UK Politics Explained: A Brief History (1900 - 2020)

in 1884 legislation was passed granting the vote to all men owning or renting land valued at 10 pounds increasing the electorate to approximately 60% for males this led trade union members to seek political representation to support the previously unrepresented working classes as a result in the year 1900 the Labour Party was formed however at the turn of the 20th century the Liberals were in power a party's principle was a personal liberty social reform and reducing the powers of the crown in the church in the period prior to World War one the Liberals made a huge political impact passing welfare reforms that created the basis of the welfare state in the United Kingdom including medical and unemployment insurance and old-age pensions referred to as new liberalism the tax policies and social reforms enacted in this period marked a significant shift in the political landscape with broader acceptance that instead of a minimal laissez-faire government the state can play an active and positive role in supporting individual freedom and fulfillment on the 4th of August 1914 in support of France as well as with the intention of keeping the Liberal Party United Prime Minister Asquith declared war against Germany and his allies governing throughout world war 1 was deeply damaging to the Liberals and a crisis over a shortage of artillery shells and ammunition ultimately led to the formation of a liberal conservative coalition where many liberals lost their seats in 1916 the Conservatives withdrew their support for us with instead backing Lloyd George he led a conservative majority coalition to victory in 1918 governing was what many deemed an anti liberal agenda in an all-out attempt to win the war following the victory Lloyd George retained power in the conservative coalition for a further four years the impact of World War one led to the fragmentation and consequent decline of the Liberal Party and by the end of the 1920s labour had replaced the Liberals as the Conservatives main rivals forming the first government in 1924 unfortunately for labor it was a minority government lasting only nine months the interwar years were otherwise dominated by Stanley Baldwin of the Conservatives who held office three times between 1923 and 1935 owing to World War one the UK did not experience any economic boom in the 1920s and was still recovering from the war when the new york stock exchange market collapsed triggering the Great Depression much to the surprise of many commentators including the modern father economics john maynard keynes the effects were a media with a doubling of unemployment to 2.5 million at the time where unemployment benefits were minimal leading to a significant increase in poverty and malnutrition consequently the inexperienced Labour Party was swept aside in a landslide conservative victory in 1931 where a period of austerity ensued cuts were made to public spending wages an unemployment benefit as well as an increase in income tax this only had a deflationary effect on the economy which led to further sharp increase in unemployment the exodus of capital and gold from the UK forced the government to abandon the gold standard in 1931 a monetary system where our country's paper currency is pegged to a fixed amount of gold despite widespread fears at the economic impact it devalued the pound by 25 percent against the dollar boosting the value of exports and leading the way to a gradual economic recovery this period is also characterized by the rise of a more egalitarian society most notably women's fight for equal voting rights after decades of campaigning the women's suffrage movement succeeded through laws enacted first in 1918 and a decade later in 1928 by the Conservative government passed legislation granting anyone over 21 the right to vote on equal terms by 1936 baldwin was facing the unique challenge of a monarch in King Edward the eighth who wished to marry an American socialite named mrs. Simpson known for pro-german sympathies as British monarch Edward was the nominal head of the Church of England which did not allow to force people to remarry currently opposition arose on religious vehicle political and moral grounds the only option for Edward was abdication pronouncing his own throne which too much national surprise he did in December of that year passing his title on toes brother Albert known as George the sixth whose daughter Elizabeth the second remains the ma note to this day George was coronated in 1937 and wishing to end his Premiership after about earth nervous exhaustion Baldwin resigned the following day he told a backbench MP around the time I had a success my dear Nicholson at the moment I most needed it now is the time to go Baldwin handed over to Neville Chamberlain after numerous attempts at appeasement summits and foreign policy trips and despite the anglo-german agreement Chamberlain negotiated with Hitler which secured a period of peace Germany invaded Czechoslovakia in March 1939 on the 1st of September after more futile attempts at appeasement Germany invaded Poland and on the following day the UK declared a state of war with Germany at the start of the war there was a general feeling that most allied officials and