Conservative Domination 1951-1964

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  • Created on: 21-01-18 15:20

Why did Labour lose in the 1951 election?

  • The election of 1950 caused a loss of morale for Labour as they only gained a majority of 5 seats.
  • During their time in government, there were high levels of Austerity and people still had to ration. The public believed that they were still living under war conditions as nothing had changed from WW2.
  • Labour brought Britain into the Korean War in 1950 which meant that more money was spent on defence and armaments and that less money was available to the public. Most had already suffered through two wars and were reluctant to join another.
  • Due to the lack of money, cuts had to be made to the NHS so prescriptions, dental care and glasses had to be paid for. This caused major divisions within the party.
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Why did the Conservatives win the 1951 election?

  • They were more organised when compared to the 1945 election and campaigned more strongly. They promised to build 300,000 houses that were destroyed during the war which Labour had not yet solved.
  • Churchill was a wartime leader, so he was more experienced, had a good reputation and was more than capable of running the country.
  • The Conservatives had new, younger politicians that made Labour appear old-fashioned e.g Reginald Maudling (Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1962-64)
  • Churchill also promised to maintain the welfare state and full employment policies. This established the post-war consensus.
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The Electoral System

  • The first-past-the-post-system failed to work in Labour's favour as they won more votes but fewer seats. The candidate with the most votes in each constituency wins and becomes MP for that seat. The bigger the constituency meant that there were more voters but it would only be one seat, whereas lots of little constituencies had fewer voters but each area was one seat.
  • There were boundary changes for constituencies which meant that Labour had to win 2% more votes than the Conservatives.
  • The Liberals lost their popularity with some voters turning to the Tories. Labour was too closely associated with state control and nationalisation which traditional Liberals disliked.
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Conservative Prime Ministers 1951-1964

Winston Churchill (1951-1955)

- Gained a majority of 17 seats
- Had a great reputation for being a wartime leader and was deemed capable enough to run the country.
- In 1953, he denationalised the iron and steel industry that Attlee's government privatised.
- He ended rationing and brought an end to the Korean war in 1953.
- However, he was 77 years old in 1951 and offered little in terms of domestic affairs, which his Chancellor of the Exchequer R.A Bulter handled.
- After a series of strokes, he resigned in 1955 from ill health and proved he was not fit for office.

Anthony Eden (1955-1957)

- Replaced Churchill and gained a 60 seat majority in the 1955 election.
- Charming, young and charismatic. He was also highly experienced with foreign affairs having been Foreign Secretary 3 times.
- The Suez Crisis in 1956 proved to be the main cause of his downfall. Abdul Nasser, President of Egypt nationalised the Suez Canal and French, British and Israelian troops invaded.
- Eden believed that Nasser was another Hitler so didn't waste any time with appeasement.
- The USA disapproved and so did the British public. Britain was forced to withdraw and relations were damaged with the US. Anthony Eden faced humiliation and resigned the following year.

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Conservative Prime Ministers 1951-1964

Harold Macmillan (1957-1963)

- Replaced Eden and gained a 100 seat majority in the 1959 election.
- Restored the relationship between Britain and the US as he was good friends with Eisenhower.
- Nicknames "Supermac" which was a satirical term but he soon coined it as a part of his image.
- R.A Butler was Home Secretary, and together with Macmillan modernised the country and ended the death penalty and conscription in 1963.
- More accepting of independence of the British colonies e.g accepted African independence in 1960.
- Claimed that Britain had "Never had it so good" but they just improved the living standards whilst pushing the major problems of the economy backwards with the Stop-Go policy.
- Labour claimed that they were "13 wasted years" as unemployment increased to 800,000 in 1963, stagflation and a Balance of Payments deficit.
- "Night of the Long Knives" was one of the biggest sackings of cabinet ministers in political history when Macmillan replaced 1/3 of his cabinet and 7 ministers lost their job, as part of a reshuffle.
- Many scandals such as the Vassall Affair, the Philby Case, the Argyll Divorce and the Profumo scandal proved that Macmillan was losing control of his party and made the public doubt the credibility of the Tory party.
- They proved to the other nations that Britain was weak and damaged some relations as these    were during the height of the Cold War. Public were concerned for their own safety.
- Macmillan resigned in 1963 from retirement

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Conservative Prime Ministers 1951-1964

Alec Douglas-Home (1963-1964)

- A charming but very aristocratic man, and didn't seem capable of handling the economy or foreign affairs. 

- He was elected because of the Old-Boy Network which was seen as incredibly old-fashioned. The Old-Boy Network was a small group of aristocratic Conservatives.

- He was Prime Minister for just under a year and lost in the 1964 election to Labour leader Harold Wilson.

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Why did the support decline for the Tories in 1960

Economic Problems

  • Unemployment increased to over 800,000 and Scotland was affected the most.
  • High levels of stagflation and Balance of Payments deficit.
  • Failed government organisations: National Economic Development Council (NEDC) and National Incomes Commission (NIC) as little change happened and were ignored.
  • The public became dissatisfied with the economy and the Tories attempts to gain the support of the public relied on living standards.
  • The public wanted change and were tired of the Tories 13 years in a row, and believed that the economy was not as successful as it could be.

