Roles of Churchill, Eden, Macmillan and Home as political leaders

what were Churchill’s positives to take away from his role?

• led britain to victory in 1945

• despite opposition from the conservatives he decided to play the role of world statesmen

what were Churchill’s negatives to take away from his role?

• had serious strokes which left him with impaired speech

• he thought of himself as an international statesmen, not a politician and spent more time abroad, meeting world leaders or relaxing at his favourite holiday spots

what were Anthony Eden’s negatives to take away from his role?

• Eden’s decision to take military action during the Suez canal crisis in 1956 ,ending in disaster, really soured his reputation as a leader

• lack of authority showed when he tried to move Macmillan from the Foreign office to the treasury in October 1955 , Macmillan refused

• Edward Heath, the chief whip, who was in charge of keeping the party in line, strongly opposed Eden’s actions

• extreme lack of knowledge on economic issues

what was Anthony Eden’s background leading up to his role as prime minister?

• on several occasions between 1951-1955 he was the acting prime minister ion Churchill’s absence

• he was a rising politician in the 1930s and played a key role in the second world war as Winston Churchill’s Foreign Secretary

• He became prime minister in 1955 but resigned in January 1957 after the Suez canal crisis, due to ill health

what were some positives to take away from Macmillan’s role?

• As housing minister in 1951 Macmillan oversaw the Conservative manifesto building 300,000 houses

• Under Macmillan’s premiership The Clean Air Act of 1956 aimed to prevent the smog of the early 1950s

• Under Macmillan’s premiership The Housing and Factory Acts aimed to improve living and working conditions.

what were some negatives to take away from Macmillan’s role?

• In response to the problems the government was facing, Macmillan panicked and radically reshuffled his cabinet in July 1962 ,sacking a 3rd of it and weakening the government (The night of the Long knives)

• His image as an Edwardian gentlemen and his marriage into the aristocracy made him appear out of date.

• John Profumo lied to Macmillan about his actions, making the relationship between the 2 seem disoriented to the public eye

what was the Profumo affair?

• John Profumo, the Defence Secretary, had a brief relationship with Christine Keeler

• Christine Keeler was sleeping with a soviet spy with Ivanov which raised the question of possible cold war secrets

when was anthony eden prime minister?

• 1955 to 1957

when was alec douglas-home prime minister?

• 1963 to 1964

when was harold macmillan prime minister ‘supermac’?

• 1957 to 1963

how did the conservatives win the 1951 general election?

• the first past the post system meant that that although labour won more votes, the conservative party won the most seats in the general election

what were the policies that the conservatives promoted to gain public support?

• housing: in 1951 the conservative manifesto promised to build 300,000 houses a year. Macmillan as housing minister oversaw this

• education: the conservatives also continued the tripartite system in education which had developed after the butler act of 1944

• social reforms: the clean air act of 1956 aimed to prevent the smog of the early 1950s and the housing and factory acts aimed to improve living and working conditions