Why Did Labour Win the 64 Election

661 Words3 Pages
There are a number of reasons as to why the Labour Party won the 1964 election, however the main reason was because the Conservative Party had been weakened significantly over the previous 13 years. One huge failing of the Conservatives was the scandals it faced, such as the affair between John Profumo (the Secretary of State for War) and a high class prostitute who was also conducting relations with a Russian spy. This affair may have possibly lead to a breach of national security and worried many government officials at the time. The revelations of it also shocked many ordinary British people and helped put the party name into disrepute. Another failing of the Conservative Party was the Suez crisis of 1956. The crisis was caused by the Prime minister of the time Anthony Eden, who agreed that Britain should try to gain back control of the Suez Canal with help from the French after it was nationalised by the Egyptians. The canal was an important trade route at the time, with boats going through on their way to and from the Mediterranean. These plans angered the American government at the time, due to the threat of the Soviet Union (who the USA believed was highly dangerous and should be stopped by all Western countries) and the fact that it was only 11 years since the end of WW2. Eden eventually gave up thanks to the Americans, however to the British people of the time it seemed like the Conservative government of the time was weak and easily controlled by America. One other aspect of the Conservative Party which didn’t appeal to the electorate in the later years of their government was the outdated and slightly ghoulish appearance of the then Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home. Compared with the new fresh image of the Labour Party of the time which was focused on consolidating its power base and going back to its working class roots, the Conservatives seemed
Open Document