Chlapter 5

Question 1

What was the seat distribution in the 1964 election

Answer 1

Labour 317
Conservative 304

Question 2

What where Harold Wilson’s pollitical views

Answer 2

Initially Harold Wilson had been more left he challenged gaitskell as a member of his cabinet in 1961 and lost he had now become the left candidate

Question 3

In what ways was Wilson not left wing

Answer 3

He supported nuclear deterents and wished to reform the trade unions,
However some argue he was just an oppurtunist

Question 4

How did Wilson appear to British society

Answer 4

He reflected the modernisation the Labour Party represented, he was far from the traditional Etonian prime ministers, he was classless first state educated prime minister

Question 5

What was Wilson’s character like away from the spotlight

Answer 5

He was anxious and insecure about his leadership, he plotted against competition to make sure his role was secure.

Question 6

What issues did the labour government of 1964 inherit

Answer 6

They inherited a large deficit of 800 million
Britain was trapped in a cycle of stop-go economics with bursts of prosperity leading to inflation, runs on the pound and regular crisis in balance of payments.
The affluence of the post war boom was not reflected in Britains production rates, they were lagging behind

Question 7

Who was Wilson’s chancellor of the exchequer

Answer 7

James Callaghan

Question 8

What is deflation

Answer 8

Would support the value of the pound and prevent inflation. But deflation was the old stop go approach that the Labour Party was determined to break away from. There were also fears that it would stop labour from achieving its manifesto

Question 9

What Is devaluation

Answer 9

Lowers the values of a currency in comparison to others in a fixed exchange system

Question 10

Pros and cons of devaluation

Answer 10

Would make imports more expensive and help exporters by making British goods cheaper in other countries; this would in turn help the balance of payments. But devaluation would not only make Britain look weaker in the world, it would make Britain actually weaker as it would have to scale back its activities across the globe. Wilson also feared that the Labour Party would become known as the devaluation Party after Attlee in 1949

Question 11

How did labour aim to combat economic issues

Answer 11

Wilson thought success could be achieved by careful management and planning.
He set up the department of economic affairs led by George brown that set growth tangents and devised a national system of economic planning councils

Question 12

Why was the dea abandoned in 1967

Answer 12

The dea were virtually in competition with the chancellor and the orthodox economists at the treasury
The treasury and Bank of England often undermined the dea by refusing to pass over papers
Brown was moved to the ministry of foreign affairs in 1966
Harold Wilson tried to pick personalities rather than picking the right people for the job

Question 13

What was prices and incomes policy

Answer 13

It was government intervention to set limits on price rises and to call for wage restraints in negotiations between unions and employers

Question 14

Was prices and incomes policy successful

Answer 14

No it wasn’t very successful as in 1966 there was another sterling crisis caused by a long and bitter strike by the national union of seamen
Frank cousins resigned from the cabinet over the policy the relationships between the government and trade unions was deteriorating.

Question 15

What state was Britains economy in 1967

Answer 15

An outbreak of war in the Middle East known as the 6 day war affected oil supplies
A major national dock strike in 1967 affected balance of payments.
The goverment decided that the devaluation of the pound could not be avoided the pound dropped 14% to 2.40 dollars
Labour also introduced defences cuts and hire purchase restrictions and higher interest rates.

Question 16

How was the labour goverment affected by the economy in 1967

Answer 16

They tried so hard to avoid devaluation that the devaluation crisis damaged its credibility. A few weeks later Britains second application to join the eec was rejected, it made the goverments economic policies look futile

Question 17

How did economic situations improve in the late 60s

Answer 17

Jenkins was appointed chancellor of the exchequer in 1967 he used deflationary methods such as raising taxes and tightening goverment spending these measures made the goverment unpopular but by 1969 a balance of payments surplus had been achieved

Question 18

How did the post war consensus affect trade unions

Answer 18

Post war consensus regarded that they would work closely with trade unions and employers

Question 19

What where wildcat strikes

Answer 19

Sudden, unofficial local disputes that begun without reference to the national leadership

Question 20

How did industrial relations with the unions deteriorate in 1966 and 1967

Answer 20

In 1966 and 1977 strikes by the seamen and dockers caused economic problems, these strikes demonstrated that old style union leaders where losing power

Question 21

Who was Barbara castle

Answer 21

She was Wilson’s employment minister and proposed the white paper in place of strife in 1969

