ADV INFO - Conservatism and the Establishment

Question 1

what is the establishment

Answer 1

those groups who had traditionally possessed significant influence in Britain, including politicians, senior civil servants, bishops of the Church of England, the aristocracy, leading financiers, and Oxford and Cambridge academics

Question 2

what did Henry Fairlie define the establishment as in 1955

Answer 2

‘not only… the centres of official power - though they are certainly part of it - but rather the whole matrix of official and social relations within which power is exercised’

Question 3

what is an example of the close links between the party and the establishment

Answer 3

the ties between the public school system and the party. Eden, Macmillan their successor, Alec-Douglas Home, was educated at Eton College, as were nice members of Macmillan’s 1957 cabinet

Question 4

what is an example of the conservatives being connected to the aristocracy

Answer 4

Macmillan was married to Lady Dorothy Cavendish, daughter of the Duke of Devonshire

Question 5

what was the method of choosing a conservative leader

Answer 5

party grandees took soundings from leading figures in order to find the most suitable candidate

Question 6

who did Macmillan want to succeed him

Answer 6

Lord Alec Douglas-Home, Foreign Secretary

Question 7

what did Viscount Dilhorne wrongly do

Answer 7

he wrongly claimed that an overwhelming majority of the party also favoured Home

Question 8

what is believed about the preferred candidate of the conservative cabinet

Answer 8

at least 9 of 20 cabinet members favoured Rab Butler

Question 9

what angered many conservatives

Answer 9

the old fashioned method of selection, the misrepresentation of the party’s views and the decision to sideline Butler

Question 10

what did Home do to become Prime Minister

Answer 10

he renounced his peerage

Question 11

Who exploited the out of date way of selecting the PM

Answer 11

Harold Wilson

Question 12

what did Wilson do

Answer 12

he claimed that Home’s lack of commons experience, plus his inability to empathize with the experiences of ordinary working people would make him a bad Prime Minister.

Question 13

how long did Home remain as PM

Answer 13

363 days

Question 14

what culture remained towards those in authority

Answer 14

deference

Question 15

what is deference

Answer 15

showing respect to, and accepting the wishes of, those in authority; respecting the established institutions of society

Question 16

what idea remained powerful at the time

Answer 16

the idea that the establishment knew what was right for the rest of society

Question 17

What did Labour politician Douglas Jay say in 1937

Answer 17

‘in the case of nutrition and health… the gentleman in Whitehall really does know better what is good for people than the people knew themselves’

Question 18

what questioned deference

Answer 18

the development of youth culture

Question 19

what helped to disperse power

Answer 19

the growth of consumerism

Question 20

what contributed to the decline of traditional values

Answer 20

the growth of satire, particularly the TV show That was the week that was

Question 21

What showed that the Conservatives had accepted the changes in attitude towards the establishment

Answer 21

Home’s successor, Edward Heath had attended a state grammar school