Abstract
Thatcher’s progress to the 1983 election landslide and, seemingly, complete dominance of the political scene could not have been predicted in the early months of her tenure. The government’s ‘honeymoon’ with the voters quickly began to wane. Inflation soared, aided by the doubling of VAT in Chancellor Howe’s June 1979 budget, and so too did unemployment, climbing to more than 2.5 million by April 1981.1 The Social Democratic Party, launched in March 1981, threatened to break the mould of British politics with two sensational by-election results, culminating in Shirley Williams’ win at Crosby in November. Opinion polls in the autumn of 1981 showed Thatcher as the least popular prime minister in modern British history: only 25 per cent of the public were satisfied with her performance and 62 per cent dissatisfied, according to Gallup. In December, the Tories trailed the SDP/Liberal Alliance by 27 per cent (23–50 per cent).2
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
For an excellent account of the economic difficulties and policies in this period, see Peter Riddell, The Thatcher Government (1983).
Gallup polls quoted in D. Butler and G. Butler, British Political Facts 1900–1985 (1986).
Some scholars doubt the long-term impact of the Falklands, arguing that it had little effect on voting decisions at the 1983 election. See, for example, Ivor Crewe, ‘Why Labour Lost the Election’, Public Opinion, July 1983.
For inside accounts of the early conflicts within the Cabinet, see Jock Bruce-Gardyne, Mrs Thatcher’s First Administration (1984)
James Prior, A Balance of Power (1986)
and Peter Hennessy, ‘The Prime Minister, the Cabinet and the Thatcher Personality’, in K. Minogue and M. Biddiss (eds), Thatcherism (1987).
Denis Healey, The Time of My Life (1989) p. 488.
Quoted in Hugo Young, One of Us (1989) p. 396.
Quoted in Wendy Webster, Not A Man to Match Her (1990) p. 156.
Andrew Thomson, Margaret Thatcher: The Woman Within (1989) p. 179.
David Owen, Personally Speaking (1987) p. 199.
Michael Cockerell, Live from Number 10 (1988) p. 275.
The MORI poll analysis of the Falklands is taken from Robert Worcester, ‘Changes in Politics’, in Madsen Pirie (ed.), A Decade of Revolution (1989).
Tam Dalyell, Misrule (1987) p. 6.
For accounts of government information, censorship and media coverage, see Glasgow University Media Group, War and Peace News (1985);
Robert Harris, Gotcha! (1983);
Michael Cockerell et al., Sources Close to the Prime Minister (1984);
D. Morrison and H. Tumber, Journalists at War; for accounts of alleged misinformation and deception, see Clive Ponting, The Right to Know (1985) and Dalyell, op. cit.
Bernard Ingham, Kill the Messenger (1991) pp. 294–7.
See Nicholas Jones, BBC political correspondent, in The Guardian, 4 March 1991.
House of Commons Defence Committee, The Handling of the Press and Public Information during the Falklands Conflict, HMSO, 8 December 1982, vol. II, p. xxxviii.
For an account of the battle between Ingham and Cooper, see R. Harris, Good and Faithful Servant (1990) pp. 93–100.
D. Butler and D. Kavanagh, The British General Election of 1983 (1984) pp. 333–4.
Harvey Thomas, Making an Impact (1989) p. 177.
For a discussion of the benefits that the sincerity machine can bestow, see Max Atkinson, Our Masters’ Voices (1988).
Butler and Kavanagh, The British General Election of 1983 (1984), p. 36.
Nick Grant, ‘A Comment on Labour’s Campaign’, in I. Crewe and M. Harrop (eds), Political Communications (1986), p. 82.
See Tony Benn, Conflicts of Interest: Diaries 1977–80 (1990);
also Robert Harris, The Making of Neil Kinnock (1984).
For a tabloid-style exposé of the Sun’s leading role in the assault on the ‘loony left’, see Peter Chippindale and Chris Horne, Stick It Up Your Punter (1990).
Ivan Fallon, The Brothers (1988), p. 179.
For a detailed account of the Alliance’s 1983 campaign, see H. Semetko, ‘Political Communications and Party Development in Britain: The Social Democratic Party from its Origins to the General Election of 1983’ PhD Thesis, University of London, 1987.
For contrasting accounts of the argument about the Alliance leadership, see David Steel, Against Goliath (1989), pp. 245–6 and David Owen, op. cit., p. 221.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1995 Margaret Scammell
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Scammell, M. (1995). Marketing Triumphant: Falklands Fallout. In: Designer Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-23942-9_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-23942-9_4
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-58672-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-23942-9
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)