Took GB into Korean war which had financial burdens
Charges for dentists, prescriptions and glasses went against manifesto
Reasons for Conservative win in 1951 election
Liberal only entered 109 constituencies
Boundary changes due to Blitz in 1948 – representation of the peoples act led to more Tory votes
Unemployment in 1951 was 367,000
Unemployment in 1964 was 501,000
Conservative economic successes 1951-1964
GB GDP = 2.3% so above 0%
Weekly wages £8.30 to £18.35
4 to 91% TV ownership
500 % car increase
1.7mil new homes
Conservative economic failures 1951-1964
Italy = 5.6% GDP
World trade from GB 25% to 15% compared to West Germany who went form 7% to 20%
Traditional industries got smaller
Full unemployment never achieved
Conservative leaders 1951-1964
Churchill 1951-55
Eden 1955-57
Macmillan 1957-63
Douglas Home 1963-64
Churchill
Popular with people, but 77 years old in 1951 and had strokes meaning poor health
Eden
Increased majority in 1955 election and popular with women and the most qualified PM on paper, but misjudged Suez
Macmillan
'Super mac' and good on TV and 'never had it so good', but 'mac the knife' and losing grip on party due to scandals
Douglas Home
Popular with some, but old/out of touch and Etonian so posh and even Enoch Powell would not work under him
Labour party split
Gaitskell and the right (he died of heart attack in 1963)
Bevan and the left
Gaitskell and the right
Introduced NHS charges, wanted to modernise parts, yes to nukes, no to nationalism, trade unions to have less power
Bevan and the left
No charges to the NHS, traditional, no nukes, yes to nationalism, trade unions have more power
Unemployment in 1963 was 800,000
Orpington - Labour overturn a 14k Tory majority and won by 7,000 votes, leading to the 'night of the long knives'
The 4 scandals
Vassal – USSR spy in the Navy, it was never proved however some said that the Admiralty covered it up, created deep mistrust
Philby- Senior official foreign office passing information to the USSR, he fled to Russia in 1963 to avoid arrest- he had been giving USSR information for 10 years and the government took blamed for this
Argyll- Duke Argyll sued his wife for having affairs, 88 men's names were read out in court who she cheated with and some of them being MP's/ ministers
Proformo- War secretary having an affair with Christine Keeler who was also sleeping with a Russian
Reasons for Conservative decline
Economy- balance of trade deficit (800 mil), GB lagging behind EU in GDP (Italy 5.6%)
Strikes and unemployment- full unemployment never delivered, more strikes
EEC rejection- de Gaulle rejected us on live TV and made us seem weak
Night of long knives- Macmillan sacked 1/3 of his cabinet- 'Mac the knife'
Notting hill race riots - racist attacks on ethnic minorities from white people, tension rose as immigrants were blamed for job + house shortages
Salmon enquiry – people believed trouble was due to immigration therefor in 1962 commonwealth act was signed limiting immigrants based on skin colour