Conservative social policy 1951-64

• Social changes brought about by WW2

  • Weakened and blurred class distinctions
  • Acceptance of a greater role for the state
• The creation of the welfare state by the labour governments of 1945-51 further reinforced these changes
• The Conservative party

  Traditionally the party of the aristocracy and upper middle class - in favour of lower taxes and lower public spending
• Conservatives needed to adapt to this social change, particularly after their heavy defeat in the 1945 general election
• R. A. Butler (chancellor 1951-55): '"the Conservatives must be seen to have accommodated themselves to a social revolution"'
• Overall increase in education spending - 6000 new schools built
• Ending of the 11+ exam, and the first purpose built comprehensive schools emerged


  1963 Robbins Report expanded universities (11 new ones) and increased student grants
• Most of the new schools were secondary moderns which were seen as inferior-less opportunities to sit exams
• The party promised to defend the grammar school. The 11+ was not abolished, so division remained in secondary education. The middle classes dominated grammar schools, working class the secondary moderns-cemented class divisions
• Built more houses: 1.7m (around 300,000 per year, 1951-55, more than labour built annually 1945-51), Home ownership grew, 25% pre-WW2,44% by 1964
• 1957 Rent Act led to more houses available for rent by easing rent controls
• Tightened up design limits so that houses were smaller, Approvals for 3+ bedroom houses reduced from 4/5s under labour to 2/5 by the late 1950s
• 1957 Rent Act pushed up rents, and more people still rented their homes
• Total NHS spending roughly doubled, 1951-62
• Ambitious project of hospital building from the early 1960s-90 to be built in the 10 years after 1962
• Introduced charges for prescriptions, false teeth, glasses
• Capital expenditure (investment in buildings, technology and equipment) kept under tight control under the early 1960s, and there was a freeze on staffing
• Social Changes 1951-1964

  • Relatively full employment, with unemployment peaking at 500,000 in 1959
  • More households had more money to spend and a sense of stability
  • Greater prosperity led to more people being able to afford their own homes, with homeownership increasing from 25% in 1951 to 44% in 1964
  • Relaxation of rental controls in 1957 increased social stability and reduced discontent, favouring the Conservatives
  • Expansion of education, with 6,000 new schools built and the Grammar school system continuing to benefit the middle class
  • Increase in university education, with the state being generous to those going into higher education
  • Growth of credit and affluence led to changes in what people expected, with homes becoming more comfortable and a more diverse diet and increased mobility
  • Emergence of a more distinct teenage culture, with 'teddy boys' and 'mod and rockers'
  • Influx of immigrants from the West Indies and other parts of the former empire had an impact on British society
• Social changes 1951-1964

  Helped keep the Conservatives in power for so long
• Emergence of a younger, less respectful, more affluent electorate


  Led to a movement for more modernisation which Labour seemed to represent
• By 1964, despite all the social changes that had benefitted British society and helped keep the Conservatives in power, the emergence of a younger, less respectful, more affluent electorate led to a movement for more modernisation which Labour seemed to represent