generals felt the war could be won relatively quickly by keeping economic pressure on Germany whilst continuing rearmament after a failed strategy with Norway which holds 32 iron ore reserves confidence in Chamberlain fell culminating in Chamberlain threatening resignation unless the Labour Party agreed to form a government with him labour agreed but only under a new Conservative leader Halifax Chamberlain's right-hand man effectively declined the position of Prime Minister favouring Churchill as a wartime leader upon taking over from Chamberland Churchill began to oppose any immediate peace negotiations and rallied the nation against Hitler were the series of inspiring speeches won including the words we should fight in the fields and in the streets we shall fight in the Hills we shall never surrender ultimately Church who led the nation and its allies from the brink of defeat to victory in a war involving every major power and over 30 countries were casualties upwards of 85 million people in June 1944 upon the surrender of Nazi Germany so a huge crowd in whitehall church was said this is your victory to which the crowd replied no it is yours following victory in World War two in the first election since 1935 Clement Attlee led labour to significant majority and as Prime Minister that a program of socialist reform including nationalization of the Bank of England public utilities mining and other heavy industry this government set about establishing a comprehensive welfare state the jewel in the crown being the National Health Service that first began running services in 1947 that were free to all at the point of access funded through taxation the 1950s marked a period of conservative dominance Church I retired in 1955 succeeded by Anthony Eden the following year Israel France and the UK invaded Egypt in an attempt to regain control of the recently nationalized Suez Canal which was used for trade only to withdraw shortly after the fighting had started after international pressure from the US the Soviet Union and the UN which led to Eden Swift resignation Harold Macmillan governed from 1957 to 1963 very initially focused on rebuilding the damaged relationship of the United States following the Suez Crisis overseeing a period of low unemployment and steadily rising living standards in social reforms including a reduction in the standard work week from 48 hours to 42 labor turned to power in 1964 under Harold Wilson and continued in a similar vein to the previous Labor government rolling out a series of social reforms including the partial - criminalization of homosexuality and abortion the relaxing of divorce laws and the end of capital punishment although this pair is also marked by the outbreak of the troubles in Northern Ireland Edward Heath restored the Conservatives to power in 1970 after applications in the 60s to join the European Economic Community were rejected by France whose president said Britain harbored a deep-seated hostility to any European project the UK was successful in the EEC taking effect in 1973 labour and Harold Wilson returned to power in 1974 in a term that was marred by strikes over wage increases in a period of high inflation at one point exceeding 25 percent this culminated in the winter of 1978 known as the winter of discontent with high inflation and crippling strike action Margaret Thatcher was elected as the first female prime minister campaigning on a promise to rustle back control from the trade unions and the famous advert that labor isn't working through a series of legislative acts the Thatcher government broke the power of the unions and collective action and as a result strikes rather their lowest level for 30 years by the time of the 1983 general election this along with broad D nationalization proved the via catastrophic catalyst for sweeping economic decline in industrial towns in the north and across the nation ripping the heart out of communities that depended on jobs in mining in particular it also marked the decline for towns with the focus on manufacturing as the UK accelerated its transition to a service led economy such as economic policy or Thatcherism was heavily influenced by economists such as Milton Friedman and Frederick Hayek focused on tax cuts deregulation and emphasis on free markets and individual liberty the nationalization included British Telecom British Gas and British Airways amongst others and who is this the nationalization tax cuts for higher earners and cuts to the welfare state there resulted in facts are being one of the most controversial and divisive Prime Minister's in the UK's political history bitterly hated by the left and adorned by the conservative right after the introduction of a highly unpopular poll tax Thatcher fell out of favour and John Major took control winning a fourth consecutive election in 1992 despite having a far more conciliatory approach to politics and the decisive Iron Lady after a year in office support from Asia had slumped and the defining act in his Premiership was negotiating an opt-out clause in the Treaty of Maastricht providing a legal right to not join the European scene currency project in 1997 labor swept a landslide victory under a young new leader Tony Blair who aimed to blend social progressiveness