AQA HISTORY ;WARS AND WELFARE ;BRITAIN IN TRANSITION,

Source A From an editorial in the Daily Mail, 3 November 1927. This newspaper, which was owned by the right-wing Lord Rothermere, ran a year-long campaign against widening the franchise. The great majority of Conservative voters are convinced that ‘votes for flappers’ will mean ‘votes for the Labour Party’. The last extension of the franchise has already created an enormous mass of voters who, no doubt, are well-meaning enough but do not have the political sense needed to make democracy work. These irresponsible voters sway this way and that and are always liable to vote for anyone who will promise them the most at other people’s expense. With the help of the flapper vote the socialists believe that the number of Conservative MPs in the next parliament will be so small that the Conservative Party will be deprived of all effective political influence. 5 Source B From the diary of William Bridgeman, July 1929. Bridgeman had been a Conservative MP since 1906 and a Cabinet minister from 1922. He was a close political ally of Baldwin. The 1929 election was lost not from any wave of resentment against the government or against Baldwin, nor because of any one particular piece of policy or legislation. I put the defeat down to a desire for change, or the swing of the pendulum as some call it, and to the wild promises of the Liberals and Labour. Of course, the money of Lloyd George and his insistence on fighting every seat helped Labour. They could not have won if we had made arrangements to avoid three-cornered contests. In many constituencies a split anti-socialist vote gave Labour the seat. I think Baldwin’s failing was his optimism; he was too relaxed, expecting we would win easily. 5 0 1 With reference to these sources and your understanding of the historical context, which of these two sources is more valuable in explaining the outcome of the 1929 election? [25 marks]