Churchill - 1951-55 Flashcards
How did Labour approach the 1951 election?
Labour manifesto laid out the idea of dealing with peace, justice and unemployment.
How did the Conservatives approach the 1951 election?
The Conservatives wanted to further the welfare state and the NHS. Also proposed to renationalise the steel industry.
What further aided the Conservatives in the 1951 election?
Fears of war with Korea allowed Churchill to play to his wartime success.
What was the outcome of the 1951 election?
Conservatives won, Conservatives won 321 seats to Labour’s 285 seats.
Why did Labour lose the 1951 election?
Seemed to lose due to stagnation in ideas compared to the adapting Conservative party, judging the social demand perfectly.
What was “Butskellian” economic management?
A coherent attempt to maintain a social consensus and to try to set the people free through greater liberalisation, lower taxation and decontrol, without dismantling the popular welfare and industrial fabric of the Attlee years.
How did Butskellism reflect consensus?
Reflects the consensus on economic policy between the Chancellor (Butler) and the shadow Chancellor (Gaitskell): Keynesianism and a mixed economy.
How does Butskellism not entirely reflect consensus?
The fact that Gaitskell preferred “tax and spend” Keynesianism suggests a more “socialist” approach from Labour.
How did Nationalisation between 1951 and 1955 reflect consensus?
Accepted the mixed economy. The Conservatives maintained the vast majority of nationalised industries except for iron and steel.
How did Nationalisation between 1951 and 1955 not reflect consensus?
Labour wanted complete nationalisation but the Conservatives were more mixed.
How was there consensus in education?
The Conservatives continued the Tripartite system established under the Butler Education Act of 1944.
How was there not consensus in education?
The Conservatives kept the prescription charges which continued to anger the “Bevanite” left of the Labour Party.
How was there consensus in housing?
The Conservatives attempted to improve on Labour’s 600,000 homes built by 1951, committing themselves to building 300,000 annually between 1951 and 1954.
How was their consensus in foreign policy?
The Conservatives continued Britain’s quest for a nuclear weapon and remained committed to the Korean War, thereby signalling a continuation of Britain’s pro-USA Cold War stance.
How wasn’t there consensus in foreign policy?
Some of the far left of the Labour Party felt blind allegiance to the USA rather than the USSR went against the party’s socialist principles. Also, many of these same party members would become committed “unilateralists”.
