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The rise of the Labour Party - Coggle Diagram
The rise of the Labour Party
Stability
The fact that the Labour Party was united would attract voters as they would've seen different political parties (Liberal's) split. Showing signs of stability meant that voters were able to trust the Labour Party to implement promised reforms/policies
There were splits in 1914 about supporting the war but the party was reunited after Labour ministers resigned in 1917
Labour emerged united at the end of the war
Growth in trade union membership
Unions funded the party from membership fees and provided a large bulk of membership
This meant that the Labour Party had funds to promote the party and have a stronger campaign than other political parties
WWI led to a growth in trade union membership
The growth in trade union membership meant that Labour was gain more voters which led to more money as trade unions funded parties through membership fees. Labour Party would ensure that reforms would help the ordinary worker
The Labour Party was representing a growing sense of the working class which would help win supporters from the Liberal Party. Representation of People Act in 1918 meant that more poorer men were able to vote as men over 21 could vote
Significance of Liberal split
DLG feared losing a separate Liberal identity as the opposition of the Tories and attacked Labour
Asquith's gamble backfired since MacDonald ruled with economic caution and was able to impress everyone with how he handled foreign affairs
This is because he thought it would do a bad job and would then be forced to rely on Liberal support
Labour was able to gain more votes of the Liberals because of the conduct of MacDonald. This meant that the Liberal's would lose a large scale of votes and would see them crumble
Asquith backed of the Labour government after the 1923 election
Zinoviev letter
It suggested that the Labour Party could start a Communist revolution
This would cause the Labour Party to lose votes and losing the election. Because of the previous decline in the Liberal Party, the Tories would gain a large scale of votes after this letter was published in order to stop a supposedly communist revolution
4 days before the election the Daily Mail publishes a fake letter
MacDonald tried to gain a majority government election in Oct 1924 as he lost a vote of no confidence