Decision makers

Title

Decision makers

Genre

Documentary; Speech; Election coverage; Music

TX Date

Unknown

Year of production

1981

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Duration

00:50:07

Description

Decision Makers. A four-part look back at a year of political change in Westminster (1981), presented by Peter Spencer. Foci include the Labour Party’s new rules for choosing a new leader (excerpts of speeches by Labour’s National Executive Committee representative Eric Heffer; Labour leader Michael Foot; Labour MP Tony Benn; former Conservative Treasury spokesman Peter Tapsell MP; Chancellor Sir Geoffrey Howe; former Conservative prime minister Sir Edward Heath; Conservative representative Robert Jones; Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; Conservative MPs Nicholas Winterton, Geoffrey Dickens, Cyril Townsend; shadow Treasury spokesman Jack Straw; shadow Chancellor Peter Shore); shifting political allegiances (excerpts of speeches by party defectors - Labour foreign affairs spokesman Dr David Owen; former cabinet ministers Shirley Williams and William (Bill) Rodgers; Conservative MP Christopher Brocklebank-Fowler; Liberal leader David Steel; Social Democratic MP Mike Thomas; the first SDP-Liberal Alliance MP, Bill Pitt); riots in Brixton and Liverpool, and hunger strikes in Northern Ireland (excerpts of speeches by Ulster Unionist MP, Enoch Powell; Home Secretary William (Willie) Whitelaw; Labour MP, John Fraser; Irish republican MP, Owen Carron; Margaret Thatcher); Parliamentary highlights (speeches by Margaret Thatcher; William Whitelaw; Speaker of the House of Commons, George Thomas; DUP MP Ian Paisley; Leith Labour MP Ron Brown; Labour MP Dennis Skinner; Labour MP Arthur Lewis). Includes rendition of Happy Birthday sung to Margaret Thatcher and led by Blackpool mayor Henry Hall; actuality of a disturbance in the House of Commons by DUP members Ian Paisley, Peter Robinson and John McQuade; actuality from the Warrington by-election, with speech by Roy Jenkins; actuality from the SDP rolling conference train (with singing). Engineers: Colin Clements and Heather Branwell; researcher: Claire(?) Campbell-Murfitt(?).

Contributors

William Rodgers; Geoffrey Howe; Margaret Thatcher; Edward Heath; Eric Heffer; Peter Spencer; David Steel; William Whitelaw; Shirley Williams; Peter Shore; George Thomas; Tony Benn; Roy Jenkins; Enoch Powell; Michael Foot; Ian Paisley; David Owen; Jack Straw; Dennis Skinner; Colin Clements; Heather Branwell; Christopher Brocklebank-Fowler; Cyril Townsend; Nicholas Winterton; Robert Jones; Arthur Lewis; Mike Thomas; Bill Pitt; Peter Tapsell; Geoffrey Dickens; John Fraser; Ron Brown; Owen Carron; Henry Hall; Claire(?) Campbell-Murfitt(?)

Keywords

Politics; Political prisoners; London; Government; Labour Party; Jim Callaghan; Margaret Thatcher; Northern Ireland; Parliament; Police; Conservative Party; Liberal Party; Liverpool; Prisons; David Owen; Political parties; David Steel; Roy Hattersley; Queen Elizabeth II; Prince Philip; Edward Heath; Members of Parliament; Duke of Edinburgh; Riots; Jim Prior; Parliamentary debates; Royal family; Royalty; Prince Charles; Maze Prison; SDP; SDP-Liberal Alliance; Brixton; Politicians; Denis Healey; Prisoners; Bob Mellish; Enoch Powell; Leslie Scarman; Ian Gilmour; Princess Diana; Princess of Wales; Diana Spencer; Prince of Wales; Peter Tatchell; Bobby Sands; George Bentinck; John Fraser

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