Talk:United Kingdom general election, 1924

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So the Irish Nationalists held on to one seat, despite receiving not a single vote? Ahem... Xyzzyva 08:11, Apr 12, 2005 (UTC)

Uncontested Seat?

[edit] Zinoviev Letter

It is a bit daft to attribute so much importance to the Zinoviev letter. To do so goes against all virtually all historical knowledge today. I think we should change this, but being a wikipedia newbie am posting my thoughts here first. Certainly it's a very misleading statement and the kind of thing that would lose most students marks in an exam answer.

Some key points:
1. The Labour vote increased. That they did not win said more about the Conservative revival of fortunes and the decline of the Liberal party than it did about any recoil against the Labour Party. In fact 1924 saw the solidification of Lab. support in key geographical areas of Labour support.
2. Baldwin tended to play DOWN the Zinoviev letter, which formed only one part of a larger 'red scare' during the election. The Campbell case and the Russian treaty (which aren't even mentioned in this article) was easily just as damaging to Labour.
3. The idea of 'red scare' appealed to those who were never going to vote Labour anyway rather than those who would otherwise have supported the party. In a partisan atmosphere, its impact was limited, because for those who opposed Labour it was seen to reinforce what they 'knew' anyway and for those who supported Labour its origins were questioned.
4. The Conservative upturn in votes owed a great deal to (a) the adoption of the policies set out in Looking Ahead (1924) and (b) the abandonment of protection. The latter was particularly important because it inhibited the Conservative vote on in many key constituencies, and produced a series of split elections. 1924 was therefore a 'return to normal' in many respects for the party.
5. General elections tend not to be decided by such short-term contingencies such as this, and this is especially true if you look at the SCALE of Conservative victory. It was their biggest ever independent majority, another important fact this article omits.

Well I thought I'd post that here before I consider redrafting the article, as I'm new here. BUt as you can see there's plenty of room for improvement.
Nick Lee 14:29, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

The problem with the article is that it is too brief and thus open to misinterpretation. Nick Lee makes some valued points which should be accomodated with the exception of the following; 3. This was a very fluid period in party allegiances with three political parties challenging. The partisan voter was a very small percentage of the electorate. It is because of this that the 'red scare' issues played such a key part in that the issues polarised opinion between the Conservatives and Labour. The 'red scare' issues moved previous Liberal voters and many undecideds towards the Conservatives. The 'red scare' issues and the decision by the Conservatives to drop Protection policies best explains the poor Liberal poll. (Graemp 11:39, 3 September 2007 (UTC))