Leader of the opposition | Michael Foot | Labour Party | 1980s | Militant Tendency | TV Eye | 1982

'TV Eye's Llew Gardner speaks to Leader of the Opposition - Labour party leader Michael Foot MP.
INTERVIEWED ABOUT THE MILITANT TENDENCY AND THE BATTLE BETWEEN THE TWO WINGS OF THE PARTY; ABOUT THE PARTY'S STANDING IN THE COUNTRY; AND ABOUT HIS STYLE OF LEADERSHIP.
First shown: 24/06/1982
To license a clip from this interview please e mail: [e-mail]
Quote: VT27058

[@Spartan-jx8ux]

I love these videos. It helps us to understand the present with an eye on the past.

[@datasilouk1995]

It's just nice to hear both sides of the discussion without thumb pointing, shouting , soundbites or point scoring by too many interruptions. An interview. Sadly lost over the years.

[@patrickpayne8330]

Amazing..!!!!!!! Michael Foot's attitude on the rail and nhs dispute....hold water NOW....and then in the early 80's.....

[@stuartwilliams-fw4vo]

The brilliant Footie!

[@Beardodoomus]

The more things change the more they stay the same. It's inevitable we're heading towards a Labour government for 2025. Let's see how it goes. We can only ever truly understand impacts of electoral decisions in the decades after they're made. We're still paying for decisions made by both the Tories of the 80s and 2000s and Labour of the 70s and 90s.

[@moonlit_forest2680]

We have a labour government now

[@eddiejones.redvees]

Over the years I have come to the decision that us people that work to keep are family’s feed and put a roof over our heads pay to keep those at the top and bottom living a good life while people who fort to keep their country like my father who fort in Burma at to struggle to keep going he paid taxes until he passed away at 93 I pay taxes because I worked hard in my 40y has a telephone engineer so i would have a enough to pay my way in my now retired years

[@niceuneasy]

!loved Michael foot should of been knighted

[@JamesRichards-mj9kw]

He turned down honours.

[@DJSwezzleMusic]

​@@JamesRichards-mj9kwHe suffered from ADHD and autism in his later years.

[@WintersWar]

I love listening to Gardner and Foot. Top quality discussion

[@johnwalsh7806]

Foot giving the big speech yap yap yap

[@buckspa]

This was a few weeks after the Falklands war ended.

[@PERCYxyz]

The Falklands really was the final nail in the electoral coffin for Labour coming after the SDP split the previous year. Up until the Falklands war they had held a significant and sustained opinion poll lead over the Tories for nearly 3 years.

[@JJVernig]

@@PERCYxyz Another nail was their manifesto of 1983. It was a complete coffin with lining and all.

[@PERCYxyz]

@@JJVernig Yes, that is the accepted narrative.
However, as I pointed out Labour held an average 7 point lead (IPSOS Mori) over the Tories from August 1979 until the start of the Falklands war in April 1982, after which the Tories consistently led right up until the June 1983 election. In fact the highest Tory lead of 27 points came in June 1982 at the end of the Falklands war, a full 9 months before the 1983 manifesto was released.
"The longest suicide note in history" is a catchy phrase which did stick, but it does belie the tremendous impact the Falklands war had on the public mood of the time.

[@JamesRichards-mj9kw]

@@PERCYxyz The Labour lead had begun to go down in January 1982.

[@travishunter8940]

@@JamesRichards-mj9kw Do you know where I can find this information?"

[@carmencornelianastase1240]

Poor England ..........

[@adammoss5284]

It is now.

[@JamesRichards-mj9kw]

Foot was Agent Boot.