Callaghan's premiership, 1976-79

Question 1

Wilson’s successor as prime minister was?

Answer 1

James Callaghan= long experience + good links to the trade unions
-seen as an ideal leader to maintain party unity

Question 2

why was it not easy to maintain party unity

Answer 2

because gov faced difficult problems over the economy
-throughout 1976 the poor BOP was putting pressure on sterling = concerns that Britain did not have enough reserves of currency to support it

Question 3

in September 1976, Callaghan gave a speech to the labour party conference. where he warned the party that ?

Answer 3

the ‘cosy world’ whereby the government could ensure full employment =was gone

Question 4

productivity would need to improve to avoid what he called ‘the twin evils’ of?

Answer 4

unemployment and inflation
-argued gov of previous 20 years failed to sort out this problem
-seemed to be criticism of both previous labour and conservative governments.

Question 5

speech made to help prepare the Labour Party for the fact that

Answer 5

the government was planning to apply for an emergency loan from the international monetary fund(IMF)

Question 6

it was anxious that there might be?

Answer 6

a run on the pound

Question 7

in December the chancellor, Denis Healy, received a loan of?

Answer 7

£3 billion = in return gov had to make huge spending cuts

Question 8

how did Callaghan handle the IMF crisis?

Answer 8

handled IMF crisis well and the economy recovered but it reinforced the image of Britain as being in economic decline

Question 9

the conservatives denounced this as?

Answer 9

a national humiliation

Question 10

left wing of the Labour Party saw it as?

Answer 10

a betrayal , caving in to international financiers

Question 11

although Callaghan maintained unity among labour MPs, there was a growth of

Answer 11

leftist militancy in some public-sector trade unions and in local councils

Question 12

however, the economic situation did begin to improve as ?

Answer 12

North Sea oil came on steam

Question 13

by 1978, there were how many oilfields in production

Answer 13

9

Question 14

inflation rates fell to?

Answer 14

10%

Question 15

unemployment at?
number of days lost to industrial disputes fallen to?

Answer 15

1.6 million still considered high but started to fall
-number of days lost to industrial disputes had fallen to a 10 year low

Question 16

by 1976 government spending as a percentage of GDP had increased by?

Answer 16

6% in 2 years
-seemed that it was out of control

Question 17

unemployment climbing to reach ?

Answer 17

more than 1/4 of a million more than the million that had caused Heath’s U-turn in 1972

Question 18

Healey and Callaghan getting another massive loan from IMF was in some ways?

Answer 18

a national humiliation - IMF usually dealt with failing 3rd world economies

Question 19

what did Healy begin the process of?

Answer 19

privatisation with the sale of £500 million government-owned BP shares

Question 20

what was the lib-lab pact and who was it organised by?

Answer 20

organised by liberals under David Steel and Jim Callaghan of labour
-idea that liberals would vote with the government in no-confidence votes

Question 21

in exchange of lib-lab pact, what did labour agree?

Answer 21

2 referendums on devolution:one for scotland and oe for wales

Question 22

1978 and the no-confidence vote
relatively how was most of 1978 for Callaghan?

Answer 22

incredibly good
-he was the dominant political force in Britain and all structures of premiership were working

Question 23

Thatcher effecting Callaghan?

Answer 23

Thatcher was a non-issue and lacked the popularity of Callaghan
-Callaghan’s experience shone through + country on a up