Conservative Government 1951-1964 Flashcards
What two things changed the way the conservatives thought about state intervention at the start of their rule and why
The NHS and the Post war consensus
The nhs was very popular and showed people that the labour government were able to improve domestic issues
The post war consensus was an understanding after ww2 that the main political parties should agree on major ideas
Together these lead the conservative government to pay more attention to domestic polices
When did the conservatives promise to build new houses and how many
1951 manifesto
They promised 300,000 new homes to replace homes lost in the war and pre war slums
What came from the butler act of 1944 and who progressed these changes
Education was spilt into 3 types of schools:
grammar schools for the gifted and talented
Technical schools for vocational skills
Secondary modern schools for basic majority education
11+ was taken in the final year of primary school
Churchills financial restrictions meant that most schools were either secondary modern or grammar
Eden tried to implement more technical schools
When was the clean air act and who was PM
1956 - macmilan
What did the housing and factory act do
Improve living standards and working conditions
Who was the home secretary that implemented more liberal reforms
Butler
When was the homoside act and what did it do
1957 and it reduced when death penalty could be used
What was the wolfenden commission and what did it say
It recommended that homosexuality shouldn’t longer be criminal
When was Winston Churchill prime minister and what did he do
1951-1955
He was 80 years old in 1955 and suffered a stroke in 1953
Be saw himself as an international politician not a domestic one so he often left the day to day governemnt in the hands of Eden , butler and macmillan
When was Eden prime minister and what did he do
1955-1957
He lacked experience in domestic affairs
He fear industrial conflict and was criticised for being too conciliatory with the unions
He took military action in suez in 1956 which ended his run as PM
When was macmillan prime minister and what did he do
1957-1963
He restored party unity and economic prosperity continued
He got 100 seats in the 1959 election
He used tv as a new political opportunity
Night of the long knieves in 1962 when he sacked half of the cabinet
His Edwardian gentleman act was out of date
The Profumo affair man him and other politicians look like liars
What was the Profumo scandal and when was it
1963
Christine keeler had an affair with john Profumo the defence secretary
Evanoff was a Russian spy who had met Profumo and then also has an affair with keeler
Profumo denied everything but the media questioned if state secrets were safe
When Attlee stepped down from labours leader who were the competing candidates
In 1955 gaitskell (right) and bevan (left))
What did left wing labour want
They were more socialist
Opposed Britain developing nuclear weapons but then in 1957 bevan announced he opposed unilateral disarmament
But many left wingers joined the CND
What did the labour right wingers want
Some people to pay for parts of the NHS ( prescription charges ) due to financial pressures
Against unilateral disarmament
