ABSTRACT

In the 1970 general election, the logic of two-party competition between Conservatives and Labour appeared to have reasserted itself decisively. Jo Grimonds much-vaunted bid for a political realignment of the Left in the early 1960s had failed. Liberals had performed well in the mid-term of an unpopular Conservative government, most spectacularly at Orpington; they had made litde impact under subsequent Labour administrations. Rudderless and financially troubled, the party was increasingly split between its parliamentary establishment, representing a scattering of half a dozen, mainly rural, constituencies, and radical grass roots activists inspired by the new philosophy of community politics. After 1967, the tide of opinion ebbed from Labour to the primary benefit of Nationalists and the Conservative Party. In 1969-70, it coursed in again, though, to the surprise of both the pollsters and the Labour leadership, insufficiendy to produce a third term of office.