Conservative Dominance 1951-1964

Post war consensus
1. Three major political parties had broad agreement on most issue
2. Importance of extensive welfare systems and the NHS
3. Intervention in the economy to ensure maximum growth, full employment and fair practices
4. Foreign policy based on support for the USA and opposition to communism
5. Independence for the colonies in the empire
Reasons for staying in power
1. Economic Developments
  1. The post war boom saw a period of economic growth and rising living standards
  2. Butskellism
    1. Aiming to ensure full employment and economic growth, continued development of the welfare state, maintenance of defence commitments and nuclear weaponry
  3. Stop-Go economy, or the use of interest rates to control growth, ensured a healthy economy
  4. Budgets manipulated to reinforce support (e.g. in 1959 the chancellor introduced tax cuts)
2. Social and cultural developments
  1. Rising living standards
    1. Consumerism, often people bought on credit
    2. Car ownership grew from 3 to 7 million
    3. Able to afford home appliances and televisions,
  2. Class differences had narrowed thanks to the welfare state and the feeling of all being in it together
  3. Television allowed for escapism and drama, as well as a method of government advertising themselves
3. Foreign Policy
  1. Winds of change - lots of colonies had inpendence
  2. Supported USA during the cold war
4. Conservative successes
  1. Economy
  2. Houses
  3. Assosciated with prosperity
  4. Britain still seemed a world power
  5. Maintained welfare spending, economic planning and policies to help full employment
  6. Churchills government built over 300,000 houses
  7. New schools built and uni places doubled
  8. Motorways built
5. Labour Weaknesses
  1. Party split during the 1950's over defence spending
  2. Problems such as popular leader Hugh Gaitskells death in 1963
  3. Electorate was satisfied with conservative rule and did not trust labour to maintain this prosperity
Reasons for downfall
1. Economic Developments
  1. Imported more than exported so balance of payment in defecit
  2. Could not afford to maintain all three butskellism aims
  3. Growing inflation
  4. Industrial relations, workers demanded pay increases due to inflation
  5. Budget manipulation led to bad economy
  6. In July 1961 a pay pause was introduced to reduce excessive pay demands but they ended up giving in so it was useless
  7. By 1964 there was a huge defecit, unemployment had risen and we had unsuccessfully tried to join the EEc which was not having these problems
2. Social and cultural developments
  1. Racism
    1. Labour shortages grew and people were encouraged to move to Britain from the commonwealth for work
    2. Faced discrimination in various kinds
    3. There was a series of racial attacks in 1958
    4. Serious issues with migration
  2. Emergence of teen culture
    1. Baby boomers who formed sub-cultures and rebelled
    2. Teddy boys were associated with violence
3. Foreign Policy
  1. Sought to maintain global power but lacked the resources
  2. Some people were against the Cold war
  3. Kept being declined from the EEC by the French president which didn't help our economy
  4. Some people were against the collapse of the empire
  5. Suez Crisis
    1. Egypt's leader nationalised the suez canal and Britain and France made a secret agreement with Israel so they could have it back
    2. Campaign was successful but USA and USSR opposed it so they had to withdraw because the USA threatened to take away the loans
    3. Resulted in the resignation of PM Anthony Eden and showed that Britain had a reduced role in the world
Prime Ministers
1. William Churchill (1951 - 1955). Famed wartime leader. Mainly a figurehead due to his age
2. Anthony Eden (1955 -1957) Long-serving foreign secretary. Cut short by Suez Crisis
3. Harold Macmillan (1957 - 1963) Presided over a massive increase in prosperity
4. Sir Alec Douglas-Home (1963-1964) Seen as out of touch so never really got to do anything before his govt defeated

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Conservative Dominance 1951-1964

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