Britain 19511964

1
Britain 1951-1964

• The Domination of the Conservative Party

2
Churchills Indian Summer

• Churchills age?
• Did he hang on too long?
• 1951-55 a successful government lucky to be
  associated with economic prosperity and end of
  austerity
• Talented ministers like RA Butler and Eden
• Labour a mess internally
• Eden takes over from Churchill

3
Suez 1956

• Nasser in power in Egypt
• Seized the Suez Canal trade routes
• Eden put together a plan with France to invade
  Egypt
• USA made it clear (Eisenhower) that this would be
  unacceptable. Role of US in propping up economy
• Britain had to pull out
• Eden appeared to have misled Parliament and spilt
  his own party
• Significance USA key in decision making, retreat
  from empire was a fact now, indicated economic
  dependence on US which led to application for EEC
  membership

4
1956-63

• Economic crisis on the back of Suez. Balance of
  Payments crisis
• Conservatives managed to recover but Eden was
  finished
• Emergence of Harold MacMillan
• Consumer boom into 1959 election

5
SuperMac

• Luck versus judgment
• Consumer boom credit
• Labour internally divided under Hugh Gaitskell.
  Split with Bevanite left
• Skill in dealing with the media

6
The end of Conservative dominance

• 1962/63 accidents
• Cabinet reshuffle known as the Night of the Long
  Knives mishandled
• EEC application rejected
• Profumo affair
• Emergence of Harold Wilson as new Labour leader
• MacMillan replaced by Alec Douglas-Home
• Long-term factors social revolution

7

• Why was the Conservative Party so politically
  dominant between 1951-1964?