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Reasons for Churchill's defeat 1945 (Conservative weakness Dislike…
Reasons for Churchill's defeat 1945
Conservative weakness
Dislike for conservatives
Conservatives election campaign was not as well organised
heavily reliant on Churchill's reputation - built on war time success
Labour policies full of social reform
Their campaign focused too much on churchill.
public grew worried that Churchill might still be too focused on the foreign policy in the aftermath of the war.
the tories did not focus enough on rebuilding Britain
Many working class citizens remembered Churchill as being opposed to strikes and socialism, and the C party was often associated with the unemployment and hardship of 1930's
Churchill gave unwise speech (radio broadcast) about the Labour needing a 'Gestapo' to enforce its policies
made him unpopular considering the horrors of recent past
This provided Attlee with fodder for his campaign. Responding the next day, he accused the Tories of being elitist and reasserted that the Labour party stood for the rights and freedoms of ordinary working people
The party was still carrying the blame for the appeasement of Hitler in the 1930's
excoriated by the book Guilty men published 1940
Eg. Chamberlain criticised for Munich agreement 1938 which sanctioned Germany's annexation of parts of Czechslovakia.
Churchill himself opposed agreement calling it a 'defeat without war' but in the mind of the public this policy linked to conservatives
Public memory against the tories post war after David Lloyd George, who won WW1 but as PM post war, it was marked by broken promises, unemployment, industrial unrest etc...
afraid for repeat with Churchill
Labour's strengths
Promoted domestic change which appealed to the general public who didn't want a return to the hardship of the 1930's
More likely to pass reforms
movement for social reform reached climax in 1942 (Bevridge) included ideas = comprehensive manifesto of social reforms
NHS
Full employment policy
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Many of the state intervention policies were attributed to labour
Attlee's government offered peace and prosperity at home (contrast to Churchill)
The armed forces had became more aware of political issues and now favoured Labour
Leader Attlee, thought to be more likely to implement 'cradle-to-grave' healthcare in form of NHS and the beverage report
Churchill said it would be too expensive to implement ideas such as NHS
tories accused of delaying report
In earlier years Churchill = Liberal and social reformer working with Bevridge in introducing labour exchanges
report could be constructed as an extension of reforms Churchill introduced 1908-11
meaning report = opportunity for Churchill that he missed
Labour won 47% of votes and 61% of seats - biggest Labour victory ever
New political atmosphere
during war, voters had become less class-bound. civilians sharing bomb shelters with strangers = social mix
Labour's forward looking election slogan "Let us face the future"