Modern Britain

The Conservatives

• Coalition Government / Churchill's War Ministry : combination of the Conservatives and Labour 

• Clementine Attlee :Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 

• Hugh Gaitskell : Chancellor of the Exchequer 1950-1951, introduced prescription charges. Became leader of the labour party in 1955, defeating Bevin in the election

• Aneurin Bevan : Minister of health in Attlee's government. Had large amounts of support from labour MPs and Trade Unions  

• Winston Churchill : served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (WW2) and again from 1951 to 1955

• Rab Butler : Conservative, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1951–55, introduced the education act and adopted keynesian policies 

• Keynesian policies : government should increase demand to boost growth

• 1951 Bevinite quarrel: The split in the Labour Party when Aneurin Bevan resigned as Minister of Labour because of prescription charges

• First past the post system : the candidate who wins the most votes in each constituency is elected. This is the system which allowed the Conservatives to win the 1951 election and onwards 

• Anthony Eden : Conservative, served as Foreign Secretary including Churchills during WW2 and then as Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957

• Harold Macmillan aka “Supermac” : Conservative Prime Minister from 1957 to 1963. 

• He is best known for: 

• Restoring Britain's confidence and fortunes

• Reorientation British foreign policy

• Was a ‘one nation conservative’ 

• One-nation Conservative : Believes that all classes in society have obligations for each other and those better off hold the responsibility to ensure the wellbeing of those worse off

• Conservatives dominated British politics from 1951-1964

• Conflict within labour such as Bevin and Gaitskell weakened Labour

• The individuals were well likes eg “Supermac”

• 1951 marked the end of austerity (economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts and/or tax increases) and was the start of the long post-war boom

•  The conservatives recognised the importance of public approval for the legacy of Attlee governments (post-war consensus politics) eg continued on with the NHS and state welfare after it gained iconic status

• Mixed economy with both private and state owned industries

• Now had a legacy of national unity (Churchill)

• Full employment

• Recognised the importance of trade unions (wanted a cooperative relationship)

• Housing

• 1951 Conservative Manifesto promised to build 300,000 / year

• This would rebuild the houses destroyed during the war and replace many of the slums that people had lived in before the war

• Macmillan oversaw the success of this 

• Education

• Conservatives continued the tripartite system which developed after the 1944 Butler Act

• 3 kinds of schools emerged : 

• Grammar schools (intellectually gifted)

• Technical schools (practical and vocational skills) 

• Secondary modern (basic education to majority)

• Children would take the 11+ to decide which one they would go to

• Most either went to grammar or secondary modern although Eden tried to promote technical schools when he was PM

By the 1960s people began to question how fair these systems were

• Social reforms

• The Clean Air Act 1956 = aimed…