Conservative leadership 1951-64

• Alec Douglas-Home

  His aristocratic background meant he was seen as out of touch with ordinary people and modern Britain, chosen by an 'old boy' network of Etonians, did not compare well to Labour's new leader, the relatively young and dynamic grammar school-boy Wilson
• Alec Douglas-Home (1963-65)
• Alec Douglas-Home

  Did not compare well to Labour's new leader, the relatively young and dynamic grammar school-boy Wilson
• Harold Macmillan (1957-63)
• Harold Macmillan

  • Presided over a period of rising living standards and took credit - "Our people have never had it so good" in a 1957 speech
  • Gained credit as a world class statesman, with the 'winds of change' speech of 1960, realising that the British Empire needed to be dismantled
• Anthony Eden (1955-57)
• Churchill

  • Was not really concerned with domestic policy - really it was the Chancellor Butler who provided ideas
  • Failure to grasp the degree of social change in Britain led to loss of two general elections, 1945 and 1950
  • Spent force - aged 77 when he became PM again in 1951, Little more than a figurehead 1951-55, as he was frail and it suffered a stroke in 1953 and absent for a long period
• Winston Churchill (1951-55)
• Winston Churchill

  • Record as a successful war leader 1940-45
  • Won the 1951 general election
  • Status as an international statesman, e.g. he made the iron curtain speech in 1946
  • A lot of credit for the 1955 general election victory should go to Butler, who successfully modernised the party
• Anthony Eden's time in power

  Was short lived due to the scandal of the Suez Crisis in 1956, after which he resigned
• The Conservatives did not have to face election again until 1959
• The Suez Crisis

  Caused much damage to the party's and Britain's reputation
• The 1959 general election victory was quite impressive after the damage caused by the Suez Crisis
• Harold Macmillan

  • Had a strong personal appeal to the electorate, mastered the new media of television
  • Did well with his personal appearances
• The 1964 general election victory for Labour was narrow
• Butler (Chancellor and Home Secretary) should be credited with a lot of the success when it came to living standards and social change
• In October 1956, Eden ordered British troops to invade Egypt following Nasser's nationalisation of the Suez Canal Company.
• Britain acted without consulting its allies or the UN Security Council.
• Churchill 1951-55


  • Great reputation as a wartime leader, respected for his knowledge on foreign affairs
  • Domestic policy wasn't strong, at 77 lacked the energy to offer much in the way of strong leadership, domestic affairs dominated by Butler
  • Suffered a stroke in 1953 but kept it quiet and let government continue
• Eden 1955-56


  • Charming and personable, reassuring and highly experienced
  • Made a very bad policy decision in the Suez Crisis of 1956
• Suez Crisis, 1956


  1. Egyptian president Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal

  2. Eden formed a pact with France and Israel and sought to reclaim it

  3. Nasser blocked the canal as soon as the invasion began and Britain couldn't get their oil tankers through

  4. The USA disapproved of the invasion and hadn't been consulted, were annoyed as it came in the same year as the Hungarian uprising

  5. The Russians were very hostile to the situation and threatened Nuclear war

  6. Much of the British public were opposed to the invasion
• Macmillan 1957-63


  • Didn't look or sound too dissimilar to Eden, faced a disastrous situation with Britain looking foolish and weak as a result of Suez but his calm leadership made him popular both home and abroad
  • Had a distinctive style, warm and witty, a natural TV performer
  • Prepared to move with the times, abolished the death penalty, ended national service, accepted African independence
  • The 1959 election was a high point as Britain appeared to be very prosperous, Macmillan declared the people had 'never had it so good'
  • Wasn't afraid of making changes, presided over one of the biggest cabinet reshuffles in political history
  • Couldn't deal with growing economic problems after 1961, Britain was waning in terms of playing a role in major world events
  • There was a major scandal in 1963 involving John Profumo, the defence minister, compromised by a relationship with a prostitute who had relations with the Russian military attaché
• Home 1963-64


  • A Scottish Lord who had served with Chamberlain as lord Dunglass but given up his peerage
  • A charming but obviously Edwardian aristocratic, Old Etonian, didn't seem at ease in the world of complex economics and the challenging foreign affairs problems
  • Was in power for just under a year as Labour won the 1964 election