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1945 election - Coggle Diagram
1945 election
Churchill
may have been assumed that due to victory over Europe, Churchill would have the support and vote of his country
may 1945 Churchills approval rating in opinion polls stood at 83% showing that in the space of two months Churchill sabotaged himself
Simon Schama - 'the election campaign taught Churchill not to confuse the heartfelt applause with votes' - shows that while Churchill was praised for his victory, he couldn't count on this praise alone to carry his campaign
Churchill made mistakes during the war which the people of britain witnessed- used his military background effectively but failed to divide attention between the home front and the military.
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Martin Pugh- 'Bevin and Morrison became so clearly associated in the publics mind with Britains victorious war effort that they enhanced the parties credibility'
Paul Addison- 'the very qualities that made Churchill a Great leader in war were ill-suited to domestic politics in peacetime.'
biggest mistake was the Gestapo Broadcast. Churchill stated on his radio broadcast on 4 June 1945 'they (the labour government) would have to fall back on some form of Gestapo.' -shows Churchill tried to make the Labour Party look bad in the eyes of the public
Roger Hermiston- 'the gestapo speech was merely a symptom of the conservative malaise, rather than a material cause of their defeat.'
Leo Amery wrote in his diary- 'a fantastical onslaught on socialism which while cheering a good many of our supporters, will put off a lot of those who might otherwise have voted on the main international issue.'
Labour Party
polling evidence suggests that housing was the key election issue due to bombing and also due to the appalling conditions of housing in inner cities
labour promised significant social house building programmes in the post war period - listening to their public
Labour was backed by the Daily Mirror and the News Chronicle, two papers which had gained credibility for attacks on appeasement, facism and chamberlain - could advocate for the Labour Party and convince public to vote for them.
6 January 1945, daily mirror said- 'we may all be equal in death. but many thousands of britons have given everything in this war in order that we might be equal in life too.'
Martin Pugh- daily mail was key- 'its role lay in explaining Labour's socialism to voters not accustomed to supporting the party.'
beverdidge report
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many tories were keen to see an introduction of the report but the lukewarm attitude of key figures like Churchill and Kingsley wood clouded the public's view and put them off voting conservative
British public were keen to see the report implemented and many prominent labour politicians had argued in favour of the report. it formed the core of the labour manifesto
Juliet Gardiner- 'Labours appeal was that they were seen to be the party most likely to fulfil the publics demand for port war social reform that had been whetter by the publication of the Beverage report.'
Conservative party
many people remembered the conservatives were responsible for the attempted appeasement of Hitler in Munich and it was predominantly conservatives who called for peace with germany during the phoney war period.
many people struggled to forget 'the hungry 30s' and blamed the tories for social problems like benefit cuts and the means test.
labour MP Roy Jenkins- 'let us remember that hiding behind Mr Churchills war record are hundred of tory members of parliament, men who sought to buy off Nazism and racism with loans and friendships'
Harold Mcmillan-' it was not Churchill who lost the 1945 election, it was the ghost of neville chamberlain'
background
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most thought the results would be similar to the last- conservative victory with minor gains for labour
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historiography
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Simon Schama- argues the tory election campaign was extremely ineffective and this contributed significantly to their defeat