Vox Populi - July 1967 General Election

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July 1967 - Weakened but not beaten, Callaghan fights back

Prelude: After a mixed record in Government and in the middle of an economic crisis Prime Minister Callaghan has called for a snap election after the loss of his majority. Can he keep the Tories and the Liberals at bay and remain in office?

Labour Party: Weakened by the economic debacle, Callaghan has made a manifesto priority to combat and curb inflation, pursue full employment, renegotiate industrial policies to the benefit of both the unions and the government, and chart a course of moderate austerity and spending cuts to showcase fiscal responsibility. Keeping his moderate course on foreign affairs Callaghan has turned full populist on social affairs to cement the working class support, promising to fight back against social liberal policies while committing to large-scale restrictions on immigration and hardline policies against crime.

Conservative Party: After three years in opposition former Prime Minister Quintin Hogg aims for a comeback, drawing fire on Callaghan's economic record to portray the Tories as the one party to turn the economy around. On economic matters Hogg has continued to stand for lower taxes and the fight against inflation through fighting waste in spending, but has emphasized a Keynesian approach for investment and stimulus when necessary. On other issues Hogg continues to hold a "christian" approach to social issues, a hawkish foreign policy (with a defence build-up), infrastructure programmes and industrial relations reform.

Liberal Party: Finally fielding candidates all over Britain and confident on their chance for a breakthrough, Jo Grimond leads the Liberals once again blasting the "Conservative-Labour" consensus and attacking Callaghan for his hard social-conservatism. The Liberals continue to support defence cuts, devolution, voting and electoral reform, a staunchly  pro-Europe approach, radical social liberation, pro-immigration stances, anti-war policies and in economic affairs, to lower and simplify taxes, and curb inflation through industrial reform fighting against monopolies.

Note: Two days (I've noticed only 1 vote was added during the last day of the 64' election, so this allows me to move more quickly). This time the Liberals run across the country, so their vote will be counted fully. We have our first anti government swing as well, 1% against Labour. will be equally split among the two largest parties.

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Okay... a few hours left, but if someone could provide possible explanations for a sudden Labour landslide, I'm all ears (out of ideas here given the background)

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It's interesting to see issues of social liberalism playing such a big role with this electorate. Many of the significant reforms done by Wilson's government in the '60s (decriminalization of homosexuality, abolition of capital punishment, etc) happened really only by accident through backbench pressures and some Liberals. These factors didn't really play any issue in the RL campaigns in the '60s and '70s.

Many of them were also exceedingly unpopular with the electorate.

They've taken a higher relevance due to Mellish's hardline stances as Home Secretary, giving greater visibility to it. But they're not the main issues at all, it's mostly to show how a much different Labour Party can emerge (not that it seems to be making any difference at all).

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July 1967 General Election:

July 1967 - Amidst fears of nuclear war Callaghan wins a shock landslide

Labour Party: 42% (366 MP's)
Conservative Party: 26% (183 MP's)
Liberal Party: 30% (75 MP's)
Others: 2% (6 MP's)

Possibly the most shock result in British politics for an entire General Election, the 1967 campaign was one that soon went out of control for most parties due to events impossible to forsee. A campaign that had started in the traditional way showed Labour in a dead heat with the Conservatives, the rising Liberals hovering above 25%. Despite the negative consequences of devaluation Labour had increasing fighting spirit inside them, and with a badly planned Conservative effort pitted against an effective Liberal campaign many observers began to wonder whether Hogg would be able to turn things around as swing voters returned to Callaghan in greater numbers than those who defected to the Liberals due to Labour's social conservatism.

What made for such a dramatic turn around in the polls was attributed to two different men: British architect John Poulson and Soviet General Secretary Alexander Shelepin. John Poulson was relatively successful architect who was the subject of a shocking discovery by the press in the third week of the election: Poulson had bribed several political figures to obtain lucrative contracts. The chain ran all the way to Tory Shadow Home Secretary (and Party Chairman) Reginald Maudling, one of the key leaders of the Conservative campaign. While not personally implicated, his close business association with Poulson forced Maudling to step down from his role amidst widespread criticism, sinking the Tory efforts into disarray as Hogg saw his party go down in the polls.

General Secretary Shelepin (a key part in the ousting of Khruschev in 1965), on the other hand, was an even more unpredictable factor on the race. With his efforts to consolidate power in the Soviet Union facing large resistance from several key party members Shelepin (an arch-conservative and a Stalinist) had decided to raise his standing and his popular support by provoking US President Kennedy in test of will much like the events of Cuba in 1962, with Shelepin massively turning up the pressure both in Vietnam (indirectly) and Berlin (directly). The resulting standoff soon went out of hand, leading to the serious possibility of nuclear war over the situation in Berlin. Amidst fears of nuclear war it was Callaghan who had emerged as the statesmanlike figure with his cautious foreign policy, and the deeply damaged Hogg received his crippling blow when his enthusiasm and ill mood at the turn of the campaign made him seem excessively hawkish in the leader debates.

With the economy facing a slight uptick due to the work of Chancellor Tony Crosland, when the public went to the polls they delivered a massive, if distrusting endorsement of Callaghan as the best (or least negative) choice to turn the economy around and prevent WWIII in Britain. Labour lost votes to the Liberals but held onto 42% of the vote, compared to a shock 30% by Jo Grimond (highest Liberal performance in forty years) and the stunning 26% for the Tories, an unprecedented fall from grace. Alas, despite the poor results the Conservatives still counted on several seats saved by the loss of Labour voters to the Liberal Party and the Unionists in Northern Ireland still firmly taking the Conservative whip, allowing them to score better in MP's than it the 1906 disaster.

James Callaghan returned to Downing Street with an increased majority, but with economic strife and a foreign policy crisis in full force. Could he overcome the challenges ahead yet again?