Tory Leadership

Question 1

Churchill - 1951

Answer 1

Already 77 after becoming PM - Mostly a figurehead
Had a stroke in 1953, was absent and this wasn’t noticed
Rab Butler made most progress: Agreed to mixed economy - helping Conservatives win the 1955 election

Question 2

Eden -1955

Answer 2

‘55 election win - had great personal appeal, especially to female voters but mostly Butler’s work
Suez Crisis 1956 - Eden had been Foreign Sect tree different times and criticized for bad domestic policy. Forced to widthdraw from Egypt by America. Global criticism showed Britain’s decline in world politics
Resigned less than three months later

Question 3

Harold Macmillan - 1957

Answer 3

Tories didn’t loose ‘59, sign of good leadership
Good media presence - utilized nickname of Super Mac
Night of the Long Knives, July 1962 - Reshuffled more than 2/3 of Cabinet, nicknamed Mac the Knife. Not neccicarly a bad thing?
Advised JFK through cold war
‘Winds of change’ speech accepting end of Empire
France Vetoed application to EEC
Profumo affair report criticized him for not acting quickly enough

Question 4

Douglas- Home - 1964

Answer 4

Chosen through the old boys network - Tory party had not changed it’s image
Resentment from some party members - Enoch Powell, Iain Macleod
Contrasted by Harold Wilson’s youth and Dynamism