T1 Political

Question 1

7 points

Conservative Strengths in the 1951 General Election

Answer 1

• The outbreak of the Korean War made Churchill an appealing leader given his WW2 leadership experience.
• Modernization of the Conservative Party by Rab Butler who in his 1947 book The Industrial Charter argued the Conservatives had to accept the Post-War Consensus and the Welfare State.
• Re-organisation of the Party by Lord Woolton – reformed finances and constituency structure.
• New generation of young, effective MP’s such as R. A. Butler brought confidence to the party.
• Policies around which Conservatives could unite – e.g. criticising Labour’s nationalisation of iron and steel.
• The Conservatives promised an end to austerity by ending rationing and promising to build 300,000 new homes a year.
• Conservative approach of more limited involvement in economy – upholders of liberty and individualism may have attracted them to the electorate.

Question 2

5 Points

Labour weaknesses in the 1951 General Election

Answer 2

• Fatigue – Attlee and several other ministers had been exhausted by six years in government at a difficult time post war, and had also been serving during the coalition between 1941-1945.
• The 1951 Bevanite split over the introduction of prescription charges – led to resignation of several Cabinet members who objected to prescription charges as a betrayal of the socialist principle of treatment being free at the point of delivery.
• Some in Labour Party (left-wing) were unhappy with how the government had been slow to respond to Trade Union/workers’ demands.
• Labour became associated with austerity, rationing and high taxation – which weren’t attractive propositions for voters.
• Labour government’s support for a nuclear deterrent, as well as British entry into the Korean War in 1950 also angered many on the Labour left.

Question 3

First-Past-the-Post System

Answer 3

• The First-Past-The-Post electoral system led to a Conservative majority in parliament, even though
  Labour won a higher share of the popular vote.
• The Conservatives won a narrow victory – 26 seat majority.
• Labour actually polled a higher proportion of the votes 48.8% compared to 48% for Conservatives – this was due to the first past the post electoral system.
• There was nothing inevitable about the Conservatives’ victory.

Question 4

The Post-War Consensus

Answer 4

• The Post-War Consensus was the agreement by all political parties on nationalisation, strong trade unions, heavy regulations, high taxes and a generous welfare state).
• Butskellism was a satirical term sometimes used in British politics in reference to the post-war consensus, established by merging the names of Rab Butler of the Conservatives and Hugh Gaitskell of Labour).
• Keynesian Economics (a ‘big government’ role in the economy).
• Commitment to full employment (even if it results in inflation in the economy).
• Nationalisation of Key Industries (‘the commanding heights of the economy’).
• High Taxes (to pay for ‘big government’ spending).
• Heavy Regulations (ensure worker rights & protections).
• Strong Trade Unions (government, business & trade unions working in partnership together).
• A generous Welfare-State (a commitment to greater social equality and social security).

Question 5

One-Nation Conservatism

Answer 5

• Up until 1975 the dominant ideology of the Conservative Party was ‘One Nation Conservatism’.
• This essentially started off with a phrase used by Benjamin Disraeli, who had been Prime Minister in the 1860s. He was trying to respond to the deepening inequalities occurring in Victorian Industrial Britain.
• Disraeli feared a Britain divided into two nations, one of the rich and one of the poor, as a result of increased industrialisation and inequality.
• Disraeli believed in social obligation and that if the rich did not fulfil their obligations to the poor, then Britain would become split – the rich and poor – opposed to each other.
• He believed the rich should live by the medieval feudal tradition of “noblesse oblige” which meant the nobility have a responsibility towards the peasants in their care.
• In a modern sense, Disraeli argued the government should be “Paternalistic” and provide welfare support for the poorest in society.

Question 6

Winston Churchill: 1951-1955

Answer 6

• Experience and credibility having led England to victory during WW1.
• Expertise in international affairs – viewed himself as an international statesman.
• Often called ‘The absentee Prime Minister’.
• Deployed useful ministers in key positions, such as Eden, Butler and Macmillan.
• Often out of the country fulfilling his role as statesman.
• Lacked energy as became PM aged 76 in 1951, suffered a stroke in 1953 although was kept secret from the public.
• Eventually stood aside to allow Eden to take up leadership of the Party.

