RESEARCH
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1945 ElectionThe General Election of July 1945 is one of the pivotal turning points in British political history. The Labour Party not only won its first Parliamentary majority, but also introduced a wide-ranging programme of social and economic reform which provided the basis for a political consensus lasting over thirty years. Many believe that the election campaign for a post-war government actually started in 1942, with the publication of the Beveridge Report, which Labour was most associated with in the public eye. The Labour Party seemed to express the ‘new popular radicalism’ of an electorate who wanted a post-war Britain that was more socially and economically equal. Historian Kenneth Morgan argued that ‘Labour alone seemed to understand and project the new mood.’ In the sidebar you can listen to Labour party activist Anita Long discuss how her family’s views were influenced by pre-war economic circumstances.
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Liberalism in North DevonLabour’s landslide victory in the 1945 General Election swept away much of the remnants of the pre-war Liberal Party. Henceforth, British politics was set for the rest of the Twentieth Century to be a two party system between the Conservatives and Labour. Yet the overall pattern since 1945 obscures regional variations. Far South-West Britain is one of the regional peripheries that could be viewed as bedrock for the Liberal Party. In many rural parts of the region the continued influence of religious nonconformity coupled with the dominance of independent industries such as farming and fishing, sustained traditional political allegiances which had existed for generations. On the sidebar, you can listen to Liberal Councillor Joan Morrish discuss her family’s long support of Liberalism, partly due to the Party’s links with Methodism. Nonetheless, even in its heartlands, the Liberals' influence had been in decline from the interwar period, and it wasn’t until the 1950s that the Party’s fortunes took a turn for the better. Cornwall and Devon were linchpins in this revival of the Liberals, and by the end of the decade they were once more the second party in the region in terms of the overall share of the vote. |
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Early Political MemoriesIn this digital story, Jeff Coates shares his first memories of political campaigning as a teenager... |
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Memories of the 1945 General ElectionIn this digital story, David Verney remembers the 1945 campaign in North Devon... |
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The 1970 General Election in ExeterMany thanks to our project volunteer, Imogen Crarer, for this fantastic article. The 1970 General Election is particularly memorable for the surprising victory of Edward Heath and the Conservative party. Going completely against the predications of the opinion polls, Heath won a clear majority of thirty seats after a 4.7 % swing in voter support - the largest recorded since 1945. Exeter’s experience of this General Election, with Conservative MP John Hannam’s unexpected defeat of Labour’s Gwyneth Dunwoody, was an interesting reflection of the national shift.
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