Chapter 1 Flashcards
Who won the election in 1951 ?
Conservatives
Who won more votes in 1951 and why did they not win
Labour
First past the post
Who became the new prime minister in 1951
Winston Churchill
How did Churchill fare in his second term from 1951 to 1955
Churchill wasn’t really a great post war prime minister. He was an old man with some serious issues , he suffered a stroke in 1953 that left him with Impared speech. Churchill always thought of himself as an international statesman and not a domestic politician he felt his key priority was to avoid fighting breaking out.
How did Churchill deal with domestic politics
His day to day job was often left with the acting prime minister Anthony Eden and key ministers such a r a butler
What tensions were their in churchills goverment
Butler Eden and macmillan didn’t get along well big rivalrie, Churchills relationship with Eden also became strained as he frequently became impatient waiting for Churchill to resign
When did Eden take power
1955
What did Eden do when he took power
He called a general election in 1955 and increased the majority from 17 to 60.
What happened to macmillan and butler when Eden took power
Butler became chancellor and Eden became foreign secretary
Why were questions raised about Eden’s leadership
All of Edens previous political experience had been in foreign policy, within 6 months some members of the Conservative Party were voicing there concerns abiut his lack of leadership and interest in domestic affairs
What caused Anthony Edens downfall
In 1956 Eden chose to take military action on suez and was accused of lying to the House of Commons
What happened to Eden after suez crisis
Eden never recovered properly from suez and resigned in 1957 due to ill health
Who succeeded Eden
MacMillan
Why was butler not as popular as macmillan
His reputation had been damaged after introducing tax cuts shortly before the 1955 election
When did butler become home secetary
October 1959
What did macmillan increase majority to in 1959
100
What is a consensus
Great agreement on the major issues between the two main party’s
What was the post war consensus
A mixed economy involvement from both the state and private company’s
Support for nhs and welfare state
A wish to ensure full employment and avoid the unemployment of the 1930s
When did Attlee continue as labour leader till
1955
Who where the main member of the labour split
Aneurin bevan and Hugh Gaitskell
Who was aneurin bevan
Had been minister of health in the attlee goverment and was the architect of the nhs
Who was Hugh gaitskell
Was the chancellor of the exchequer from 1950 to 1951
He became leader in 1955
Why was there discontent in the Labour Party
Gaitskell was more right they thought the party should be more socialist
In 1957 he announced opposition to unilateral disarment arguing “it would be like sending the foreign secetary naked into the conference chamber”
What opposition was faced by the union
Until late 1950s the union has been content with full employment, I’m 1956 however frank cosuins became leader of the most powerful union Tgwu cousins then led the union’s opposition to gaitskell.
What did gaitskell announce at the Blackpool conference in 1959
Abolishment clause 4 the clause that committed the party to nationalisation
What did gaitskell announce at the Blackpool conference in 1959
Abolishment clause 4 the clause that committed the party to nationalisation
When was Harold Wilson elected as leader
1963
When where the conservatives rejected from the eec
Applied in 61 declined in 63
What happened in July 1962
MacMillan radically reshuffled his cabinet in July 1962 sacking a third of it, macmillan was made to seem flustered and clumsy.
What spy scandals were there
George Blake 1961 ( soviet double agent)
John vassal in 1962 (homosexual)
Profumo affair 1963 ( Christine keeler and John Profumo
What spy scandals were there
George Blake 1961
