Labour lost power in 1970 because of it's own failings in the years 1964-1970

Labour lost power in 1970 because of it's own failings in the years 1964-1970

1. Failings

   • Economic
     • George's Brown's national plan 1965
       • George brown's behaviour and inconsistency, completion, competition wigh james Callaghan and orthodox economists, disagreements with Wilson and his resignation
         • 1968 devaluation both the delay in implement it and the effect of its acceptance in novermber 1967
     • Failure to negotiate entry into the EEC
     • public spending cut this reminded the idea of stop go economics which Wilson promised to avoid
       • This clashed with the fact that he had a progressive agenda to remove the class divide.
   • Leadership
     • Wilson's lack of trust in colleagues and reliance on 'kitchen cabinet' government; his reputation for being devious
   • Trade Union reform
     • breakdown of relations with Trade unions 1966/67 and seamen's and dockers' strikes; the failure of 'in Place of Strife', 1969 and the resultant splits
       • 1969- 3,000= strikes in Britain = 7 million days of lost work
   • Foreign
     • problems over Rhodesia and Northern Ireland
       • involvement with Biafra famine Igbo- famine 1967-70. Wilson sent arms to Nigeria
   • Immigration
     • Wilson refused to make the popular topic of immigration an election issue but Enoch Powell's 'rivers of blood' speech gained support from labour voters.

2. Other Reasons

   • that election defeat was not primarily caused by Labour's failings:
     • the economic situation was not of Labour's making; a difficult situation had been inherited from the Conservatives.
       • Once Roy Jenkins replaced Callaghan, tough deflationary measures helped to achieve a balance of payments surplus by 1969
         • from 1966 George Brown was moved to the Foreign Office and from 1968 was no longer in the cabinet and causing trouble
           • a face-saving compromise was negotiated with the trade unions before the Election in 1969
             • in 1970 Wilson's political position was looking strong and the economy was growing
               • Heath had a clear programme of policies for the modernisation of Britain – particularly better industrial relations and entry to EEC – 'One Nation Toryism', which had voter appeal
                 • at the Selsdon Park Conference, January 1970, tough approaches to economic modernisation, influenced by Sir Keith Joseph, were adopted.

3. Conclusion

   • Conservative victory was more the result of their own strengths than Labour's failings
   • Labour's 'failings' were more the product of circumstances than their own ineptitude although Conservative victory came as a surprise to both sides and that the fragility of Labour's position in 1970 was not as obvious at the time as it might seem in retrospect.