Eden 1955-57

Eden 1955-57

Eden himself
1. Eden was an expert in foreign policies and was not 'part of the club'. He relied heavily on Butler as his knowledge of economics and finance were weak.
Budgets
1. Hire purchase charges were raised in July and then in October taxes were raised in an emergency budget. Butler backtracked on his giveaway budget and Gaitskell used this to savage Butler in the commons.
Reshuffle
1. Eden moved Macmillan from foreign office to COE
2. Selwyn Lloyd took the foreign office.
Suez crisis 1956
1. Eden authorised an invasion of Egypt to regain control of the Suez Canal. The canal was a profitable trade route which used to belong to British and French companies until the Egyptian government nationalised it in 1956.
2. Eden publicly claimed the invasion was a peace-keeping exercise, but in reality he wanted to retake the canal. Eisenhower was campaigning as peace maker so made it clear to Eden that any British imperial adventures should stop.
3. Eden resigned and Macmillan took over.
Election
1. On taking office he immediately called a general election for 26 May 1955, at which he increased the Conservative majority from seventeen to sixty, a majority which broke a ninety-year record for any UK government.

Resource summary

	Created by Tulsi Patel over 9 years ago