political specific facts 1951-1964 Flashcards
(31 cards)
how many seats did the conservatives win in the 1951 election?
321
how many seats did Labour win in the 1951 election?
295
reasons for Labour defeat in 1951 (4 reasons):
-worn down, some ministers in office since 1940
-divisions of right and left over economic welfare and foreign policies
-trade unions thought Labour was slow to respond to workers’ demands
-labour associated with the party of austerity
why did Churchill win the 1951 election (2 reasons)?
-dominated by young and bright MPs who wanted to take on the tiring Labour government
-were able to portray themselves as the party for liberty against the Labour government of central control and state centralisation
how old was Churchill when he started his second term?
77
what year did rationing end?
1954
when did Elizabeth II take over as monarch?
1952
when did Britain detonate their first atomic bomb?
1952
when did the Korean war end?
1953
who was Kim Philby?
a senior official in foreign office who had been passing information to the USSR and running a spy network
reasons for Conservative dominance in these years:
- appeared youthful and dynamic
-continued economic success
-social improvements
-Labour weaknesses
how many ministers were sacked in the 1962 Night of Long Knives
7
what did Macmillan request in 1963?
the party follows ‘customary processes’ and elects a new leader
how did Home remove his peerage?
through the 1964 Peerage Act
what date does Home become PM
16th October 1963
the way in which party dignitaries were able to dominate Home indicated the what…
‘old boy network’
who was Labour party leader 1955-1963?
Hugh Gaitskell
what name represented the left hand side of the Labour Party
‘bevanites’
did Gaitskell support the government during the Suez Crises?
no
what side of Labour did Gaitskell represent?
the centre-right, he rejected trade union domination and unilateralism
why did Labour lose the 1959 election?
-disagreements over ‘true character’ of the party
-disagreements over how far the party should push for socialist policies
-split over unilateralism
-uncertainty if britain should join the common market
-Labour’s policies were perceived with higher taxes
-Conservative dominated election campaign
what did Gaitskell accuse after the 1959 election?
he accused the left of weakening the campaign due to demands for unilateralism
what was Gaitskell accused of after the 1959 election?
straying from Labour principles by dropping nationalization as primary goal-some formed CDS
reasons for Conservative’s fall from power (1964) (4 reasons)
-government scandals
-foreign policy failures
-social failures
-comparative European economic failures
