Politics & Economics 1951-1964

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  • Politics & Economics 1951-1964
    • Consensus Politics 1945 - 1963
      • both Lab & Cons committed to
        • full employment
        • nationalised industries
        • NHS
        • new houses
        • welfare state
        • expanding education (tripartite system)
    • Prime Ministers
      • Winston Churchill 1951-1955
        • second term as PM - mainly a figurehead
        • 78 years old in 1951
        • Ill throughout much of his premiership
        • suffered a series of minor strokes - not made public
        • more concerned with foreign affairs than domestic issues
        • haunted by the Cold War & h-bomb
      • Anthony Eden     1955-1957
        • became PM at 58 in 1955
        • regarded as Churchill's heir for years
          • Churchill kept him waiting before he resigned (Blair & Brown?)
        • he was popular, charismatic, handsome & respected at home & abroad
        • forced to resign after less than 2 years following Suez Crisis
      • Harold Macmillan 1957-1963
        • became PM at 63 in Jan 1957
        • won the 1959 election
        • known as 'superman' for his handling of the economy
        • known as 'Mac the knife' for sacking several minister in one cabinet reshuffle
        • resigned early due to ill health in 1963
      • Alec Douglas Home    1963-1964
        • chosen by Macmillan
        • lasted one year & narrowly lost the 1964 election
    • Was Britain governed by a clique?
      • Govt. mainly made up of old men who had been in politics in the 1920s
        • many had fought in WWI
      • went to the same schools, unis & gentlemen's clubs
      • related to each other
        • Macmillan was related to 35 of 85 ministers in his govt - 7 in his cabinet
      • lived in a narrow closed off world of class, wealth, country house & privilege
      • seen as 'out-of-touch' with ordinary British people by late 1950s
        • lack of opportunity of meritocracy
      • Macmillan seemed to belong more to the Edwardian era than the age of television
      • Duncan Sandys - Housing Minister 1955-57 & Defence Minister 1957-59
        • son-in-law of Churchill
      • Profumo Scandal
        • he was Minister for War in Macmillan's govt.
        • It emerged that he had sexual relations with Christine Keller
        • she was a prostitute who had also had relations with a spy at the Soviet embassy
        • Profumo exposed as having lied to Parliament
        • the affair became symbolic of the hypocrisy among the ruling clique
    • 1964 General Election
      • Labour lost the safe seat of Smethwick, Midlands
      • first time race was used in an election
      • local Tory party slogan was 'if you want a ****** for a neighbour, vote Labour'

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