ADV INFO - The Gov of Harold Macmillan

Question 1

who was chosen as Eden’s successor

Answer 1

Harold Macmillan

Question 2

what did Macmillan do at the start of his premiership

Answer 2

he restored Conservative morale after Suez, being popular with both his cabinet and the public and immediately made good use of television to boost his appeal

Question 3

what political appointments did Macmillan make

Answer 3

he appointed an impressive array of younger talent to his cabinet, including Julian Amery, Iain Macleod and Reginald Maudling.

Question 4

what was Macmillan committed to

Answer 4

the principles of consensus

Question 5

what had Macmillan done before becoming PM

Answer 5

he had been housing minister, working hard to fulfil the pledge to build 300,000 new houses a year

Question 6

where had Macmillan spent time as an MP

Answer 6

in the deprived North East during the depression

Question 7

how did Attlee describe Macmillan

Answer 7

he was a ‘real left-wing radical in his social, human and economic thinking’

Question 8

what did Macmillan say that showed his opinions on the post-war consensus

Answer 8

he claimed ‘i can never forget the impoverishment and demoralisation which all this brought with it. I am determined … never to allow this shadow to fall again upon our country’

Question 9

When was the next election

Answer 9

1959

Question 10

why did Macmillan win the 1959 election

Answer 10

living standards were rising

Question 11

what were the results of the 1959 election

Answer 11

conservatives won 365 seats

Labour win 258 seats

Question 12

what was the conservative majority after 1959

Answer 12

100

Question 13

what had the 1959 budget done

Answer 13

it had boosted the economy and even beer duty had been cut (which was very popular)

Question 14

what was the issue for labour with the electorate

Answer 14

the electorate was not convinced by Gaitskell’s pledge to increase benefits while keeping income tax at existing levels

Question 15

how was Macmillan’s popularity exploited during the campaign

Answer 15

he spoke at 74 meetings during the campaign

Question 16

what did Macmillan pass in 1957 in reference to housing

Answer 16

the rent act

Question 17

what did the rent act 1957 do

Answer 17

it allowed landlords to charge higher rents to help improve their property

Question 18

what did labour say about the rent act

Answer 18

labour claimed it was a ‘landlords’ charter, which would exploit vulnerable tenants

Question 19

what was the result of the rent act 1957

Answer 19

810,000 properties moved out of rent control. The act also allowed for rent increases in the remaining 4.3 million controlled properties

Question 20

what was passed in 1957 in reference to the house of lords

Answer 20

the life peers act 1957

Question 21

what did the life peers act do

Answer 21

it introduced peers to the House of Lords who were appointed, rather than inheriting their title. By safeguarding the position of existing hereditary peers. the act did not go far enough for those seeking radical reform or the abolition of the Lords

Question 22

what happened in 1957 in reference to prisoners

Answer 22

it reserved the death penalty for fice special cases of murder

Question 23

what was the aim of the homicide act

Answer 23

the aim was to gradually accustom the public to the idea of abolishing capital punishment by monitoring the effect of reducing the deterrent

Question 24

what was the homicide act passed in reference to

Answer 24

controversial hangings, including that of Ruth Ellis (the last woman to be executed in Britain)

Question 25

what policies of the Macmillan government have been seen as successful

Answer 25

decolonisation, reforms to the lords and criminal justice and growing affluence

Question 26

what is decolonisation

Answer 26

the process by which countries within the British Empire gradually became independent, most remaining as part of the Commonwealth

Question 27

when did the economy start to stagnate

Answer 27

1963

Question 28

what was unemployment during January 1963

Answer 28

900,000

Question 29

what had conservative chancellors failed to do

Answer 29

find a solution to the issue of how to stimulate economic growth and a balance of payments surplus without causing spiralling inflation

Question 30

what policies were reactive and short term

Answer 30

the stop-go policies

Question 31

what are stop-go policies

Answer 31

short term policies, which combine economic stimulation packages in times of economic downturn and measures to cut growth during periods of high inflation

Question 32

what did the stop-go policies fail to do

Answer 32

address deep-seated problems of industrial decline and the fact that British exports were hampered by its isolation from the European Economic Community

Question 33

what could it be argued about living standards

Answer 33

there would have been greater affluence without the negative impact of stop-go policies, which limited long term prosperity

Question 34

why was the issue of union reform not tackled

Answer 34

the positive relationship with the unions

Question 35

what policies that were necessary were not introduced

Answer 35

necessary wage freezes

Question 36

what was excluded the Monopolies and Restrictive Practices Act of 1956

Answer 36

the unions

Question 37

who has been blamed for limited productivity

Answer 37

the unions

Question 38

what were industrial relationships like in 1957

Answer 38

8.5 million working days were lost to strike action

Question 39

what had happened to Macmillan by 1962

Answer 39

he appeared vulnerable

Question 40

which by-election did Macmillan lose

Answer 40

Orpington

Question 41

what happened in Orpington

Answer 41

a conservative majority of almost 15,000 became a Liberal majority of 7,855

Question 42

what was Macmillan’s response to the Orpington by-election

Answer 42

there was a brutal cabinet reshuffle called the night of the long knives

Question 43

what happened during the night of the long knives

Answer 43

seven members of the cabinet, including Chancellor Selwyn Lloyd, were sacked

Question 44

what was the issue with the night of the long knives

Answer 44

it did not have the effect that Macmillan wanted, leading both to internal party divisions and to the growing impression of a government in crisis

Question 45

what weakened Macmillan further

Answer 45

the Profumo scandal

Question 46

who was John Profumo

Answer 46

Secretary of State for War

Question 47

who had John Profumo been introduced to

Answer 47

Christine Keeler, by Stephen Ward in 1961

Question 48

who was Christine Keeler

Answer 48

a showgirl and model

Question 49

where did Keeler and Profumo begin their affair

Answer 49

at Lord Astor’s home at Cliveden

Question 50

why was Profumo’s affair a scandal

Answer 50

Keeler was also in a relationship with a Russian Naval attaché, Captain Ivanov, making his behaviour a huge security risk at the height of the cold war

Question 51

when did rumours start to circulate about the Profumo affair

Answer 51

March 1963

Question 52

what did Profumo tell the commons

Answer 52

there had been ‘no impropriety in his dealings with Keeler and that their relationship had ended in 1961

Question 53

what did Profumo do when the affair emerged as being true

Answer 53

he resigned from, the cabinet and as an MP

Question 54

what was the issue of the Profumo affair on Macmillan

Answer 54

he found it distasteful and struggled to talk publically about it.

Question 55

what did Harold Wilson do with the Profumo affair

Answer 55

he used it to attack Macmillan for his weakness and complacency in the light of the Soviet threat.

Question 56

what was the Rachman affair

Answer 56

Peter Rachman was a London landlord whose widespread exploitation of his tenants reflected severely on the gov’s decision to pass the rent act.

Question 57

what controversially happened in 1963

Answer 57

the appointment of Alec Douglas-Home