Labour and Conservative
Was there any difference?…read more

Key definition: Consensus politics
· An era of politics when the major parties are in broad
agreement over how the country is run economically,
socially and politically.
· The parties may still disagree on who would be the best
party to deliver prosperity, but their solutions are not
dissimilar (different) from each other's.
· There would still be some in each party who would
disagree with the way their party leaders were moving
their parties closer towards the opposition.
· For example, many Tories opposed handing back British
colonies.
· Many left wing Labour MPs opposed nuclear weapons.
· You could argue that while the Parliamentary parties
agreed on many things, the rank and file party
supporters were as opposed as they ever were to what
the other side proposed.
· What does this mean?…read more

General comments
· James Margach described Harold Macmillan
as "one of the most left-wing post-war prime
ministers."
· What do you think Margach meant by this?
· Macmillan's government continued to follow
"centrist policies".
· What do you think this means?
· It expanded higher education and made the
first moves towards comprehensive education.
· What is comprehensive education?…read more

Politics
· No party was calling for a radical overhaul (change) of
how politics was run.
· Labour proposed trimming the powers of the House of
Lords (the unelected part of Parliament), but not its
abolition.
· No party suggested changing the electoral system, or
the way business was conducted in the House of
Commons.
· Most Labour and Conservative MPs were male, middle
aged and from public/private schools, who studied at
Oxbridge. Maybe this is why Labour never banned
grammar schools.
· What were these?…read more

Politics
· Both parties tried to appeal to loyal party supporters
during election time.
· So they tried to show the differences.
· The Conservatives promised a return to Conservative
"red meat" in the 1951 election, which included
"setting the people free" and abandoning the
"socialist state".
· But in reality, once elected, radical change did come
about.
· Churchill had no desire in his older years to pick
fights with workers who admired him for his wartime
leadership.…read more

Economy
· Key definition: Butskellism.
· This word combines R.A Butler's (Conservative
chancellor) name with Hugh Gaitskell's (Labour
Party leader during the 1950s).
· Hugh Gaitskell was on the "right" of the
Labour Party.
· What do you think this means?
· Butler was on the "left" of the Conservative
Party.
· What do you think this means?…read more