Harold Wilson and the Economy Flashcards
Why did Labour manage to win the 1964 election?
Wilson was young and dynamic compared to Home and Tory Establishment and was confident in the media
Wilson often threw shade at Home and his lack of economic understanding
Bevan and Gaitskell were now dead so issue of the split was no longer a problem
Labour exploited public mood of change with slogan of ‘13 years of Tory misrule’
What were the results of the 1964 general election?
Labour received only 13 more seats than Tories
Lower turnout for tories as more were voting Labour and Liberal
Labour and scientific development
Wanted to produce more scientists
Must do better to keep them in the country
Must make more intelligent use of them once their trained than previous scientists
Must reorganise more purposely to national production effort
How was Wilson different to previous PMs?
Compared to previous upper class predecessors, he seemed like an outsider
Hard for him to convince B’s powerful elite of his worth as not taken seriously enough
Wasn’t privately educated, went to grammar school
What was the ‘White Heat of Technological Revolution’?
Was an attempt to portray his govt. as modernising and to move away from traditional Etonian politics-very vague
What was included with the ‘White Heat of Technological Revolution’?
Ministry of Technology set up in ‘64 with TU leader Frank Cousins as leader but he resigned not long after as not enough progress
How successful was the Ministry of Technology?
Within 2 years modernisations had been made but not necessarily ‘white heat’
64% of households had washing machines by ‘71
‘Office-boy’ image
Developed this image after following Bevan by resigning from Attlee’s govt. and gave him reputation of being ‘Nye’s little dog’ and was deemed disloyal by Bevanites due to his rapid return to prominence
Harold Wilson as an outsider
Conspiracies that he was a communist spy and many though he didn’t belong as he wasn’t a stereotypical politician
He was a paranoid man who in times of trouble became preoccupied with idea he was being undermined by plots
Marcia Williams and Wilson
Williams was a loyal and valuable advisor to Wilson, was head of political office
Used her expertise + ability to keep Wilson on how toes, making him a better politician
However there were rumours that the two were having an affair
What was the National Plan?
1964 introduced by Wilson with aim of increasing exports and replacing imports to solve balance of payments crisis, whilst continuing with the post-war consensus
In order to do this, Department of Economic Affairs was created to set growth targets and create economic growth councils
How successful was the National Plan?
Started well, encouraging cooperation between govt., business + trade unions but most targets weren’t met and the plan was quietly abandoned in ‘67
There was also rivalry between James Callaghan and the DEA
1966 general election
Labour managed to impress the electorate enough by appearing dynamic and modernising and increased majority over Tories to 110 seats
What were the results and figures of the National Plan?
Was predicted to increase British growth rate by 3.5% over 9 years, transforming social and economic life
Really saw 2.7% growth per year
40% increase in exports from ‘63 - ‘70 which helped with balance of payments
Turned £800 million debt Wilson inherited to surplus by ‘70
Why did Wilson have to devaluate?
Borrowed £1 billion from IMF in ‘64, by ‘67 he saw that money issues were big and couldn’t ask for bigger loan
Also an outbreak of war in Middle East putting strains on oils supplies, also dock strike in ‘67 contributing to devaluation
Was reluctant to devaluate as sign of economic weakness