Question 22

What was the purpose of in place of strife

Answer 22

To limit unofficial strikes

Question 23

What where the unions reactions to castles proposal

Answer 23

They hated it

Question 24

Who liked in place of strife

Answer 24

Voters
MPs Roy Jenkins

Question 25

What plane did Britain develop

Answer 25

Concorde

Question 26

What issues where there with scientific and technological progress

Answer 26

The goverment was hindered by a lack of expertise Roy Jenkins knew little about aviation so struggled to understand breifs, frank cousins had little interest in technological development, however this change when Tony Benn took over

Question 27

What policies were there under Wilson

Answer 27

Introduction of the dea
Prices and incomes policy
Trade unions
Housing
The open university

Question 28

What was the open university

Answer 28

Wilson wanted to be remembered for the OU it gave a second chance to those who could benefit from it.
It faced opposition from Tony cross land on the grounds it was a waste of money, the OU received its royal charter in 1969, first under grade we’re admitted two years later

Question 29

What did Wilson do concerning house

Answer 29

14 new towns were established designed to alleviate population pressures. The ambitious targets they set were never quite reached due to pressure on the pound.

Question 30

What issues were there within the Labour Party

Answer 30

The left and right had been United by Wilson through technological modernisation, however there were personal rivalries within the party, Wilson always feared that he would face a leadership challenge from either Callaghan, brown or Jenkins

Question 31

What tensions were there between brown and Wilson

Answer 31

Brown was hugely resentful that he had lost the leadership election to Wilson and was further disappointed he was not made foreign secetary in 1964. Wilson was also rumored to have undermined browns reputation by keeping a record of Any embarrassing moments he was involved in once he had been reshuffled to the foreign office

Question 32

What were the tensions between Roy Jenkins and Harold Wilson

Answer 32

He did not really support Jenkins’ liberalising legislation as Home Secretary. When the seamen strike of 1966 happened it caused a sterling crisis Jenkins tried to get the cabinet to support devaluation, Wilson saw this as a plot to replace him.

Question 33

What tensions were there between Callaghan and Jenkins

Answer 33

Callaghan did not approve of Jenkins pro European stance nor of his liberalising legislation. Jenkins was critical of the failure to devalue when Callaghan was chancellor and was a supporter of the trade union legislation that Callaghan helped to block

Question 34

Background to the troubles

Answer 34

Northern Ireland had been created in 1922, after the Irish was of independence 1919 to 1921. Ireland was partitioned between 6 counties in the north of Ireland that would remain part of the United Kingdom and the other 26 counties which would be Irish free state.

Question 35

What was the religion divide in Ireland

Answer 35

Majority of people on the Irish free state were catholic but in Northern Ireland they were majority Protestant. Catholics in Northern Ireland were discriminated against in housing and employment, electoral boundaries were also created to ensure Catholics could not be elected
There were accusations that the royal ulster constabulary the northern Irish police was biased against Catholics.

Question 36

How did tension in Ireland arise in 60s

Answer 36

• in 1964 the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland started to challenge the biasty, tensions rose as some unionists feared that ira would start a new campaign
• loyalists responded by setting up parliamentary organisations to defend the union.
• in 1968 civil rights marches were held in 1968 to protest against discrimination they were attacked by loyalists

Question 37

Who were the ira

Answer 37

Organisation that fought for independence in the Irish war of independence it did not accept the partition of Ireland

Question 38

What happened in 1969 in Ireland

Answer 38

The situation deteriorated further the loyalist apprentice boys went ahead with their annual march in Derry and were attacked by nationalists in the catholic area of the bogside. The ruc tried to storm the bogside but were held back in two days of rioting.

Question 39

How did Wilson respond to rioting In Ireland

Answer 39

In august 1969 Wilson sent in British army troops

Question 40

What was evidence for the end of the post war consensus

Answer 40

By 1970 there were signs the post war consensus was breaking down:
Trade unions were seemingly uncooperative,
Left of labour wasn’t pleased by moderate consensus social problems and poverty had not been ended, in the Tory’s it was identified a need for trade union reform, also wether state should take a greater role in planning economy

Question 41

Why was Wilson expected to win the 1970 election

Answer 41

Jenkins was credited with achieving economic and financial stability
Wilson was considered far better campaigner and more popular than Edward heath

Question 42

Why did the conservatives win in 1970

Answer 42

-Edward heath had greater strengths than given credit for
-labours position in the 1970s was very fragile
-heath was very competent
-between 1966 and 1969 labour faced a series of setbacks
-1968 Enoch Powell rivers of blood speech. Some voters liked what Powell was saying also showed heath as strong when he sacked him
-concern that post war consensus was not working

Question 43

Results of the 1970 election

Answer 43

Edward heath won 360 seats giving a majority of 30 seats heath won 46.4% of votes