with competitive free market economic policy rebranding the party new labor in a bid to distance the party in previous labor policies in socialism under blaze leadership labor went on to win two further elections in 2001 and 2005 championing multiculturalism immigration soared especially after the government welcomed immigrants from new EU Member States in 2004 contributing to the rise of euro skepticism and this was arguably a key factor in conceding to referendum on EU membership 12 years later hosted the progressive policies were rolled out including devolution of power to Scotland Wales the minimum wage Act and the Freedom of Information Act his support for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were highly controversial and led to a significant drop in his popularity his resignation and ultimately his succession by Gordon Brown Brown's time in number 10 will be running amid largely for the financial crisis of 2008 we're at respectively Gordon Brown along with Alistair Darling were widely considered to save the UK in global banking industry from catastrophic collapse if not total collapsed through an enforced recapitalisation program in effect buying stakes in a number of troubled banks after the 2010 election David Cameron of the Conservatives formed a coalition with the Liberal Democrats their first since world war two embarking on a period of austerity in response to the financial crash that proved highly unpopular especially with Lib Dem voters Cameron agreed to the Scottish independence referendum held in 2014 in which Scotland decided to remain as part of the UK with 55% of the vote Cameron's government also supported the introduction of gay marriage despite many Conservative MPs voting against it increasing euro skepticism and persistent pressure from the UK party and from within the Conservative Party led Cameron to attempt to negotiate reform with the EU an attempt to curb migration he agreed concessions that made it harder immigrants in the UK to access the welfare state this dead little to appease the Euroskeptics and let Cameron to use the promise of an in/out referendum on EU membership as a bargaining chip to retain power in the 2015 general election in June 2016 after a referendum the UK voted to leave the European Union on a vote of 52% this redefined political boundaries in the country no longer people identifiable as right or left wing but also as lever remain Cameron who campaigned for a Mane was blamed for undertaking in a selfish political gamble that backfired catastrophic ly and proved to be incredibly divisive he swiftly resigned following the result of the referendum with Theresa May succeeding him as the second female conservative Prime Minister the rest of her term was marred with government being found a contempt of parliament for withholding legal advice on brexit - votes of no confidence and several rejected brexit deals after three years of attempting and largely failing to make progress with the UK's brexit negotiations to resume a resigned feud within the Conservative Party as the man to get brexit done Boris Johnson was swiftly elected as the leader of the Conservative Party and as Prime Minister shortly after his appointment Johnson asked the Queen to pro-roh Parliament an enforced break of Parliament in an attempt to stop the blocking of an Oda brexit many found this to undermine democracy with John Barrow the Speaker of the House calling a constitutional outrage after a legal challenge the progression ended up in the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom which deemed it unlawful rendering it null and void Parliament resumed the next day after a period of toxic political game playing and the loss of the conservative majority due to a defect in Conservative MP a general election was held in December of 2019 the British people faced a stark choice between the most left-wing radical labour government in decades under Jeremy Corbyn and the brexit at all costs right-wing conservative government in the disastrous night for the Labour Party Johnson and the Conservatives secured the largest majority since Thatcher but labour losing countless in previous labor strongholds across the country and what can be seen as a rejection of the radical left-wing policies of the Corbin era so what can we expect in 2020 and Beyond brexit will finally happen although it won't be over anytime soon they were continued to dominate British politics with ongoing negotiations and trade talks and undoubtably will continue to be an extremely divisive issue the Labour Party will hold its leadership election to the replacement of Jeremy Corbyn a pivotal moment where the party and its members will decide whether or not to depart from the radical politics of the Corbin era to a more center-left position the wrong choice could lead to the longest period of Conservative government in the last 100 years whatever happens it will be interesting please see the references for this video in the description and don't forget to Like and subscribe for more content

Channel: The Concept

Views: 11,013

Rating: 4.9111109 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: xL8L7kM-gak

Length: 16min 31sec (991 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 13 2020