Britain 1951-1964 Flashcards
1
Q
What majority did Conservatives reach in the October 1951 election?
A
17 seats
2
Q
What electoral system did Britain use in 1951?
A
First-past-the-post
3
Q
How many votes did the Labour party recieve in October 1951 election?
A
13.95 million
4
Q
What was the theory that meant that a movement in one party’s favour would be corrected at the next election?
A
Natural swing
5
Q
In what election did the Conservatives increase their majority to 60?
A
May 1955
6
Q
In October 1959, what majority did the Conservatives have in the election?
A
100
7
Q
What word meant the increasing middle class electorate?
A
Embourgeoisement
8
Q
What were the four Conservative leaders after 1951?
A
Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home
9
Q
At what age was Churchill when he came to power in 1951?
A
76 years of age
10
Q
What role did Eden take on three times in parliament?
A
Foreign Secretary
11
Q
What phrase was Eden widely associated with?
A
‘A property owning democracy’
12
Q
How did Macmillan improve his social status?
A
He married a daughter of the Duke of Devonshire
13
Q
What was significant about Macmillan in his leadership?
A
He had a good rapport with the less well off in society, which was uncommon for most Conservative MPs
14
Q
What years was Macmillan in power?
A
1957 to 1963
15
Q
How many days were Home in office for?
A
363 days
16
Q
Which prime minister of the four opted to attend Harrow instead of Eton?
A
Churchill
17
Q
Which Chancellor of the Exchequer was an unapologetic appeaser?
A
R. A. Butler
18
Q
Which law formed the basis of post-war schools policy?
A
Education Act 1944
19
Q
What mainly damaged Butler’s chances of the premiership?
A
A tendency to sit on the fence
20
Q
What was moderate centre ground politics also known as?
A
One Nation Conservativism
21
Q
What was the Robot scheme?
A
A plan to abandon the pound’s fixed exchange rate
22
Q
What were the most likely consequences of the Robot scheme?
A
Rise in unemployment
23
Q
What was the monthly average figure of registered unemployed in 1955?
A
232000 (1% of the workforce)
24
Q
When was the Bank of England nationalised?
A
1946
25
When was coal nationalised?
1947
26
When were the railways nationalised?
1948
27
When was steel nationalised?
1951
28
What two other industries were nationalised by Labour?
Electricity and gas
29
What industry was privatised by the Conservatives?
Steel
30
What describes both public sector and private sector working together in the marketplace?
Mixed economy
31
Who was Butler's Labour predecessor?
Hugh Gaitskell
32
Who did Churchill appoint as Minister of Housing?
Harold Macmillan
33
How many houses did Churchill promise Tory administration would build in a single year?
300,000
34
What law of 1957 lifted controls over the rents of 400,000 houses?
Rent Act
35
What was the main difference between Conservative and Labour housing policy?
Tory- Private, Labour- Public
36
Who was appointed in 1951 to the Ministry of Labour?
Walter Monckton
37
Which Conservative spokesman hinted that the party would introduce legislation limiting trade union power?
David Maxwell-Fyfe
38
What nickname did Monckton receive after he maintained industrial peace?
'Oilcan'- lubricating away potential strife
39
When was the NHS created?
1948
40
When did Labour bring in additional charges to the NHS and for what?
1951, false teeth and spectacles
41
Which committee concluded that the NHS was good value for money?
Guillebaud Committee
42
What was the name of the Health Minister who in the early 1960s started a programme of hospital building?
Enoch Powell
43
Which three ministers resigned over the introduction of NHS charges?
Aneurin Bevan, Harold Wilson and John Freeman
44
What was the main reason for Labour's loss in the 1959 election?
They committed themselves to too many policies and expenses that weren't realistic to pay
45
Which Labour MP was likened to President John F. Kennedy and for what reason?
Harold Wilson, he was dynamic and progressive, contrasting the Conservatives leader Home who was more privileged.
46
Who was Chancellor between 1960-1962?
Selwyn Lloyd
47
What was the night where Macmillan dismissed a third of his cabinet?
'Night of the Long Knives' July 1962
48
What did EEC stand for?
European Economic Community
49
Who personally vetoed Britain's first application to join the EEC and when?
General Charles de Gaulle, January 1963
50
What happened in the Vassal Case in 1962?
A homosexual British spy was linked with a junior minister.
51
What happened in the Vassall Case in 1962?
A homosexual British spy was linked with a junior minister.
52
Which Minister of War was linked to a prostitute that was also in a relationship with a Soviet official?
John Profumo
53
What was the name of the prostitute and Soviet official?
Christine Keeler, Captain Ivanov
54
Why was Douglas-Home seen to lack legitimacy as the leader?
He was unknown from the House of Lords and then became Conservative leader
55
Which two senior ministers refused to serve under Home?
Iain Macleod, Enoch Powell
56
What had successive governments spent the nation's wealth on rather than long-term reconstruction of British industry?
Short-term consumerism
57
Which event had lead to a dramatic fall in world raw material prices?
Korean War, 1963
58
By 1953, how many more imports could Britain buy for the same value of exports?
