Labour and Conservative Governments, 1964 - 1997

OCR History A-Level, British History 1930-1997

Why did the Conservatives lose in 1964? - Sleaze

• Profumo affair (1961) —> John Profumo, Secretary of State for War slept w/19yr old Christine Keeler who was also having an affair with a high-ranked member of the Russian embassy, Profumo lied about it in HoC, ‘Pillow Talk’

• Vassal affair —> a civil servant leaked government secrets to Soviet Union so compromising pictures of him wouldn’t be leaked

• Embarrassing, unrelentless, ruined rep. of government and made security look bad

Why did the Conservatives lose in 1964? - Night of the Long Knives

• Macmillan (1962) thought cabinet needed rejuvenating —> sacked 1/3 of them

• Compared to Hitler’s ‘Night of the Long Knives’ in 1934 = ruthless

• Lead to decline in party’s reputation and damaged the union of the party

• Nickname changed from ‘Supermac’ to ‘Mac the Knife’

Why did the Conservatives lose in 1964? - Economy/EEC

• Unemployment began to rise —> 800,000 in 1963

• Importing more than exporting (balance of trade deficit)

• deGaulle had vetoed Macmillan’s application for member of the EEC in 1963

Why did the Conservatives lose in 1964? - Labour Success

• Wilson presented Labour as modern/dynamic e.g. distancing the party from previous decisions, such as about nuclear weapons

• Had a promising manifesto, fast economic growth and improved Welfare and Health States

• Despite appearing strong they lost 10,000 votes since 1959, so it wasn’t the most important reason

Why did the Conservatives lose in 1964? - Liberal revival

• Conservatives were unpopular —> middle class voted liberal

• took Conservative votes in minority seats, so Labour won them without gaining any votes

• Orpington by-election in 1962 was 147000 Cons victory to 7850 Liberal

What problems did Labour face in 1964?

• Stagnation —> economic growth slowing, inflation increasing

• societal changes not reflected in laws

• In education there wasn’t enough support for people to go into higher education

What did Wilson achieve? (1964 - 70)

• Social reforms —> Jenkins (Home Secretary) had a policy of modernisation e.g. ending capital punishment, race relations law illegalising discrimination, legalising abortion

• Education —> Comprehensive system expanded, Open University opened following Robbins Report on Higher Education in 1963

• Economic policy —> balance of payments deficit improving by 1969, value of Sterling maintained, industrial development encouragred such as to Wales, motorways built in North

What did Wilson fail to achieve? (1964 -70)

• The economy —> forced to reintroduce prescriptions charges (austerity) and raise school leaving age, unpopular spending cuts and higher taxes, HIGH unemployment (post war high), 2.5M in 1967, forced devaluation of the pound = no confidence in pound overseas

• Trade Unions —> ‘In Place of Strife’ (Barbra Castle, 1967) which required unions to ballot members before striking, so unpopular for trade unions and the left that it was abandoned

• Striking caused major economic problems e.g. Seamen in 1966 damaged economy leading to loss of confidence = devaluation

The 1970 election

Labour were expected to win, but lost nearly 1M votes since 1966, Heath won 43 more seats

The 1970 election - Labour divisions

• splits emerged due to cuts in spending (betrayal to Labour supporters)

• felt like financial sectors were being put above ordinary people

• trade unions (key to Labour and their history) disliked proposals to restrict union power, such as ‘In Place of Strife’

The 1970 election - Economic problems

• unemployment was higher in 1970 than when Labour took office

• retail prices had risen by 33% (hadn’t controlled inflation)

• Wilson said devaluing the pound wouldn’t affect the ‘pound in your pocket’, but it had

The 1970 election - Conservative appeal

• Heath was from a Grammar school, not public school elite —> modern, didn’t tolerate old school ideas e.g. racism (sacked Enoch Powell)

• Made it clear he wanted to join the EEC, many saw this as essential for Britain’s economic future

• made power of unions of a key issue, good as people were worried about strikes

What problems did Heath face? (1970-1974)

• inflation was difficult to control —> was in the Middle East (1973) raised prices

• entering EEC was successful, however Britain had to accept unfavourable terms

• USA’s dollar fell in value (1971), British exports more expensive

What was the Heath’s governments policies? (1970-1974)

• Industrial Relations Act (1971) —> go-day cooling off period before a strike was called, said all unions had to ballot before strike called

• Problems in the coal industry

• In 1972 280,000 miners went on strike, threatening heat and power supplied, asked for 48% pay rise —> showed power of miners encouraging other unions to strike

Class of 1973

• Oil crisis —> higher prices

• Heath gave business’ access to electricity only 3 days a week, 50mph speed limit and no TV past 10:30 (limit power usages)

Why did Labour win in 1974?

• Mainly Conservative failure —> Heath lost control of the country, even those who disapproved of miners faced higher prices, 3-day week = dramatic change

• former Conservative voters disliked EEC entry requirements, hung parliament, but Labour won 4 more seats than Conservatives

What problems were faced by the Labour government of 1974-1979?

• more internal divisons e.g. Michael Foot (left) clashed with moderate leaders

• Party divided over entry to EEC, so held referendum in 1975

• ‘Social contract’ w/ unions failed to stop strikes, difficult to deal with them because of historic links —> used to depend on union support

• economy —> inflation rising at avg. of 25% a year, so trade unions demanded higher prices

• Labour accepted rise of 29% for miners, encouraging other unions to ask for raises

• Wilson resigned suddenly in 1976

• Labour made pact w/ 13 Liberal MPs so as to continue governing 1977-78

What was the Winter of Discontent in 1978-79?

• failed to keep promises of devolution so Scottish and Welsh MPs (SNP and Plaid Cymru?) voted against the government and brought it down in 1979

• huge strikes e.g. rubbish, death bodies, especially bad in places like Liverpool

• Callaghan —> ‘Crisis? What crisis?’

Did Labour deserve to lose in 1979?

• inflation and economic problems inherited from previous government

• had been able to co-operate with unions until social contract broke down

• Labour divided, no solution to economic problems

• Thatcher won after an effective campaign