Why labour lost 1979

As Anthony King wrote in :. There was certainly plenty of talk about how the Conservatives wanted a clear break from the past, to change as they say it decades of decline, but this was not an overall political message presented to the public about a strident move to the right.

Indeed, as The British General Election of points outs, there was no swing to the right during the campaign amongst voters when it came to issues such as public spending and tax levels. And above all the Tories won because Labour lost — due to being seen as incompetent. Callaghan was a nice man, but his government was shambolic in the views of the public who gave the Tories the majority.

Competence or valence and appealing to voters on the grounds where they are, rather than striking off in a completely different direction, are what won it for Margaret Thatcher in Part of that has to be about winning on valance — showing competence and an ability to deliver on widely-shared objectives, such as a better health service and a strong economy.

Part of it too is about liberalism — showing how it is the right way to solve the problems that most concern voters, such as by cutting crime through rehabilitation and by applying humanity to immigration. Liberal competence on the issues which matter the most to voters would be the mirror image of what won it for the Conservatives in Basically WE have to show our competence valence for Government to ALL in the uk via our social media, door knocking and leaflets.

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Skip to content ». Skip to main content. Home History of the UK Government. Past Prime Ministers James Callaghan.

Is this page useful? Maybe Yes this page is useful No this page is not useful. Thank you for your feedback. Report a problem with this page. What were you doing? What went wrong? Email address. Although the government picked up slightly in the polls during the campaign, on 3 May Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first woman prime minister.

Mr Callaghan was generous in defeat Margaret Thatcher, Britain's first woman Prime Minister.