Britain 1945 - 1990

Attlee, Churchill and Eden 1945-1957
1. Clement Attlee
  1. General Election 1945 Labour - 393 Conservative - 213
    1. Acts and Reforms
      1. National Insurance Act 1946
      2. National Health Service Act 1946
      3. Town and Country Planning Act 1947
        750,000 new homes by 1948
      4. Beveridge Report
    2. Key Figures
      1. Aneurin Bevan
        'I stuffed their mouths with gold.'
      2. John Maynard-Keynes
        Consensus interventionist policy up until Thatcher 1979
        Secures American loan of $3.75 billion
    3. Economy
      1. Nationalisation
      2. Marshall Aid
      3. Balance of Payments deficit
        Davaluation of the £
        Exports still rose from £266 million in 1944 to £2.2 billion in 1950
2. Winston Churchill
  1. General Election 1951 Labour - 295 Conservative 321
    1. Key Figures
      1. Richard Austen Butler
        'Butskellism' economic policy as Chancellor of the Exchequer
      2. Harold Macmillan
        Built 318,000 houses between 1952-52 as Minister for Housing
    2. Economy
      1. Continuation of Balance of Payments crisis
        Butler's proposal to let the pound float rejected
    3. Labour division in opposition between Attlee/Gaitskell and Bevan
3. Anthony Eden
  1. General Election 1955 Labour - 277 Conservative - 345
    1. Suez Crisis
      1. Nasser nationalises the Suez Canal in July 1956
        Secret deal between Britain, France and Israel. Israel invade Sinai, Britain intervenes as peacekeepers
        Despite superb military planning, Britain withdraws due to US conditions regarding financial help
Macmillan and Wilson 1957-1970
1. Harold Macmillan
  1. General Election 1959 Labour - 258 Conservative - 365
    1. Key Figures
      1. Richard Austen Butler
        Pushed through reforms to prostitution in Street Offices Act, and then the Commonwealth Immigration Act 1962 in post at Home Office
      2. Chancellors
        Peter Thorneycroft
        Early proposals of monetarism rejected by Macmillan, resigns alongside Powell
        Derick Heathcote-Amory
        'Giveaway budget' 1959 reduces income tax down to 40p - election winning budget
        Selwyn Lloyd
        Disastrously unpopular budget in 1962 - tax on sweets and ice cream
        Reggie Maudling
        Keynesian expansionist - April 1963 budget saw £260 million tax cuts
    2. Economy
      1. Continuation of Balance of Payments deficit
      2. 'Britain never had it so good' July 1957
      3. Macmillan remains staunchly fiscal and Keynesian throughout his office
      4. Overall - Wages increased, home ownership increased by 44% and increased consumption of white goods, yet share of trade fell to only 15%.
      5. Macmillan attempts to join EEC but De Gaulle continuously vetoes application
    3. Labour critically divided between Bevanites and Gaitskellites over CND and Clause 4
  2. Profumo Affair 1962
  3. 'Night of the Long Knives' July 1962 - huge cabinet reshuffle but damages Macmillans image of calm
2. Harold Wilson
  1. General Election 1964 Labour - 317 Conservative - 304
    1. Key Figures
      1. Roy Jenkins
        Notable social reforms as Home Secretary. Prominent Labour politician for next 20 years
      2. Barbara Castle
        'In Place of Strife' paper developed in 1968 to crack down on Trade Union dominance. Rejected by left wing party members.
    2. Notable Social Reforms
      1. Capital Punishment abolished in 1969
      2. Sexual Offences Bill 1967 legalises homosexuality
      3. Race Relations Act 1966 establishes Race Relations Board to investigate complaints of discrimination
      4. Jennie Lee launches the Open University in 1971
      5. Theatres Act 1968 abolishes stage censorship
    3. Economy
      1. Despite a large BoP deficit, Wilson consistently rejects devaluation and keeps the £ at $2.80
        October 1967 saw worst monthly trade deficit in British history
        Wilson forced to devalue £ to $2.40
        Trade surplus recorded in 1969
      2. Second attempt to join Europe again rebuffed by De Gaulle
  2. Wins re-election in 1966 with increased majority
Heath, Wilson and Callaghan 1970-1979
1. Ted Heath
  1. General Election 1970 Labour - 288 Conservative - 330