EEC Rejection

  • Macmillan decided to apply for EEC membership in 1963 which also included France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
  • Were vetoed by Charles de Gaulle, President of France as he was concerned over Britain's commitment.
  • The EEC had a much better economy and had free trade so the public wanted to join.
  • It proved how weak the government was as the public thought that they were not considered an important part of Europe.
  •  It isolated Britain and they continued to have a weak economy.
  • Macmillan was under a lot of pressure from the public to join but since he failed the public blamed him.
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Why did the support decline for the Tories in 1960

Vassal Affair and Philby Case

  • John Vassall was a member of the British navy and was blackmailed by the Soviets into spying for them. From 1956 onwards he provided several thousand classified documents to the Soviets.
  • Kim Philby was recruited from Cambridge to work for the government but was a Soviet spy for 20 years. He fled to Russia in 1963 when the case was brought to the public and faced arrest.
  • They were both low ranking in the government so they shouldn't have been able to obtain the classified documents. Shows how weak the government was.
  • They also never caught Philby which shows how vulnerable and incapable the government was.

Argyll Divorce Case

  • The Duchess of Argyll, Margaret Campbell was a British socialite who had an affair with Minister of Defence, Duncan Sandys leading to a divorce from her husband.
  • She was a very promiscuous woman which was not entirely accepted then and neither was divorce.
  • The evidence was a series of Polaroids which featured Sandys as well as another in a sexual act.
  • This led to some Tory supporters lose trust and faith in the Tory politicians. It wasn't as important as some of the other events though but it had some contribution to the decline of the Conservatives.
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Why did the support decline for the Tories in 1960

The Profumo Scandal

  • The Secretary of State for War in 1960, John Profumo had an affair with known model Christine Keeler. She was also having an affair with a Russian spy Yevgeny Ivanov.
  • This breached security measures as Keeler could be sharing information about the British government to the spy.
  • When Profumo was confronted he denied any accusations and Macmillan defended him instead of inquiring further. 
  • This was a humiliation for the Conservatives and was the most major scandal out of them all. it made people double the credibility of the government.
  • Shows that Macmillan had no control over his party and was losing his political grip. This highlighted Macmillan's foolishness and inability to judge his government.
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Social Problems 1960-1964

Tensions over race

  • The 'Macmillan's Boom' encouraged 560,000 immigrants to come to the UK. By 1964 there were more than a million "coloured" immigrants living in Britain and they filled the labour shortages.
  • However, the public blamed them for job and housing shortages and this caused the 1958 Nottinghill race riots.
  • A mob of 300 to 400 white people, including Teddy Boys, were attacking some of the immigrants that lived in Nottinghill.
  • In response, the government introduced the Commonwealth Immigrations Act of 1962 which limited the number of immigrants that would move to Britain which caused more violence.
  • The government didn't realise that the cause of the violence was due to racism and discrimination instead of immigrants.
  • This wasn't that big of a problem for the Tories in terms of support as most of the public disagreed with immigration. Enoch Powell was also a key figure who was quite popular at this time at voicing his racist views.

Youth Sub-Culture

  • The youth during this time were more aggressive than ever, with violence between gangs.
  • The times were changing and Macmillan was becoming out of touch with society.
  • These young members were wanting to express themselves and they were also the voters of the future.
  • A more younger party with new members would be more willing to change than the now old-fashioned Tory party. Harold Wilson, the new leader of the Labour party lived up to this expectation.
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Labour's electoral failures in 1955 and 1959

1955 Election results

Conservatives: 345 seats
Labour: 277 seats
Liberal: 6 seats
Others: 2 seats

  • Clement Attlee seemed tired and unwell in the election when compared to the younger Anthony Eden.
  • The party had a negative view against joining the EEC which the public wanted to do as they were economically successful - more than Britain. Their views were seen as old fashioned.

1959 Election results

Conservatives: 365 seats
Labour: 258 seats
Liberal: 6 seats
Others: 1 seat

  • Hugh Gaitskell had little control over a divided party.
  • Labour made unconvincing statements during their campaign e.g increase pensions without raising taxes. This made them appear desperate, when they could have exploited the Conservative weakness during the Suez Crisis.
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Labour Divisions

Ever since its formal creation in 1906 Labour had been divided over whether to:

1. Maintain the socialist policies and make Britain a socialist country, but have less of a chance of winning elections. Nationalise the indutries as it will prevent them from closing down. Britain should disarm its nuclear weapons to establish peace among the other nations.


2. Compromise on socialist principles and allow the party to change in order to win elections. Nationalising the industries would scare the middle class voters which is a bad thing. Nuclear weapons are important in order to defend Britain. RIGHT WING

In the 1950s, the divisions within Labour were described as being between Revisionists and Fundamentalists. Even though Clement Attlee was the leader of Labour until 1955, each wing was dominated by a politician.

Hugh Gaitskell (Labour leader 1955-1963) Revisionists  RIGHT WING

Aneurin Bevan (Shadow Foreign Secretary/ Deputy leader of Labour) Fundamentalist LEFT WING

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