How successful was Gladstone’s first ministry? If ‘achieving what you set out to do’ defines successful, then Gladstone’s First Ministry was certainly a success. The Acts that were passed during his time as leader of the Liberal party had great impact on the population both then, and in some cases, still now. However not all his Acts were well received and this created some controversy. Gladstone’s main goal was to pacify Ireland and he was the first British politician to tackle the unfair way in which Ireland was run.
Immediately we can see he his motives of trying to introduce The Great Reform Act as great number of Liberal voters consisted of working class (famers and miners). The believe was also that people that would benefit from the act would simply feel obligated to vote Liberal to show their gratefulness. Some historians argue that Gladstone decided to introduce the act in order to strengthen the Liberal party, as some radical members were simply making chaos and disorder on the Liberal side. At that time Gladstone was also busy trying to pacify Ireland, and the Great Reform Act would give Irish farmers that were mainly Catholic the vote. Salisbury however realised the potential of the Act, and he simply couldn’t afford for the Liberal party to gain strength and have such a damaging impact on the Conservatives, therefore he proposed a deal.
'Never had it so good' - this statement by Macmillan in his speech describes the age of affluence and why the Conservatives were able to maintain their dominance due to it. Moreover, the role of Macmillan as PM from 1957 proved to be a strength for the party because he was successful in uniting the party as well as keeping a strong grip on the public despite emerging from the Suez crisis of 1957. Eden had disappeared after Suez crisis that had caused a dent in the party and left them humiliated but the way Macmillan handled the situation with confidence was appreciated and is
Pitt's financial policies in this period revealed his genius. However, there are numerous other explanation for his success e.g. weak opposition, his character. He was member of Tory political party and a role model, how a great prime minister should look like. After defeat in the American war of independence (1775-1783), Britain was in major financial crisis.
In the SNP, there was division between those who saw devolution as a stepping stone to independence and those who feared it might actually detract from that ultimate goal. [10] The resignation of Harold Wilson brought James Callaghan to power, however his small majority was eroded with several by-election losses and the government became increasingly unpopular during the Winter of Discontent, although an arrangement was negotiated in 1977 with the Liberals known as the Lib-Lab pact and a succession of deals with the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru to hold referendums on devolution in exchange for their support, had helped to prolong the government's
Another successful act passed involving Ireland was the ‘Irish Land Act 1870’ Tenants were now given compensation for eviction and there were limitations of landlord power, it was a step to improving Ireland, even though it was not as successful as the previous act, and had more opposition as Irish nationalists wanted British landlords to leave Ireland completely. Gladstone was the first British politician to tackle the unfair way in which Ireland was run, showing his dedication, motivating his successes. In addition to the points above, Gladstone’s First Ministry was also successful in its removal of unjustified privileges. An example of this is the ‘Civil Service Act 1870’, Gladstone hated wastage and inefficiency, therefore to
Politically, the 1920's government started out rough but then got back on their feet. In 1915 Warren G. Harding ran for and won the presidency. During his campaign he had promised "a return to normalcy." The Americans welcomed Harding's laid back atmosphere, a good change from Wilson's gloomy one. Harding made many changes to the cabinet, some very good and some very bad.
Frances Perkins believed that this illness changed Roosevelt's personality and in doing so, made him into a better man. Although confined to a wheelchair, Roosevelt returned to politics in 1928 to help his friend, Alfred Smith, in his unsuccessful attempt to beat Herbert Hoover in the presidential election. The following year Roosevelt was elected as governor of New York. From a lot of influence of others turnt Roosevelt into one of America’s most progressive politicians. The Wall Street Crash in October 1929, created the worst depression in American history.
The New Deal v Primary Sources v Franklin D. Roosevelt was governor of New York, when the Wall Street Crash in October 1929, created the worst depression in American history. Roosevelt made strenuous attempts to help those without work. He set up the New York State Emergency Relief Commission and appointed the respected Harry Hopkins to run the agency. Another popular figure with a good record for helping the disadvantaged, Frances Perkins, was recruited to the team as state industrial commissioner. With the help of Hopkins and Perkins, Roosevelt introduced help for the unemployed and those too old to work.
Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt both had lots to offer in their candidate race, although the outcome was won by a landslide. The Great Depression had hit America hard, and the damage was made even worse by Hoover’s administration that had attempted to control the outburst. The American people were hesitant between both Hoover and Roosevelt because they had suffered already so much from the depression. Hoover believed that eventually the economy would fix itself, while Roosevelt on the other hand believed that the country needed to take much action to turn its economy around. Roosevelt told the country what problems were at hand and dealt with them one-on-one, for example in his speech in San Francisco in 1932, “Our industrial plant is built; the problem just now is whether under existing conditions it is not overbuilt” [61].