Conservative governments Flashcards

Question

Did people think Eden approached the relationship with trade unions well?

Answer 1

He aimed to prevent industrial conflict which led to criticism that he was too conciliatory with trade unions

Answer 2

When he tried to move Macmillan from the foreign office to the treasury in 1955 but Macmillan didn't want to move so managed to delay until December

Answer 3

His decision to take military action in the 1956 Suez crisis which ended in disaster. It was a diplomatic and military fiasco and was a turning point for Britain's illusions of imperial power and was a political crisis. He was accused of lying to the Commons and his reputation was badly damaged. It caused problems within the Conservative party, the colonial minister, Anthony Nutting, resigned and there was a rebellion of 40 MPs. The pressure from the US exposed Britain's financial weakness

Answer 4

R.A Butler. However, he was not extremely popular with the Conservative party. His reputation had also been damaged by the introduction of tax cuts just before the 1955 election which later had to be reversed after the economy overheated. Most of Eden's cabinet preferred Macmillan so he 'emerged' as leader. Macmillan was a safe choice and had few enemies

Answer 5

Party unity had been restored and apparent economic prosperity continued to gaurantee approval from the electorate. The post war economic boom was continuing. For five years, Macmillan appeared to be in full control of affairs. He also had media in the palm of his hand and used the new opportunities created by television with flair

Answer 6

In 1959, when he pushed the Conservative majority to 100 seats

Answer 7

They were in disarray, increasingly preoccupied with its own internal battles

Answer 8

The experiences of the post war years meant people were far more ready to accept the need for state intervention and planning

Answer 9

A belief in a mixed economy (involvement of the state as well as private enterprise) Support for the NHS and a welfare state Desire to ensure full employment (and avoid mass unemployment of the 1930s) Working with both trade unions and employers

Answer 10

The 1951 conservative manifesto promised to build 300,000 houses a year which would rebuild the housing stock that had been destroyed in the war and replace the slums that many lived in before the war. The success of this was overseen by Macmillan, as housing minister

Answer 11

Butskellism

Answer 12

They continued with the tripartite system of grammar schools for the intellectually gifted, technical schools which focused on vocational skills and secondary moderns which gave basic education the masses. Under Churchill, financial restraints meant there were few technical schools, but under Eden he placed greater emphasis on them. Some began to question wether this system, decided by 11+ results was fair

Answer 13

There were a number of social reforms under Macmillan's premiership, the clean air act of 1956 aimed to prevent the smog of the early 50s and the housing and factory acts aimed to improve the living and working conditions. Butler as home secretary was very liberal and took on controversial issues like homosexuality and the death penalty. The homicide act of 1957 restricted when the death penalty could be used and in 1957 the wolfenden commission recommended the decriminalisation of homosexuality

Answer 14

There was a growing split, in terms of ideology and personalities, the key figures were Labour left Bevan and Labour right Gaitskell. This seriously harmed the effectiveness of Labour's opposition. Gaitskell won the bid for leadership

Answer 15

Left wingers wanted the Labour party to be more socialist There was growing opposition to the party leadership from trade unions There were simmering divisions over Britain's nuclear weapons There was debate over Clause IV

Answer 16

Initially he opposed their development but in 1957 he announced his opposition to unilateral nuclear disarmament arguing it would 'send a British foreign secretary naked into the conference chamber'

Answer 17

Many Labour left wingers joined the campaign for nuclear disarmament which may well have turned some voters away from Labour

Answer 18

Until the late 50s unions were happy with full employment and their leaders were usually moderates but in 1956 a left winger, Cousins, became leader of one of the most powerful trade unions, the transport and general workers union. He then led fierce union opposition to Gaitskell over Britain's nuclear weapons

Answer 19

With optimism, Gaitskell was an effective campaigner and Labour had promoted moderate policies they thought would be popular with voters. The extent of the defeat was a genuine shock

Answer 20

It was held in Blackpool just before the general election. Gaitskell proposed abolishing Clause IV of the Labour party constitution, which committed the party to nationalisation. It was soon clear opposition from trade unions and the left wing was too strong so Gaitskell backed down

Answer 21

It was held in Scarborough and became a legend in Labour history because of Gaitskell's emotional speech where he tried to convince the conference to reject unilateral nuclear disarmament

Answer 22

It slowly began to improve, appearing more united. Cultural shifts made the public more critical of the Conservative government

Answer 23

Gaitskell died in 1963 and he was replaced by Wilson

Answer 24

'Events, dear boy, events'

Answer 25

A number of events came together to weaken his grip There were growing economic concerns, Britain applied to join the EEC in 1961, and was rejected in 1963 He seemed to have lost his political touch. In the hopes of rejuvenating his cabinet, he radically reshuffled it in 1962, sacking 1/3 of it, this was known as 'The night of the long knives' and made Macmillan seem clumsy His image as an Edwardian gentleman who married into aristocracy appeared increasingly out of touch In the early 1960s there were a series of spy scandals, the most infamous of all was the Profumo affair which combined sex, spying and high politics. In Profumo's statements to Parliament and personal assurances to Mac he lied about his actions, the perception of the government as out of touch was reinforced His position was finally undermined by a serious illness

Answer 26

He had not prepared the way for anyone to succeed him so the Conservative party faved a divisive power struggle. The two most obvious candidates Rab Butler and Lord Hailsham faced strong opposition so a compromise candidate Lord Home, a peer, emerged. The whole affair made Conservatives seem archaic