Conservative Dominance 1951-1964 Flashcards
Give 4 Factors that were involved in winning the Conservatives the 1951 General Election
- Labour weakessnes
- Conservative Strengths
- The electoral system
- International factors
How did Labour weaknesses contribute to giving the 1951 General Election to the Conservatives?
- They were associated with the policies of austerity, rationing and high taxation following the great financial strains that the war had caused
- Labour taking the country into Korea in 1950 contributed to financial strains taking money away which could have instead been spent at home
- The party was somewhat divided, as they were forced to compromise on the NHS, charging for dental treatment, prescriptions and glasses
- The reduction of the Labour majority to 5 in the 1950 General election sowed doubt within the party and led to further divisions as more MPs began to voice concerns about economic and foreign policy
How did divisions in the Labour party most clearly manifest themselves?
- Gaitskell led a group of “revisionists” who wanted to modernise the party whilst Bevan led a group of the party called “fundamentalists” who wanted to maintain the traditional principles of the party
- Bevan was expelled from the party in 1955 for challenging official Labour policy
Give 5 examples of post war financial strains that existed
- 4198 million pounds of debt
- 750 million pounds deficit
- Exports declined 60% during the war
- Inflation
- By the end of the 1940’s 14% of the GDP was spent on defence
Why could it be argued that Labour weaknesses were not significant in the outcome of the 1951 General election?
- The number of votes they won in 1951 was the highest any party had won in history until that point
- Their governments were very successful and set the post-war consensus which would be followed by all governments until 1979
How did Conservative strengths contribute to them winning the 1951 General Election?
- Lord Woolton reformed party finances so that the party was in a stronger position to challenge Labour
- Young, talented, politicians such as Reginald Maudling gave the party new ideas and dynamism
- Labour’s nationalisation of iron and steel gave the party a contentious issue around which the party could challenge
- They promised to build 300,000 homes a year seemed popular given a serious housing shortage
- They promised freedom from rationing and regulations while keeping the key elements that had been popular since 1945 such as the welfare state and full employment policies
- Churchill was still a much admired figure and in 1951 he did not make as many controversial speeches as he had done in 1945
How was the electoral system influential in contributing to the Conservative victory of 1951?
Despite winning over over 200,000 more votes than the Conservatives, Labour won 26 fewer seats
Give 3 reasons how the electoral system helped the Conservatives
- FPTP - Labour piled up votes in safe seats whilst the COnservatives won many marginal seats
- Boundary changes meant labour had to win 2% more of the popular vote to win the same number of seats
- The decline of the Liberal party - their vote share fell from 2.6 million in 1945 to 730,556 in 1951, and as a result the Liberals did not contest every seat leading to many ex-Liberal voters voting Tory
How did International factors play a role in the outcome of the 1951 General Election?
- In 1945 there had been considerable sympathy for socialism and the admiration for the planning and state control of the USSR
- However by 1951 the Cold War was in full wing and the USSR began to be seen as the enemy
- Labour’s control’s and regulation made them seem increasingly like the USSR who similarity championed socialism and a powerful state
Give 4 factors that contributed to the period of Conservative Dominance?
- Leadership
- Economic Policies
- Social Policies
- Labour Weaknesses
Name 4 of the prominent figures of the Conservative Party
- Churchill
- RA. Butler
- Anthony Eden
- Harold MacMillan
Why can Churchill be seen to be a somewhat ineffectual leader of the party?
- He only won a slim majority in 1951
- He was 77 when he was elected meaning he was old and frail and little more than a figurehead - this was made most evident by a stroke he had in 1953 which the party kept private
- At this point Butler was the driving force behind the party, serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer under Churchill
Name 6 things Churchill oversaw during his time in office from 1951-55
- The end of rationing
- The denationalization of the steel industry
- The Conservative Party commitment to building 300,000 homes a year
- A continuation of Keynesian policies
- The detonation of the UK’s first atomic bomb
- End of the Korean War
How did Butler act as effective figure in the Conservative party?
- He helped draw up in the 1947 ‘industrial charter’ which wsaw the Conservatives accepting the principle of a mixed economy
- His association with the 1944 Education Act indicated he was also concerned with social issues, an area that many perceived the Conservatives had ignored
- He was seen as responsible for modernising the party and helping Eden secure victory for the 1955 General Election
Give 4 ways where Butler can be seen to have pursued Keynesian economics
- Aimed for full employment
- Expanded the welfare state
- Maintained a large defence budget
- Continued to develop nuclear weapons
What was Butskellism?
The economic policy pursued by the two chancellors (RA Butler - left of Conservative, and Hugh Gaitskell - right of Labour) during the consensus on Keynesian economics which was seen to be almost seamless
What did Gaitskell and Butler disagree on
- Gaitskell believed in raising taxes to fund a welfare state
- Butler believed in altering interest rates to fund a welfare state
In what 2 ways can Eden be considered a notable Prime Minister prior to the Suez Crisis
- As soon as becoming party leader he called a General Election for 25 May 1955 under which he saw the Conservatives expand their majority from 17 to 60
- His domestic policy was criticised by the press to be uninspiring and so wanted to achieve success in foreign affairs to compensate