United Kingdom General Election, 1964 - Campaign

Campaign

The pre-election campaign was prolonged as Douglas-Home delayed calling a general election in order to try to give himself the maximum time to improve the prospects of his party. The starting gun of the campaign was fired on 15 September 1964 when Douglas-Home saw the Queen and asked for a dissolution of Parliament. The campaign was dominated by some of the more voluble characters on the political scene: George Brown, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, toured the country making energetic speeches and the occasional gaffe, and Quintin Hogg for the Conservatives responded in kind. The image of Hogg lashing out at a Harold Wilson poster with his walking stick was one of the most striking of the campaign. Many party speakers, especially at televised rallies, had to deal with hecklers: Sir Alec Douglas-Home in particular was treated very roughly in a meeting at Birmingham.

Read more about this topic:  United Kingdom General Election, 1964

Famous quotes containing the word campaign:

    The fact that a man is to vote forces him to think. You may preach to a congregation by the year and not affect its thought because it is not called upon for definite action. But throw your subject into a campaign and it becomes a challenge.
    John Jay Chapman (1862–1933)

    Dianne’s not one of the boys, but she’s not one of the girls, either.
    Marcia Smolens, U.S. political campaign aide. As quoted in Dianne Feinstein, ch. 15, by Jerry Roberts (1994)

    You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.
    Mario Cuomo (b. 1932)