Jenna Phillips: Why the PM Candidates Should Mention the War
[Jenna Phillips is currently completing a PhD at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University, on 'British policy during the Korean War, 1950-1951'. She also works at Huddersfield University as a research assistant. Jenna was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and was the Fox International Fellow from Sidney Sussex College to Yale University in 2006.]
Party strategists may think that tonight's Sky News leaders' debate, focusing on foreign policy - will be less important to voters than the debates on social policy and the economy.
The election campaign so far has been marked by a lack of reference to foreign policy - despite the deaths of hundreds of British military personnel and the high financial cost of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. While a few MPs have criticised the government's policies, war has been conspicuously absent from the main parties' agendas. Yet we should not assume that foreign policy will not affect the election result. In previous elections, Labour governments campaigning on their domestic record have come unstuck on foreign policy.
In 1951 Clement Attlee battled for a third term on the basis of Labour's record, against the backdrop of a severe economic recession and an unpopular war in Korea. His defeat has generally been attributed to domestic factors. Austerity and the 'shopping list' of controls, the fatigue of the Labour government, the redistribution of seats, and problems with national consumption led to the disillusionment of voters and a 'housewives revolt' and middle-class suburbia turned to the Conservatives.
But the 1951 result was not due to domestic factors alone. Until June 1950 the economy performed strongly: the volume of industrial production and exports had increased, and there was a surplus on the overseas balance-of-payments. It was the Korean War and the demands of rearmament that increased the external deficit and diverted funds from domestic spending, prolonging the very austerity to which historians have attributed Attlee's defeat. Domestic and foreign policy were inextricably linked; the Korean conflict played a crucial part in the 1951 election....
History suggests that foreign policy can and does affect election results, even during a recession. As they prepare for tonight's debate, the party leaders should not under-estimate the potential for foreign policy to derail their campaigns. To many voters, this debate will prove just as influential as the last one.
Read entire article at History & Policy (UK)
Party strategists may think that tonight's Sky News leaders' debate, focusing on foreign policy - will be less important to voters than the debates on social policy and the economy.
The election campaign so far has been marked by a lack of reference to foreign policy - despite the deaths of hundreds of British military personnel and the high financial cost of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. While a few MPs have criticised the government's policies, war has been conspicuously absent from the main parties' agendas. Yet we should not assume that foreign policy will not affect the election result. In previous elections, Labour governments campaigning on their domestic record have come unstuck on foreign policy.
In 1951 Clement Attlee battled for a third term on the basis of Labour's record, against the backdrop of a severe economic recession and an unpopular war in Korea. His defeat has generally been attributed to domestic factors. Austerity and the 'shopping list' of controls, the fatigue of the Labour government, the redistribution of seats, and problems with national consumption led to the disillusionment of voters and a 'housewives revolt' and middle-class suburbia turned to the Conservatives.
But the 1951 result was not due to domestic factors alone. Until June 1950 the economy performed strongly: the volume of industrial production and exports had increased, and there was a surplus on the overseas balance-of-payments. It was the Korean War and the demands of rearmament that increased the external deficit and diverted funds from domestic spending, prolonging the very austerity to which historians have attributed Attlee's defeat. Domestic and foreign policy were inextricably linked; the Korean conflict played a crucial part in the 1951 election....
History suggests that foreign policy can and does affect election results, even during a recession. As they prepare for tonight's debate, the party leaders should not under-estimate the potential for foreign policy to derail their campaigns. To many voters, this debate will prove just as influential as the last one.