This Is England: Background and Context

Politics in the 1970's

The 1970s was a unsettling decade in British politics, witnessing power change hands three times across four General Elections and four Prime Ministers. The 1970s was a decade which saw several turn around in British politics. Over the course of no less than four General Elections and four Prime Ministers, the Conservatives seized power from Labour, lost it again in spectacular fashion, by a hung parliament, before retaking Number 10 Downing Street with the beginning of the Margaret Thatcher era. The political playing field was altered somewhat in 1969, really in the run-up to the 1970 General Election. Harold Wilson's Labour government passed the Representation Of The People Act 1969, which granted everyone in the country over the age of 18 the right to vote.

1970 General Election

The outcome of the 1970 General Election came as a surprise to many. Labour had been in power for six years, following Harold Wilson's victories at the polls in 1964 and 1966 - the second of which had cemented his majority to a reasonably comfortable 97. Opinion polls had Labour more than 12% ahead of their rivals right up to election day, but ultimately Heath's Tories won a 31-seat majority. Some have credited controversial anti-immigration figure Enoch Powell as the reason for the Conservative victory, with the Daily Express claiming in 1972 that he was the " most popular politician in the country ". However, in Government Heath's authority was undermined by a succession of 'u-turns' over the economy, and his inability to deal with the Unions. Europe was also a tricky issue for the Conservatives. Heath chose to take Britain into the European Economic Community, which was unpopular with many MPs and in particular Enoch Powell, who turned against the Tories and advocated a vote for labour.

Harold Wilson Returns to Downing Street

Powell's endorsement of Labour could not have come at a worse time for the Conservatives, timed as it was just days before the February 1974 General Election. Labour just scraped ahead in the vote, beating the Conservatives by a mere four seats. Although they were the largest Party, they did not have a majority and the result was a Hung Parliament. After failed coalition talks between Heath and the Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe, Wilson decided that Labour would take power as a minority government. Eight months later, in a make-or-break move, Wilson decided to push for an outright majority and called another General Election. This was only the second time that there had been two General Elections in a year, other than those in January and December 1910, and Wilson's gamble paid off. Labour won the October 1974 poll by the narrowest of margins, finishing with a majority of four seats.

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher became leader of the Conservative Party in 1975, after defeating Heath in the first round of the leadership election. Heath's preferred successor, William Whitelaw, chose not to run in the first round, perhaps out of deference to his leader, and by the time he joined the race for the second round of voting it was already too late. Thatcher had cemented her popularity and took almost double the votes of her opponent.

Winter of Discontent

Thatcher was not to do battle with Wilson at the dispatch box for long, however. The Labour leader surprised many by standing aside in favour of James Callaghan in March 1976. By 1977, a succession of by-election defeats had seen Labour's majority eroded back to that of a minority government. With the economy on the slide, in the winter of 1978 there were widespread strikes over Callaghan's plans to impose a public-sector pay freeze to control inflation. This was the Winter of Discontent, and it weakened Callaghan's position to the point that he was defeated ina vote of no confidence by a single vote on March 28, 1979. This forced Callaghan to hold a General Election that May. Margaret Thatcher's Tories gained 63 seats while Labour lost 51, leaving the Conservatives in power with a majority of 44 - the third time in the 1970s that power had changed hands. This was not a trend that would continue, however; Thatcher made herself quite at home in Downing Street, and was not to leave for some 11 years.

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