Heath's govt

Question 1

When did the Conservatives win the general election under Heath?

Answer 1

1970

Question 2

When was Bloody Sunday?

Answer 2

1972

Question 3

When was currency decimalised?

Answer 3

1971

Question 4

When was the OPEC oil crisis?

Answer 4

1973

Question 5

When did Britain join the EEC?

Answer 5

1973

Question 6

When was the Miner’s strike?

Answer 6

1973

Question 7

When was the 3 day week introduced?

Answer 7

1973

Question 8

When was the first General election where Heath was replaced by Wilson?

Answer 8

Feb of 1974

Question 9

When was the collapse of the Sunningdale agreement?

Answer 9

1974

Question 10

When was the general election called by Wilson where he increased his majority?

Answer 10

Oct of 1974

Question 11

Who was Heath replaced as party leader by?

Answer 11

Thatcher

Question 12

When was Heath replaced as party leader by Thatcher?

Answer 12

1975

Question 13

How did Heath’s premiership begin?

Answer 13

After his election victory of 1970 he felt able to lead a strong government and modernise Britain. He had success in joining the EEC, something which alluded his predecessors

Question 14

How did Heath’s premiership end?

Answer 14

In failure, with a massive economic and political crisis. This culminated in electoral defeat in 1974 and loss of party leadership in 1975

Question 15

Was Heath prepared with his policies?

Answer 15

When he became PM, he had already been leader of the opposition for 5 years so had a clear and detailed programme of policies for the modernisation of Britain, especially on industrial relations and economic modernisation

Question 16

Describe Heath

Answer 16

He was different from other Conservative Party leaders, he was state school educated. He was seen as stiff and prickly in dealing with people, too honest for his own good and not skilful enough in pleasing political allies. He can be described as good at policies, but not politics

Question 17

Why was Heath prepared to sort out the EEC issue?

Answer 17

He knew the issues surrounding the EEC entry inside out as he was the chief negotiator from 1961 to 1963

Question 18

Why was the Conservative Party conference important?

Answer 18

It was held in January before the 1970 election at Selsdon Park and was used to approve a policy programme which formed the basis of the Conservative Party manifesto.

Question 19

What was the basis of the Conservative Party manifesto?

Answer 19

Tax reform, better law and order, reforms to trade unions, immigration controls, cuts to public spending and an end to the public subsidy of lame duck industries. Heath did still believe in one nation toryism and preserving the post war concensus

Question 20

What were some of the reforms under Heath’s premiership?

Answer 20

The school leaving age was raised to 16, local government was reorganised, the British currency went decimal, but overall policy was dominated by the economy and industrial relations

Question 21

Who was the new chancellor?

Answer 21

Barber

Question 22

What did Barber do?

Answer 22

He introduced cuts in public spending as well as tax cuts to encourage investment. The ‘Barber boom’ began as inflation rose, which was unusually not accompanied by economic growth- unemployment actually rose. This caused stagflation

Question 23

When were government compelled to reverse their policy?

Answer 23

As unemployment edged towards a million, the government felt compelled to increase state intervention in industry

Question 24

What was the government’s famous u turn?

Answer 24

The prestigious engineering firm Rolls Royce was nationalised in 1971and govt money was poured in to prevent Upper Clyde shipbuilders going bankrupt. They had begun to support lame duck industries

Question 25

By 1973 did the govt's investment into modernisation seem to work?

Answer 25

Unemployment had fallen back to 500,000. But this was to change with the oil price crisis of 1973, which was quickly followed by the energy crisis

Question 26

What triggered the oil price crisis?

Answer 26

The Yom Kippur War in the Middle East prompted OPEC to declare an oil embargo. Exports were stopped and the price of oil quadrupled. Long queues formed outside petrol stations

Question 27

What followed the oil price crisis?

Answer 27

The National Union of Miners demanded a huge new pay rise in November 1973. Their demand were beyond the limits the govt wanted to impose to hold down inflation. The miners even introduced an overtime ban to strengthen their demands

Question 28

What industrial disputes did Heath have to deal with?

Answer 28

A dockers' strike, a large pay settlement for dustmen, a postal workers' strike and 'go slow' by power workers which led to power cuts

Question 29

How did the government respond to the problems in industrial relations?

Answer 29

They introduced the Industrial Relations Act in 1971 and abolished the National Board for Prices and Incomes

Question 30

What was the Industrial Relations act similar to?

