The 1959 British General Election

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how the British general election of 1959 was won by the Conservative Party and how the causes of the Conservative victory are varied and span a large period of time. It looks at how the social change that occurred in Britain throughout the 1950s can be attributed to the working class electorate shifting towards Conservatism and how the successful economic policies of the Tory government, stemming from the Labour government's socialist policies of the 1940s, can be linked to the social change, providing prosperity for large portions of the country and gaining votes for the Tories. It also examines how economic prosperity served to modify the public perceptions of public ownership, many seeing it as unnecessary and outdated, which harmed Labour's electoral strength as the party was synonymous with nationalization policies.

From the Paper:

"By 1958 Labour had seemed to make inroads into the Conservative lead, with Gallup polls suggesting a close election and series of by election victories for Labour . However Prime Minister Howard Macmillan called the election at excellent time for the Tories, with high production, low bank rates, popular international relations with the superpowers and a Labour party under fire from the London bus strikes. The eventual election campaign saw the polls fluctuate initially to the left, however a costly mistake during a speech Labour leader Gaitskell regarding purchase taxes saw polls move swiftly to the right. As can be seen there were various factors in the Conservative victory in 1959, to come to a definitive conclusion each factor must be analysed in detail. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Lamb, Richard, The Macmillan Years 1957-1963: The Emerging Truth (John Murray, 1995)
• Dorey, Peter British Politics Since 1945 (Blackwell, 1995)
• Butler and Rose, The British General Election of 1959 (Macmillan, 1959)
• Childs, David, Britain Since 1945: A Political History (Routledge, 1997)
• 'Report of the Fifty-Eighth Annual Conference of the Labour Party' London, 1959 pp.107-109, in The Labour Party: Socialism and society since 1951 ed. Fielding, Steven (Manchester University Press, 1997)

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