Question 7

Anthony Eden: 1955-1957

Answer 7

• Experienced of practically running the country as Deputy PM during Churchill’s time in office, covering during his travels and illness.
• Most experienced in international affairs.
• Kept waiting for Churchill to retire for too long, arguably passed his prime when he took over
• Limited experience of domestic government, especially the economy.
• Critics mocked Eden’s administration for lacking the ‘smack of firm government’ due to his supposed weakness in dealing with the Trade Unions and also some of his cabinet colleagues (eg. Macmillan dragging his feet about changing roles in a Cabinet reshuffle).
• The disastrous Suez campaign, combined with ill health, prompted Eden’s decision to move away from politics in 1957.

Question 8

Harold Macmillan: 1957-1963

Answer 8

• Experienced a range of roles: Housing Minister, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor.
• Was initially supportive of Eden’s approach to the Suez Crisis, but his reputation was not too damaged by the disaster.
• MP for Stockton in Middlesbrough, which shaped his fears around high levels of unemployment, and his position as a ‘One-Nation Tory’ - (the responsibility for those who are better off to ensure the well-being of those who are worse off).
• Macmillan is often referred to as a ‘Grouse Moor Tory’ because of his wealth and upper-class aristocratic roots.
• The aristocratic ‘Establishment’ dominated Macmillan’s government, with over 30/80 ministers in some way related to the PM through marriage, emphasised the narrow and exclusive basis of power in the minds of critics.
• Became a target for satirists in the early 1960’s - Macmillan appeared to embody ‘The Establishment’ - a very narrow group of aristocratic men who followed the traditional pathway (Eton, Oxbridge, Politics) to power.
• Quite successful projection of an image of ‘tradition’ and reassuring experience using the new medium of the TV leading to his nickname, ‘Supermac’.

Question 9

Lord Home: 1963-1964

Answer 9

• Macmillan, wearied by on-going problems with the economy, the failure of his attempts to gain UK entry to the EEC and the Profumo scandal decided to resign as Conservative Party leader in 1963, believing himself to be too unwell to continue.
• The Conservative Party leadership was decided by ‘soundings’ or ‘consultations’ of senior Conservatives to see who the next leader should be. There was much support for Butler or Hailsham, but there is considerable evidence that Macmillan, from his hospital bed, manipulated proceedings so that the Earl of Home became the next leader. This continued to make it easy for the Labour Party and other critics to point out the unrepresentative nature of power in the Conservative Party.
• Sir Alec Douglas Home went on to narrowly lose the 1964 election and hand power to Wilson and the Labour Party – although perhaps the most surprising aspect is the narrow nature of Labour’s victory considering the scandals and poor economic management of the Conservatives since 1959.

Question 10

The Labour Party were also affected by key issues:

Answer 10

1. Hostility from Trade Unions – Trade unions were often supportive of the Labour Party, but under the leadership of Frank Cousins (leader of the Transport and General Workers Union from 1956) the Labour Party faced hostile opposition over the issue of nuclear weapons. (The Unions supported unilateral disarmament.
2. Many Labour left wingers (despite Bevan actually declaring his support for Britain’s nuclear policy in 1957) supported the CND’s campaign against nuclear weapons – this association between the Labour Party and protest against nuclear power damaged the Party in the eyes of some voters. The left wing of the Labour Party also wanted more socialist policies – eg. Commitment to more state control of the economy.
3. Divisions about whether Britain should join the EEC. Gaitskell followed Attlee’s lead in 1962 by arguing Britain should not join the EEC. Some in the Labour Party criticised this stance as it did not reflect Labour as being forward thinking/progressive.
4. Labour was a more united Party by the early 1960’s. In 1960 the Trade Unions used a block vote to force unilateralism as an official policy at the Party conference, but Gaitskell’s passionately argued speech (fight, fight and fight again’) against this approach bore fruit in 1961 when delegates voted to abandon the policy.