13%
59
How much did the 'Balance of Payments' gain as extra spending power per annum?
£400 million per annum
60
What speech was delivered by Macmillan in July 1957 at Bedford Football Ground?
'Never had it so good' speech
61
Who were Macmillan's chancellors?
Peter Thorneycroft, Derick Heathcoat-Amery, Selwyn Lloyd, Reginald Maulding
62
What caused Thorneycroft to resign in January 1958?
Increased tension with Macmillan, and he refused to back proposed spending cuts
63
To tackle inflation, what might the government have needed to sacrifice?
High employment, high living standards that had been secured since 1945
64
What did Mauldling's 'dash for growth' cause?
Exacerbating the balance of payments and increasing future inflation
65
What did Macmillan do to chancellors who questioned his priorities?
Fired them
66
What did Macmillan write to Selwyn Lloyd to show the Conservatives adopted a more interventionist approach?
'So far as I am concerned I have no fear of greater state direction because these are the policies that I recommended before the war.'
67
What two policies and two organisations were introduced by Conservatives in the 1960s that were more expected from Labour?
Incomes policy, regional policy, National Economic Development Council and National Incomes Comission
68
Who backed the policies and organisations?
Federation of British Industries
69
What common names were given to these two organisations?
National Economic Development Council (Neddy) and
| National Incomes Comission (Nicky)
70
What common names were given to these two organisations?
National Economic Development Council (Neddy) and
| National Incomes Commission (Nicky)
71
What two qualities were Macmillan's answer to maintaining growth and employment?
Restraint and common sense
72
What did the government do in order to stop balance of payments crisis?
'Stop-go' policy
73
What was the order of 'stop-go' economics starting with balance of payments crisis?
- Government controls high interest rates and wage freezes (stop) - demand falls (stop) - output increases (stop) - controls removed (go) - increase in demand (go) - rising imports (go) - balance of payments
74
What is monetarism?
Limit wage increases and cut the money supply
75
In which year did Thorneycroft propose drastic spending cuts that Macmillan didn't approve?
1958
76
With an expansion of the economy in April 1959, what value were the tax cuts given?
£370 million
77
What were the government forced to introduce in 1961 to hold down wage inflation?
'Pay pause'
78
Which report recommended massive cuts in Britain's rail network?
Beeching Report, 1963
79
What percentage of railways closed as a result of the report?
30%
80
What was the increase of motor cars on the roads between 1951 and 1955?
2.5 million to 3.3 million
81
What percentage of families still lacked a car by 1960?
80%
82
At what age was a test given to decide what education children would be put in?
11 years old
83
What schools were middle class children much more likely to go than working class children?
Grammar schools
84
What fraction of working class children that attended grammar schools left before sixth form?
1/3
85
Which women established the difference between language used by the upper class and working class and what did she call it?
Nancy Mitford, U and Non-U speech respectively
86
What percentage of the population objected to the BBC cancelling programmes for ten days after George VI's death?
59%
87
Why was Harold Wilson appealing to the public?
He was a meritocrat
88
Who was the agony aunt who said that 'most women once they have a family, are more contented'?
Evelyn Home
89
How much did the percentage of women in the workforce rise between 1951 and 1961?
26% to 35%
90
Why was Margaret Thatcher turned down as MP for Orpington?
She had two young children
91
What act in 1948 allowed mass immigration inadvertently?
British Nationality Act
92
Where had Empire Windrush come from and how many passengers was it carrying?
Jamaica, under 500
93
When was it decided by the Labour government to not introduce legislation limiting migration?
February 1951
94
When Conservatives took office, how many immigrants had arrived from the New Commonwealth, mainly West Indies?
5000
95
How many immigrants arrived from Jamaica in 1953, 1954 and 1955?
2000, 11000 and 27000
96
Which Lord was convinced that the only way to get rid of future racial strife was through new restrictions?
Lord Salisbury
97
What did a lot of people think was the reason (attraction) for the 'sudden influx of black people'?
Introduction of the welfare state
98
Which Lord wrote a 1957 report expressing concern for the local towns and cities due to expanding immigration?
Lord Hailsham
99
Which law introduced by Butler in 1961 meant that people had to have a work permit or employment voucher to migrate to Britain?
Commonwealth Immigrants Bill
100
When did Bishop Barnes of Birmingham suggest that, in districts where there were significant
foreign elements, 'neither moral standards nor social behaviour are satisfactory’?
June 1952
101
Who introduced the documentary in January 1955 that showed extreme racial prejudice?
Robert Reid
102
When did the trouble in Notting Hill start and why?
1958, competition in housing
103
Which word introduced in America in 1930s came into popular use, carrying disapproving connotations?
'Teenager'
104
By 1960, how many teenagers were there in Britain?
Five million
105
When was the end of the National Service?
1960
106
Name two American rock and roll artists that started the movement
Bill Haley and Elvis Presley
107
Name three British musicians who were important in the new pop music movement
Tommy Steele, Marty Wilde and Cliff Richard
108
Which film by Bill Haley raised concerns over violence and vandalism?
The Blackboard Jungle
