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.
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.
ReplyDeleteMy question too.
ReplyDeleteI assumed he meant the Attlee government.
ReplyDelete1931- 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.
It was more Bretton Woods in 1970 - but the devaluation was three years before, no?
ReplyDeleteFinancial/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.
"the devaluation was three years before, no? "
ReplyDeleteYes, for some reason I thought it was in 1969.