Question 11

Conservative Strengths in the 1955 General Election

Answer 11

• Eden called a general election in 1955 because he wanted his on electoral mandate and victory independent of Churchill.
• Only nine days after becoming prime minister he announced a general election for 26th May 1955.
• At the time the Conservative Party was only 4% ahead of the Labour Party.
• During the 1955 General Election Eden emphasized the theme of the ‘property-owning democracy’.
• The Conservatives benefited from what has come to be known as the ‘feelgood factor’ given the age of prosperity and thanks to the post-war consensus.
• Butler boosted Conservative election prospects with a ‘give-away’ budget that provided the middle class with £134 million in tax cuts.
• The British people, with some exceptions, were better housed and fed than they had been four years previously.
• Unemployment stood at only 1% and more households had more disposable income to buy consumer goods than ever before.
• The availability of more higher-purchase, since the relaxation of government restrictions in August 1954 had encouraged an expansion of consumer expenditure, which rose by 8% between 1954 and 1955. Spending on cars, washing machines and television sets rose by about 10%.
• It was the first-time since 1900 that an incumbent government had increased its majority in the House of Commons.
• Eden’s Conservative Party achieved 49.7% share of all the votes cast in 1955 against Labour’s 46.4% (this remains a post-war record).

Question 12

Labour Weaknesses in the 1955 General Election

Answer 12

• In part, Eden’s resounding victory can be attributed to the Labour Party’s seriously damaged credibility.
• Less than two months before the 1955 General Election, sixty-one Bevanites defied the Labour Party leadership and abstained [refused to vote] in favour of a House of Commons vote on the key question of nuclear weapons.
• This made the Labour Party look weak on defence at the time of the Cold War.
• The Labour leader, Clement Attlee, retired and was replaced by the much younger, Hugh Gaitskell.
• Gaitskell would now lead the Labour Party until his death in 1963, after which, he would be replaced by Harold Wilson.

Question 13

Conservative Strengths in the 1959 General Election

Answer 13

• After the Suez Crisis in 1956, Anthony Eden, the Conservative Prime Minister, became unpopular.
• He resigned early in 1957, and was succeeded by Chancellor of the Exchequer Harold Macmillan.
• The Liberal Party also had a new leader, Jo Grimond, so all three parties contested the election with a new leader at the helm. The Suez Crisis was now a distant memory.
• Macmillan’s leadership and his personal approval ratings remained high.
• The Conservatives fought the 1959 General Election under the slogan “Life is better with the Conservatives, don’t let Labour ruin it” and were boosted by a pre election economic boom.
• Macmillan very effectively “summed up” the mood of the British public when he said that most of the people had “never had it so good”.

Question 14

Labour Weaknesses in the 1959 General Election

Answer 14

• At that point, the Labour Party, whose leader Hugh Gaitskell had succeeded Clement Attlee after the 1955 General election, enjoyed large leads in opinion polls over the Conservative Party, and it looked as if Labour would win.
• The Labour Party’s popularity suffered due to the rise of industrial disputes in the 1950s and splits within the Labour Party between its right-wing and left-wing factions over the issue of nuclear deterrent and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) that would lead to the Aldermaston Marches.
• The Labour Party fought a generally effective campaign, with television broadcasts masterminded by Tony Benn under the umbrella of their manifesto entitled Britain Belongs to You, which accused the Conservatives of complacency over the growing gap between rich and poor.
• Labour’s 1959 manifesto pledged to reverse reductions in welfare benefits, National Health Service (NHS) and pensions expenditure; renationalize the steel industry and road haulage; reform secondary education; expand consumer protection laws; and create the Welsh Office.
• Hugh Gaitskell made a mistake in declaring that a Labour government would not raise taxes if it came to power—even though the Labour manifesto contained pledges to increase spending; especially to increase pensions. Although Gaitskell argued revenue would be provided by economic growth, led some voters to doubt Labour’s spending plans, and is usually seen as a key
  reason for their defeat.