Conservative leadership

Question 1

Who were the 4 conservative prime ministers?

Answer 1

Winston Churchill: 1951 election
Anthony Eden: 1955 election
Harold Macmillan: 1959 election
Alec Douglas-Home: Lost 1964 election

Question 2

Effects of Churchill’s age when he became PM?

Answer 2

He was 77
- Frail and sustained power due to his reputation.
- Butler was the driving force behind 1951 election.
- 1953 had a stroke and was not missed in office.

Question 3

Butler’s role in helping the Conservatives improve after 1945?

Answer 3

• 1947 ‘Industrial charter’
  This was when the Conservative accepted the principle of a mixed economy.
• 1944 Education Act (involved in)
  He was concerned with social issues, which people thought Conservatives ignored

Question 4

Result of Churchill’s stroke in 1953?

Answer 4

Speech impairment –> kept from the British people

Question 5

What did Churchill focus on during government?

Answer 5

International issues.
Anthony Eden and Butler worked on domestic problems.

Question 6

Churchill’s cabinet?

Answer 6

• Did not contain members of any party but Conservatives and Liberals.
• Those who did not agree with the Post-war consensus were out of government.

Question 7

Achievements of Churchill’s government?

Answer 7

• Ending rationing in 1954
• Denationalisation of the steel industry
• 300,000 homes built per year to replace slum housing.
• Keynesian policies continued
• Accession of Queen Elizabeth to the throne 1952
• Britain detonated its first atomic bomb 1953
• Korean War ended in 1953

Question 8

‘Butskellism’

Answer 8

Joint names of Butler and Gaitskell (key figure of Labour right and Chancellor)

Question 9

Roles of Butler?

Answer 9

1951-5 - Chancellor
1957 and 1963 - Possible party leaders

Question 10

How is Butler known?

Answer 10

‘best prime minister the Conservatives never had’

Question 11

Difference between Gaitskell and Butler?

Answer 11

Gaitskell - higher taxes
Butler - higher interest

Question 12

How do political historians describe ‘Bustkellism’?

Answer 12

Kenneth Morgan - ‘a state of mind’

Question 13

How did Butler boost conservative prospects with a ‘give-away’ budget?

Answer 13

£134 million in tax cuts

Question 14

Backstory of Anthony Eden?

Answer 14

• Foreign secretary 1930s + war + 1951-5
• Regent PM in 1951-55

Question 15

Results of 1955 elections?

Answer 15

Conservative: 49.7% vote
Labour: 46.4% vote

Question 16

How did Lord Hailsham describe his excitement to see Eden as PM?

Answer 16

‘a real post-war government, led by a prime minister who represented contemporary manhood, rather than the pre-First World War generation’