Cons 1951-64: 6 Cons last year in gov 1963-4 Flashcards
what was the Vassall inquiry 1963?
- the government was obliged to appoint an official investigation into Vassall, a civil servant in the admiralty, who had been caught spying for the Soviet Union
- rumoured senior admiralty figures had protected him
- inquiry found no evidence of cover-ups however the talks of cover-ups suggested the gov were not in control of its own departments
what was the Kim Philby case in 1963?
- Kim Phelby, a senior official in the foreign office, had for decades been passing information to the USSR as well as recruiting agents and running a spy network
- Phelby fled to Moscow rather than be arrested where he died in 1988
- Macmillan’s government took the brunt of the blame for the security services failing for so long at spotting a traitor
what was the Argyll divorce case (1963)?
- court case where the Duke of Argyll sued his wife on the grounds of adultery, providing the public with a list of men whom at various times in various numbers the duchess had had group sex
- the list was said to include two unidentified government ministers
- the Duke was granted the divorce
when was the Profumo affair?
1963
what was the Profumo affair?
minister of war, John Profumo, had had liaison with model Christine Keeler (who had multiple members of the Soviet embassy’s contacts)
how did the Profumo affair cause issues for the Conservative government?
Profumo solemnly declared in the House of Commons that there was no truth in the rumours only to admit 3 moths later that he had lied.
This was one fo the first times the British public saw the government lie to them. Macmillan was also quick to believe Profumo which showed him losing his political grip.
who was Stephen Ward and what happened to him?
osteopath who used his contacts to procure girls for upper class men. Profumo and Keeler met at a party at his house which was used as a ‘high-class brothel’. He was put on trial and charged with living off immoral earnings
what was the ‘Night of the Long Knives’?
1962 - Macmillan’s cabinet reshuffle, in which he elevated younger members and demoted some established ones
a dramatic phrase coined by the press likening the event to an episode in Nazi Germany when Hitler massacred a number of his leading supporters
who was believed to succeed Macmillan?
Butler - he survived the night of the long knives and previously worked as home secretary and foreign secretary under Macmillan however whilst Macmillan admired Butler’s abilities, he disliked him as a person
who succeeded Macmillan?
Douglas-Home who likely won the role due to Macmillan’s suggestion to the queen. He had to renounce his peerage as Lord Home in order to be in the House of Commons much like his competitor Lord Hailsham who became Quentin Hogg.
This showed that the ‘old boy network’ was still in practice as Home wouldn’t have gotten the job without it and the old Etonians who helped Macmillan with the manoeuvre.
what was the reaction to Home as PM?
Enoch Powell and Iain Macleod declared they would not serve under Home as they believed Butler had been ignored for a third time as well as giving the electorate the wrong image of Conservatism
what was the new system for electing leaders within the Conservative party?
an open democratic system involving the balloting of MPs (this followed the election defeat in 1964)
Heath was the first leader to be elected this way
