Why was Michael Foot's manifesto dubbed as the "longest suicide note in history"?

Title please

Foot got the lowest seats and vote share since 1935 although Corbyn has beaten him in seats.

I think the real answer is deeper than what @Rakas21 said. I'll give you my view now, this is coming from someone who hold veiws very similar to Michael foot.

Michael foot took over the labour party at a time when labour had just suffered a catastrophic defeat, losing the 1979 election to Margaret Thatcher. This was a much bigger deal than it gets reported in modern day press, thos is because upto 79, the country had largely been a socialist country, what I mean by that is not that we were a high taxation, high public service economy and the general public opted in large numbers to change the political course of the country in 79. This changed the virtual political wind, so it speak to the right against socialism and against the direction Clement attlee had set decades before.

Michael Foots manifesto refused to listen to the electorate, he actually said "whatever they change, we will change back". That's not a way to engage in democracy, that's why they got the lowest seats and vote share since 1935. And not so coincidentally not listening to the electorate is the reason Corbyn has beaten Foot in the misfortune of beating him in seats

His aims were really unrealistic and unpopular, i have notes on this from when i did it at a-level i'll see if i can dig them out

That's amazing! You did Politics at A-Level? How many years ago and how did it go? I'm going to do mine in 2021.

Thank you for answering one of my questions again! You seem very knowledgeable in Politics
This cleared up many things, thank you for spending the time to go into a lot of depth into this!

I think the real answer is deeper than what @Rakas21 said. I'll give you my view now, this is coming from someone who hold veiws very similar to Michael foot.

Michael foot took over the labour party at a time when labour had just suffered a catastrophic defeat, losing the 1979 election to Margaret Thatcher. This was a much bigger deal than it gets reported in modern day press, thos is because upto 79, the country had largely been a socialist country, what I mean by that is not that we were a high taxation, high public service economy and the general public opted in large numbers to change the political course of the country in 79. This changed the virtual political wind, so it speak to the right against socialism and against the direction Clement attlee had set decades before.

Michael Foots manifesto refused to listen to the electorate, he actually said "whatever they change, we will change back". That's not a way to engage in democracy, that's why they got the lowest seats and vote share since 1935. And not so coincidentally not listening to the electorate is the reason Corbyn has beaten Foot in the misfortune of beating him in seats

The four left the Labour Party as a result of the January 1981 Wembley conference which committed the party to unilateral nuclear disarmament and withdrawal from the European Economic Community. They also believed that Labour had become too left-wing, and had been infiltrated at constituency party level by Militant tendency whose views and behaviour they considered to be at odds with the Parliamentary Labour Party and Labour voters.

Have had a look and these are some bits that i've pulled out, most of it is statistics though so idk if it will be much use to you

Demographic Changes:
-Demographic changes loosened the traditional loyalties of the working class
-Unions were no longer a source of strength
-Many labour governments were seen as having lost touch with people they were supposed to serve


1980 Leadership Election:
Candidate
Votes
%
Denis Healey
112
42.3
Michael Foot (Extreme Left Wing)
83
31.3
John Silkin
38
14.3
Peter Shore
32
12.1

Second Ballot Required (No overall majority)
Candidate
Votes
%
Denis Healey
129
48.1
Michael Foot
139
52.9


Labour in the 1980s:
-Leader ‘too left wing’, unelectable, Michael Foot
-Divided split party
-Unstable party
-More concerned with keeping the party together than dealing with opposition
-Party forming within a party, militant tendencies


Labour Split:
-January 1981, special party conference in Wembley
-Notorious for hostility shown towards speakers by hard (loony) left
-Often seen as a snapping point

The ‘Gang of Four’ broke with the Labour party and set up the new Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the ‘Limehouse Declaration’





Nah i did history but one of our modules was about Britain from 1951 to 2007 i got an A and completed my alevels in 2017
Good luck for your exam

Have had a look and these are some bits that i've pulled out, most of it is statistics though so idk if it will be much use to you

Demographic Changes:
-Demographic changes loosened the traditional loyalties of the working class
-Unions were no longer a source of strength
-Many labour governments were seen as having lost touch with people they were supposed to serve


1980 Leadership Election:
Candidate
Votes
%
Denis Healey
112
42.3
Michael Foot (Extreme Left Wing)
83
31.3
John Silkin
38
14.3
Peter Shore
32
12.1

Second Ballot Required (No overall majority)
Candidate
Votes
%
Denis Healey
129
48.1
Michael Foot
139
52.9


Labour in the 1980s:
-Leader ‘too left wing’, unelectable, Michael Foot
-Divided split party
-Unstable party
-More concerned with keeping the party together than dealing with opposition
-Party forming within a party, militant tendencies


Labour Split:
-January 1981, special party conference in Wembley
-Notorious for hostility shown towards speakers by hard (loony) left
-Often seen as a snapping point

The ‘Gang of Four’ broke with the Labour party and set up the new Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the ‘Limehouse Declaration’





Nah i did history but one of our modules was about Britain from 1951 to 2007 i got an A and completed my alevels in 2017
Good luck for your exam