Why Did the Conservative Party Win the 1951 General Election?

Why did the Conservative Party win the

1951 General Election?

The post war period in Britain, was a labour dominated era, in the 6 years running from 1945 to 1951 the formation of the country had changed dramatically, the labour government had set up the welfare state and socialist ideas had swept through the nation. The 1945 election was a great victory for the labour party, however some have concluded that the only real reason the labour party had won the election was due to the failure of preparation on behalf of the conservative party. Nevertheless, what ever lead to their victory certainly ensured that the opposition would fight harder to regain their place as government of Great Britain.

After the 1945 election the conservative party under went, an unprecedented change, the reformation of the party had many specific alterations which can be considered the key reason to their re-election in 1951. The reformation under the new chairman of the conservative party Lord Woolton was of great success, he managed to recruit 300 constituency agents by 1950, and he also managed to gain a substantial amount of money from investors and from donations , which in turn enabled the party to expand recruiting more staff. Each of these factors helped increase efficiency in the party, enabling them to reach out to the public more and get the party's new message across. Although the labour party at this time passed many pieces of radical legislation, such as the National Health Service act, the conservatives were thinking up their own pioneering pieces of legislation and policies. These policies brought unity to the party, which was needed if they were to win the election, but this was not without some resistance. Some far rights though that the party was moving to far to the centre, however Lord Woolton maintained control and gained full support by 1947 for the new face of the conservative party.

One of the most significant reasons to why the conservatives won the election of 1951vwas in fact down to the labour parties own failures and divisions. By looking at labours polices in the late 1940's many were looked upon with distrust and misunderstanding, for example the people of Britain thought that the NHS was a government paid service however when labour introduced the prescription charges on medication many people felt that the labour government was not fulfilling its promises. In fact due to this piece of legislation divisions in the party became apparent and the situations ultimately lead the resignation of the minister of health Aneurin Bevan. This was a shock to the people and a blow to the party. Another key failure in Labour policy which may have lead to the election of the conservatives in 1951 was the outbreak of the Korean War. The Labour government made a mistake in taking part in the war, public opinion was to stay out