The election saw the two-party system at its peak, with turnout at almost 84 per cent. Exhausted after five years of activism, which had seen the birth of the postwar welfare state and the independence of India and Pakistan, as well as the imposition of rigorous economic austerity, the Attlee government saw its majority cut to just five seats. Why Labour won: Though many Britons were tiring of reform and austerity, Attlee had earned the gratitude of swathes of working-class Britain.
The great mystery about the election is why Attlee called it when he did not need to. Once again the key issues were nationalisation, housing and economic controls, and Labour won the popular count with almost 14 million votes. But the electoral system handed victory to the Conservatives, squeaking in with a seat majority. At the age of almost 77, Churchill returned as prime minister.
Why the Tories won: Attlee misjudged the date of the election and his government seemed exhausted. The Tories, though, adopted a moderate tone. After Churchill retired, his successor, Sir Anthony Eden, called a snap general election, winning a comfortable seat majority.
Rationing was over, the economy was booming and the Tories coasted to victory on the back of prosperity. Labour, with the year-old Attlee still at the helm, were bitterly divided between leftwing Bevanites and centrist Gaitskellites, and the result was never seriously in doubt. Ironically, though, Eden only lasted another 18 months, resigning because of ill health after the debacle of the Suez Crisis.
Why the Tories won: Voters were beginning to enjoy postwar prosperity, while the new Conservative prime minister cut an enormously popular and attractive figure. The election was another non-event. Though Labour fought a slick campaign, their new leader, Hugh Gaitskell, remained a controversial figure inside his own party.
After the Tories won their third successive election with a seat majority, some commentators wondered whether rising affluence would make it impossible for Labour to win again. Why the Tories won: Living standards continued to soar and the electorate saw no need to change horses, from Conservative to Labour, in midstream.
Macmillan had resigned the year before; his successor, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, was a plodding, uninspiring figure, and many people expected the smart, technocratic Wilson to win comfortably. But after Home staged a late comeback, Wilson won with only a narrow five-seat majority.
After governing for almost 18 months with a wafer-thin majority, Wilson went to the country to secure a bigger mandate. The economic picture was bright, the government seemed united and the Conservatives had just dumped Home for the relatively little-known Edward Heath. Voters felt that he should have the chance to govern with a proper working majority.
The final years of the s, dominated by a humiliating devaluation of the pound and a rift with the trade unions, had been damaging for Wilson.
Even so, he was widely expected to stroll to victory against the lacklustre Heath in the sunshine of But complacency proved his undoing.
Why the Tories won: Economic bad news reawakened memories of the late s, and while Edward Heath channelled a kind of underdog spirit, Wilson seemed oddly complacent. The prime minister narrowly escaped harm. In , an upswing in the economy led to her election to a third term, but Thatcher soon alienated some members of her own party because of her poll-tax policies and opposition to further British integration into the European Community.
She withdrew her nomination, and John Major, the chancellor of the Exchequer since , was chosen as Conservative leader. On November 28, Thatcher resigned as prime minister and was succeeded by Major. In , she was made a baroness and took a seat in the House of Lords. In later years, Thatcher worked as a consultant, served as the chancellor of the College of William and Mary and wrote her memoirs, as well as other books on politics. She continued to work with the Thatcher Foundation, which she created to foster the ideals of democracy, free trade and cooperation among nations.
Though she stopped appearing in public after suffering a series of small strokes in the early s, her influence remained strong. In , the former prime minister was the subject of an award-winning and controversial biographical film, The Iron Lady , which depicted her political rise and fall.
Margaret Thatcher died on April 8, , at the age of But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Mays would finish his career with home runs, good for third on the all-time list at the time of his retirement. Willie Howard On May 4, , a group of thirteen young people departs Washington, D.
Their journey is peaceful at first, but the riders will meet with shocking violence on their way to New Orleans, eventually being forced to evacuate from On May 4, , in a groan-inducing moment on the floor of U. Parliament, a lawmaker uses a pun that will spawn its own holiday far, far away from the halls of government.
My researcher, who is a bit of a wit, said that A ceremony on May 4, marks the official beginning of the second attempt to build the Panama Canal. This second attempt to bridge the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans will succeed, dramatically altering world trade as well as the physical and geopolitical landscape of Central Labour looks set for one of its worst election results since World War Two.
Some traditional Labour constituencies, such as Darlington, Sedgefield and Workington, in the north of England, will have a Conservative MP for the first time in decades - or in the case of Bishop Auckland and Blyth Valley - for the first time since the seat was created.
Labour took Putney, in south-west London, from the Tories, in a rare bright spot for Jeremy Corbyn's party. A row has already broken out at the top of the Labour Party, with some candidates blaming Jeremy Corbyn's unpopularity on the doorstep and others blaming the party's policy of holding another Brexit referendum.
Leave-supporting Labour chairman Ian Lavery, who held his seat with a reduced majority, said he was "desperately disappointed", adding that voters in Labour's "heartlands" were "aggrieved" at the party's Brexit stance. Downing Street said earlier that if Mr Johnson was returned to Downing Street, there would be a minor cabinet reshuffle on Monday.
This is the UK's third general election in less than five years - and the first one to take place in December in nearly years. Mr Johnson focused relentlessly on a single message, to "get Brexit done", while Labour primarily campaigned on a promise to end austerity by increasing spending on public services and the National Health Service. Nigel Farage said his Brexit Party had taken votes from Labour in Tory target seats , although he himself had spoiled his ballot paper "as I could not bring myself to vote Conservative".
What questions do you have about the election result? In some cases your question will be published, displaying your name and location as you provide it, unless you state otherwise. Your contact details will never be published.
Please ensure you have read the terms and conditions. If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or send them via email to YourQuestions bbc. Please include your name, age and location with any question you send in.
When do we find out who has won the election?
0コメント