Conservatives 1950's

• What economic issues did Britain face after WW2?

  Economic Crisis of 1947: Anglo-American loan agreement of $3.71 billion to the USA

  Cold winter due to fuel shortages with unemployment on the rise

  Britain was importing more than it was exporting

  Nationalism caused the government to pay £2700 million

  Had to build inadequate prefab houses

  Conscription charges from 1949
• What economic positives were there after WW2?

  Nationalism led to more jobs with better conditions

  1946 National Insurance act covered unemployment, sickness etc

  Welfare state proved successful
• What was the Post War consensus?

  An important idea that Labour and Conservatives would share and keep their policies in place.
• Why did Labour lose the 1951 election?

  Conservative campaign: Churchill was a war time hero and they agreed to the post war consensus

  Labour's internal divisions: faced disagreements over key issues

  Leadership: Atlee was getting old and suffering

  Economic failure: Korean war and economic crisis
• Key Conservative politicians

  Winston Churchill: 1951 to 1955

  Led Britain to victory and was classed as the world's statesman

  Anthony Eden: 1955 to 1957

  Acted as PM for Churchill then took over in 1955 but had to resign due to the Suez Crisis and ill health

  R.A Butler 1957

  'Best prime minister the conservatives never had'

  Harold Macmillan: 1957 to 1963

  Housing minister in 1951 and described as a 'one-nation conservative'
• Conservative domestic policies

  Churchill and Macmillan built 300,000 houses

  Rent Act of 1957 lifted controls over rent of 400,000 people (bad)

  Major slum clearance goals

  Homicide act of 1957: removed death penalty

  Wolfenden commission said homosexuality should be decriminalised

  Conservatives accepted a mixed economy

  Good industrial relations (inflationary pay rises)
• Conservative social ideas - 1950's

  Reviewed the NHS provided good value for money

  3 - Tier school system: grammer, secondary, and technical

  Health Minister Enoch Powell embarked on a task of hospital building
• Debate over Nuclear disarmaments

  1957 - Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND)

  Left supported it but the right thought it wasn't necessary

  A trade union leader tried to convert people (succeeded in Labour) but right were afraid of communism.
• Why did the Conservatives fall toward the 60's (1963 election)

  Despite their differences Labour was becoming more united

  Affluent society could be challenged as there were missed opportunities and growth was sluggish

  Macmillan was tired from scandals and age. The cabinet was made up of the 'Establishment'
• Macmillan

  Profumo affair: scandal involving John Profumo and 19 year old model Christine Keeler in early 1961

  Night of the long Knives 1962: Macmillan dismissed a third of his cabinet (7 members) and received criticism of being too calm in such times

  John Vassall espionage in 1962

  Conservatives represented moral decay in Britain
• Economic Policies

  • Followed idea of low unemployment, small government and increased spending
  • Entered a dangerous policy of stop-and-go policy of stimulating and restraining economic activity
• Economic Policies


  Stop-and-go made Britain's economy seem weak and there was a run on the pound
• Macmillan stayed with the post war consensus
• Macmillan staying with post war consensus

  Sterling regained value in 1959 and Macmillan was re elected
• Britain had to ask for a loan from the IMF


  1961
• Britain was denied access to the EEC (Vetoed in 1963)
• The 1950's was meant to be the affluent society but the conservatives focused on short-term consumerism at the expense of long-term reconstruction
• Conservative foreign perspectives

  Enoch Powell: relieved of his duties after his Rivers of Blood speech (1968) and warned the dangers of unchecked immigration.

  Powellism: unlimited faith in the ability of the people

  Thorneycroft believed the weakness of the pound came from inflation and believed in little government
• Economic Developments

  1950: Schuman Plan (foundation of the EEC)

  1955: Messina - establish community of nations

  1957: Treaty of Rome - EEC launched without Britain

  1959: EFTA - an association led by Britain instead of EEC

  1961: Britain's first application to EEC

  1963: French President Charles De Gaulle vetoed the application
• Foreign Policy 1950's

  The Special Relationship with America with both wanting to tackle communism but Britain relied on America after WW2

  USA + Britain: Korean War, Marshall plan, Truman Doctrine, Berlin Airlift and NATO

  Strained by the Cold War as the US didn't want to tell Britain about their nuclear secrets, the Suez Crisis, and the Burgess + Maclean affair (defected to soviet union)

  Britain aided the US in the Korean War by providing 10,000 troops helping the relationship
• More foreign policy

  Cuba 1962: Britain kept a close eye on Cuba but they were mainly bystanders and before this Britain believed they needed their own nuclear weapons for such events

  1958: USA and UK signed a mutual defence agreement to share technology with Britain abandoning their 'Blue Streak' rocket to aid the USA.
• Suez Crisis - October 1956


  Began when Colonel Nasser nationalised the canal in 1956 for finance in the Aswan Dam (Britain abandoned it) but Eden viewed him as a Soviet sympathiser.

  Eden launched a secret attack with France and Israel but they had to pull out due to the US opposing the attack and the USSR threatened them with nuclear war.

  Showed Britain wasn't strong anymore and their weak power.
• Foreign Policy - the Empire

  Pre WW1 Britain owned a quarter of the world but Britain began to leave colonies and formed the Commonwealth.

  But their retreat was rushed and messy causing many issues.

  Mau-Mau rebellion: 1952 to 1960 costing Britain £55 million. The British suppressed the uprising and they were financially damaged