the following month when the elections were held, it is clear to understand that Wilson had been confident about his decision in regards to the time that the election was being held as he had could have held them in June or later on in October. This clip shows the interviewer specifically focusing on this decision and asking Wilson to speak more about any regrets he may have had about this decision or if he had felt that there could have been a different outcome if the elections were held later. From these questions, we are able to get a sense of the shock that many members of the public may have felt during this time. This can be seen by the nature of questions that were being asked, which can suggest many Labour supporters were surprised by the Conservatives’ coming to
It could be argued that Gladstone’s failure to unite his party, during a time when their ultimate support and confidence in his leadership was crucial, was a significant tactical error that contributed heavily towards the failure of the 1886 Home Rule Bill. The results of the 1885 general election were to have a significant impact on the political landscape of Britain; despite winning the most seats, the Liberals did not have an overall majority.As Parnell and the Irish Parliamentry Party (IPP) held the balance...
The conservative party has been in existence since the 1670s and was first called the ‘Tories’, a term used by the Scottish and Irish to describe a robber. This party is a right- wing party which believed in conserving the tradition and the king, as the name entails. David Cameron, the current party leader became the leader in 2005. He is also the present prime minister of Great Britain and he has made a lot of changes since he became the leader of the party. In this essay, I will talk about the history of the party, looking into detail at their gradual changes or transition in ideology and the various changes that David Cameron has made to the party’s image and beliefs.
Heath’s premiership during the years of 1970 to 1974 presents a period of affluence and appeasement alongside a lack of control indicates that Heath’s reign largely was a failure in maintaining stability. Despite the achievements that Heath implemented like Brittain finally getting into the EEC, the Oil Crisis, U-turn policies and the rest of the economic failures overshadow the policies that provided stability and modernisation establishing that Heath, according to Row ‘was good at policies not politics.’
This essay will address whether New Labour contained policies with which it wished to pursue, or was solely developed in order to win elections. It is important to realise whether a political party that held office for approximately 13 years only possessed the goal of winning elections, or promoted policies which it wished to pursue. If a party that held no substance was governing for 13 years, it would be unfair to the people. New Labour was designed to win elections, but still contained policies which it wished to pursue. To adequately defend this thesis, one must look at the re-branding steps taken by New Labour and the new policies the party was going to pursue. Through analysis, it will be shown that New Labour promoted policies in regards
The Liberal victory in General Election of 1906 has gone down in History for being one of the biggest landslides in modern UK politics, but it can be argued that it was more of a Conservative loss than a Liberal gain.
In the 1906 election, the number of seats won by Liberals increased from 184 to 377, in contrast the numbers of seats lost by the Conservatives went from 402 seats won in 1900 to 157 seats lost in the 1906 election, this represented the lowest number of seats held by a Conservative government since 1832. This dramatic reversal of constituencies held, is due to a number of reasons. An argument is that, due to some poor decisions made by the Conservative governments, they in fact contributed largely to the landslide result in the 1906 election. ‘They were in effect the architects to the own downfall.’
Was the electoral result a consequence of changing British values, or was it a result of Conservative blunders? There is no doubt that the various stratas of British society were all dissatisfied at some point with Conservative rule. The working classes in particular felt upset by the Conservatives over many issues. Chinese Slavery, the decision by the Conservative Government to send thousands of Chinese labourers to South Africa to work the goldmines to rebuild the economy after the Boer War angered many of the working class. To them this decision closed the chance of white emigration to South Africa... ...
Election results also suggest that the Liberal Government were not heading for failure but proceeding to continue strongly. I therefore contradict Dangerfield's theory that the Liberal government were doomed to failure prior to World War 1, suggesting that they were still a strong government. It would be easy to make assumptions looking back in hindsight as Dangerfield did, however I would argue that upon entering World War 1 the Liberal Party still appeared to be strong. Unfortunately the nature of the pre war years seem to accentuate the problems and cast a shadow over the achievements, Dangerfield is a clear critique of Liberal England and what it has to offer.
... shows a trend that in 1997 it was an Anti-Tory election, and in 2001
I will be attempting to evaluate and analyse the term of Thatcherism'. I will raise issues and introduce her consensus and strategies as a PM. To what extent or degree has the Thatcher government dominated British politics.
In the midst of one of the most controversial presidential elections in history, both political parties are struggling to prove that their candidate is the best choice. Clinton and Trump’s disapproval ratings are very low, but one has to ask, is there really a lesser evil to choose from? While Clinton has had her own fair share of past discrepancies, Trump’s track record proves much more troublesome. Donald Trump has proven to be an untrustworthy presidential candidate because of his misogynistic actions, his racial bias, and his corrupt business history.
...y more appealing by removing themselves from the criticisms that both the conservatives and liberals had and making labour appear as a new, different way in which politics should by heading. This may also be true by appearing to be the most progressive party. By promoting themselves a party of progress and change, labour would have appealed to the electorate who were uninterested in the same promises by traditional parties and convince more non voters to vote for a party that promotes radical and progressive changes. It is argued by the majority of critics that ‘new’ labour wasn’t as especially new as they made themselves seem, instead they took from a variety of past and present governments different ideals, goals and politics and combining them all to make a ‘new’ progressive party that would appeal to the masses that wanted a new radical change in politics.
While many films the primary goal is to entertain, others attempt to inspire a change in the minds and actions of the audience. These movies motivate people to change behaviors by demonstrating an alternative way of living. They often accomplish this by drawing new connections between the memories and experiences of the audience with the images and characters on the screen. An example of this type of movie is the film Seven Pounds. The film deals with concept of paying penance for one’s actions. The title comes from the Shakespeare play The Merchant Of Venice in which the concept of using “seven pounds of flesh” as the ultimate payment of a debt is given(Wikipedia). The main character’s careless actions lead to a substantial loss of life that he feels he must atone for. Although this character’s actions can be classified as extreme, he literally gives everything he has in an attempt to make amends for the lives he has taken. The movie calls for individuals to take responsibility for their actions instead of placing blame elsewhere. Ideally, audience members will leave the theaters believing that they should take greater effort to give back and make up for the wrong they have done to others. The film Seven Pounds attempts to accomplish this by demonstrating how the memory of seven seconds can motivate a man to seven extreme acts of contrition. The power of memory is illustrated through the film’s appeal to the audience, attempts to gain credibility, and contrasting images of past and present to motivate actions and change.
Sanders, D., Clarke, H., Stewart, M. and Whiteley, P. (2005) The 2005 General Election in Great Britain, [Online], Available: http://www.essex.ac.uk/bes/Papers/ec%20report%20final.pdf [Date Accessed: 25/01/2014].
The redistribution of 143 seats resulted in industrial boroughs such as Manchester and Sheffield gaining an MP for the very first time and subsequently, there was a rise in the number of urban middle class voters who were now recognised and admitted into the political system. In contrast, the monarch’s influence in politics decreased due to the Reform Act, as there were fewer s...