‘Without the Falklands War, Margaret Thatcher would have lost the 1983 General Election.’ Assess the validity of this view.

Before writing your answer, you should think about the what the question is getting at; in this case, how Thatcher, despite trailing in the opinion polls for most of her premiership, managed to win an electoral landslide in 1983. Doing this will ensure that the answer remains focussed. Further, outlining the general, unusual, circumstances under which Thatcher won the 1983 election in the introduction will illustrate a contextual understanding of question.The first paragraph of the essay should outline the argument put forward in the proposition, expanding upon the way in which the Falklands war was politically harnessed by Thatcher. She tapped into a climate of national patriotism, portraying herself as defending and embodying the British nation, while Michael Foot’s Labour tried to toe a more difficult, ambiguous line that involved both supporting the war as well as remaining critical of the manner in which it was being conducted. The clarity of Thatcher’s message, combined with the Conservative’s traditional association with militarism and patriotism, contributed to the 1983 result.However, the second paragraph should look challenge the proposition by offering an alternative interpretation of the 1983 election result. One angle could focus on the multi-faceted weakness of the opposition. The SDP split further divided the anti-Thatcher vote; under the conditions of First Past the Past, this ensured that the Conservative’s, despite suffering a -1.5% swing to the SDP-Liberal alliance, succeeded in increasing their majority by 58. This paragraph could also criticise Labour’s 1983 campaign; Michael Foot was widely seen to be a poor leader while Labour’s left-wing manifesto was famously branded as ‘the longest suicide-note in history’.Moreover, the third paragraph could explore the idea that, contrary to the proposition, Thatcherism was, in fact, becoming genuinely popular as an ideology. By 1983 the economy was impressively recovering; inflation was down, growth topped 3%. Thatcherite monetarism was widely credited for this improvement. Further, while unemployment remained at over three million, it was disproportionally focussed in former industrial areas – areas of the North and South Wales – while the economic recovery occurred in cities and the South. As a result, the economics of Thatcherism, although undoubtedly polarising, did appeal to many middle-class areas where voters enjoyed more disposable income.The conclusion should aim to evaluate the proposition in relation to the alternative historical interpretations of the 1983 election. Evidently, contrary to what is implied in the question, the Falklands war alone cannot explain the 1983 election result. The weaknesses of the opposition also enabled Thatcher to win a landslide while the increasingly polarised voting patterns of the electorate indicate that Thatcherite economics, at least for some, held a strong ideological appeal.