Monday, July 27, 2009

Quote Of The Day.

John O'Sullivan:
There have been five-and-a-half periods of Labour government since 1923. Ramsay MacDonald’s nine-month 1924 minority Labour administration is the half; it scarcely counts here. Of the five following governments, including the long Blair-Brown administration, four will have left office amid major economic and financial catastrophe when Brown does so. The voters may begin to notice a pattern.

5 comments:

Matthew said...

So which one is he saying wasn't - 1979, 1970 or 1951? GDP grew quite rapidly in the year to '79 and 70. Don't think quarterly data exists for 51.

Blognor Regis said...

My question too.

Ross said...

I assumed he meant the Attlee government.

1931- Economic circumstances were bad enough to prompt the formation of the National government.
1970- Britain had been forced off the Gold Standard (although that doesn't look so bad in retrospect)
1979- Winter of discontent.

Matthew said...

It was more Bretton Woods in 1970 - but the devaluation was three years before, no?

Financial/economic crises of course tend to bring down governments, if you can survive them (Major in 1992) it's quite rare to leave office. Major was brought down by a financial crisis, I think. Thatcher and Blair present interesting differences - primarily they were brought down (as long as you dont' go down the traitors and cowards route) by massive non-economic policy failure (Iraq and the Poll Tax), although in Thatcher's case the economic crisis which began in about 1989 was probably a necessary factor.

Ross said...

"the devaluation was three years before, no? "

Yes, for some reason I thought it was in 1969.