Conservative Government: Eden 1955 - 1957

Churchill, former PM, stepped down and Antony Eden who had been shadowing Churchill for nearly ten years.

Background:

• Secretary of War (1940)
• Foreign secretary (1940-1945, 1951- 1955)
• Deep distaste for Nasser - this leads to the Suez Affair

Eden:

• Tetchy and short tempered
• Opinionated in international policy (was against the appeasement policy of Hitler in 1938/1939)
• Weakness: domestic policy
• Perceived strength: foreign policy

1955 Election (called by Eden to validate him)

Reason for election success

• Support of the press
• The Budget of 1955 - a 'give away'/'bribery' of the electorate?
• Improved living standards
• Divisions within the Labour party
• Deliver of Conservative promises
• The 'feel good' factor

Domestic policy ideas:

a) property ownership open to all b) industrial relations based on partnership

The ill-fated Suez Affair

The situation:

• The Aswan Dam project in Egypt needed funding
• Intially, the source of this fnding would be provided from the IMF, the USA and the UK
• Nasser, the Egyptian leader, also approached Czechoslavakia for new arments
• However, they were part of the Soviet Block (Cold War tension)
• USA therefore withdrew their funding because of the association…