    1. Provisional IRA becomes active in Ulster - beginning of the 'Troubles'
      1. 'Bloody Sunday' 1972 - 26 civillians killed by British soldiers
    2. Miners Strikes 1971-72
      1. Miners demand huge pay rises to combat inflation
      2. 'Flying pickets' under direction of Arthur Scargill force closure of power stations and depots.
        Government submit due to rapidly decreasing coal stocks and agree to miners' demands. Huge public image disaster for the Government
    3. Britain finally gains entry into the EEC in 1973
    4. Arab-Israeli War causes price of oil to rocket. Britain must rely on domestic coal
      1. Government calls a 3 day working week in response to further strikes by miners.
        British output only fell by 5%
2. Harold Wilson (2nd Term) and Jim Callaghan
  1. General Election 1974 Labour - 319 Conservative - 277
    1. Parliament wide divisions over Europe - Wilson calls referendum in 1975
      1. Small Yes majority retains membership
      2. NO - Tony Benn and Michael Foot
        YES - Roy Jenkins and Ted Heath
    2. Economy
      1. By 1975 inflation reaches 27%, house prices drop 16%
      2. Healey resorts to $3 billion loan from IMF - national humiliation for Britain
      3. Huge action by Unions demanding inflation-busting raises
        1978-79 'Winter of Discontent' - disastrous strikes by rubbish men, grave diggers, lorry drivers and health service workers
        Callaghan - 'Crisis? What crisis?'
  2. Wilson retires 1976 to be replaced by Callaghan
Thatcher 1979-1990
1. Margaret Thatcher
  1. General Election 1979 Labour - 269 Conservative - 339
    1. General Election 1983 Labour - 209 Conservative - 397
      1. Miner's Strike 1984-85
        Governments closure of uneconomic pits leads to forced strike action directed by Scargill
        Called strike in Spring 1984 - proved to be a critical mistake
        'Battle of Orgreave' 1984 - public opinion seems to turn pro-government
        Government coal stocks outlast strikers. Strike called off March 1985
      2. General Election 1987 Labour - 229 Conservative - 376
        Poll Tax
        Everyone pays standard 'community charge' - old system based on property valuation scrapped
        Hugely unpopular with the public. Large scale rioting resulted.
        Disagreements and significant resignations from Nigel Lawson, Michael Hesaltine and most critically, Geoffrey Howe
      3. Labour in Opposition
        Michael Foot as leader 1979-83
        Foot leads a revival of hard Leftism in the party followed by a rise of socialism across the North in local councils
        Right-leaning SDP lead by Roy Jenkins splits from the Labour Party
        SDP gains significant seats in 1983 election at the expense of Labour
        Neil Kinnock replaces Foot as leader after disastrous election defeat
      4. Northern Ireland
        Northern Ireland 'Troubles' runs through whole decade
        Bombing of Grand Hotel in 1984 Tory Party Conference
    2. Falklands War 1982
      1. Thatcher wins conflict outright - huge election-winning boost in popularity
    3. Key Figures
      1. Geoffrey Howe
        Chancellor, and loyal Thatcherite
      2. Arthur Scargill
        National Union of Miners leader and Thatcher nemesis throughout the Miners Strikes of 1973-74
    4. Economy
      1. Free-Market Economics
        Monetarist Policy - Control of money supply largely via interest rates
        Emphasis on 'small government' - little government intervention in the economy. A huge break from the consensus approach of Keynesian economics
        Large-scale Privatisation - Utilities (Gas/Water/Electricity) airlines, communications, motor companies (Jaguar/Rolls Royce) and coal industry
        Large number of public become shareholders
      2. Howe's first budget 1979
        Income tax reduced, especially for the rich - 83% down to 60%
        Interest rate raised to 14% to lower inflation
        Resulted in huge reduction in inflation (down to 5% in 1983) but also Brixton riots and mass unemployment
  2. Ousted by Party in 1990 who feared she was an electoral liability

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Britain 1945 - 1990

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