Labour having 'extremist' The shift of skilled workers away from the Labour Party started long before the 1983 election or the rise of 'Bennism' after the 1979 election. The dramatically before and during the explanation 1979 election. The 9 per cent fall in workers in 1983 is obviously just a continuation of the 8 per cent fall in fought the election on the record of a government which had pursued the most right wing line ever applied by As for the manifesto, those with long memories will recall that 1979 was the election when Callaghan twice threatened to resign if the National Executive Committee did not accept the right wing manifesto he personally Once more if you try to explain these shifts by 'left wing extremism' it simply will not fit the facts. In 1970 election on the absolutely right wing policies and manifesto pursued by the Wilson government. It was severely defeated both in Britain as a whole and, by all the evidence, in particular In 1974, however, the Labour fought the manifesto which, for all its faults, was the most left wing since the Second War. in contrast 1970 Labour won the 1974 elections. The that loses because of left wing extremism' and that this particularly turns away skilled working class voters simply will not stand up to any factual examination of 1970, 1974 and 1979.
Table 1 Percentage of skilled manual workers voting Tory, Labour, Liberal/ Alliance 1974 Gallup Poll Liberal/Alliance MORI Poll Liberal/Alliance