Answer 30

Barbara Castle's proposals in her white paper, in place of strife

Question 31

What did the Industrial Relations Act introduce?

Answer 31

It set up an industrial relations court, it provided for strike ballots and established a cooling off period

Question 32

Was the industrial relations act a success?

Answer 32

It was opposed by the Trade Union Congress and Confederation of British Industry

Question 33

What was the strike in 1972?

Answer 33

It was the major strike and involved miners, ambulance drivers, firefighters, civil servants, power workers, hospital staff and engine drivers

Question 34

How many days were lost in 1972?

Answer 34

23,909,000

Question 35

What stopped the movement of coal around the country?

Answer 35

The use of flying pickets

Question 36

How did the govt respond to the miners strike?

Answer 36

They declared a state of emergency as schools were closed and 1.2 million workers were laid off. It set up the Wilberforce Committee and announced a three day week to save electricity

Question 37

What did the Wilberforce committee do?

Answer 37

It examined the miners' demands and eventually came down on the side of the miners so the NUM leader Joe Gormley was able to negotiate a generous wage settlement

Question 38

What did the Industry act of 1972 do?

Answer 38

It aimed to involve the government, the TUC and the CBI in agreeing wages, prices, investment and benefits

Question 39

Who did Heath reshuffle to deal with industrial tensions?

Answer 39

He moved Whitelaw from the Northern Ireland Office to be minister of employment as he was considered a skilled negotiator

Question 40

What did Heath intend as the central issue of the February 1974 general election?

Answer 40

'Who governs Britain?'

Question 41

What was the result of the February 1974 general election?

Answer 41

Labour won five more seats than the Tories. But the result was inconclusive and a hung parliament was formed. No party had an overall majority

Question 42

What indirectly brought down the govt?

Answer 42

The miner's strike

Question 43

What problems in Northern Ireland faced Heath?

Answer 43

There was an explosion of sectarian violence, the British army was struggling to keep the peace, and the political situation in Belfast was close to complete breakdown

Question 44

What were the key republican groups in Northern Ireland?

Answer 44

The IRA and the INLA

Question 45

What were the key loyalist groups in Northern Ireland?

Answer 45

The UDA and the UVF

Question 46

What did Heath's backing of Faulkner, the Ulster Unionist Party leader mean?

Answer 46

He went along with the policies of imposing night time curfews and the introduction of internment in 1971. These were ineffective security measures and alienated nationalist communities. This meant that the British army came to be regarded as an enemy occupying power

Question 47

What percent of those interned between 1971 and 1975 were Catholics?

Answer 47

95%

Question 48

What is IRA commander McVeigh quoted as saying about internment?

Answer 48

Internment is 'along the best recruiting tools the IRA ever had'

Question 49

When was the Aldershot bombing?

Answer 49

1972

Question 50

What was Bloody Sunday?

Answer 50

The Northern Ireland Civil Rights association organised a march to protest against internment. Attempts to control the march resulted in British soldiers firing live ammunition, twenty six unarmed civilians were shot and 13 killed

Question 51

What followed Bloody Sunday?

Answer 51

The British embassy in Dublin was burned down. Support for the IRA grew and they were able to raise lots of funds in the US

Question 52

What was the bloodiest year of the troubles?

Answer 52

1972, with 1382 explosions, 10,628 shooting incidents, and 480 killed

Question 53

When did Heath suspend the Stormont parliament?

Answer 53

In 1972. He brought in direct rule from Westminster and appointed Whitelaw as Secretary of State

Question 54

What were the key unionist parties?

Answer 54

Ulster unionist party, democratic unionist party and alliance

Question 55

What was the key nationalist party?

Answer 55

Social democratic Labour Party

Question 56

What was the key Republican Party?

Answer 56

Sinn Fein

Question 57

What was the sunningdale agreement?

Answer 57

It was negotiated in 1973 by Heath and Whitelaw. It was a complex plan for a power sharing government with the support of the SDI and the Alliance and the leadership of the UUP. It was opposed by the UVF and UDA as well as extremists, both republican and loyalists. Sadly, pro sunningdale votes were split so eleven of the twelve constituencies returned candidates that opposed the agreement

Question 58

What undermined the sunningdale agreement?

Answer 58

The ongoing problems in mainland Britain eg the miners' strike and the February 1974 general election.

Question 59

How did the sunningdale agreement affect the conservatives?

Answer 59

Concern over the sunningdale agreement meant the Conservatives could not rely on the support of the UUP, as might have been expected, preventing the Conservatives from continuing in govt