Conservative dominance and Macmillan as PM

Booklet 15

Reasons MacMillan was chosen over Butler:

• Success as Housing Minister

• Butler lacked killer instinct

• Butler was not impressive when standing in for Eden.

• MacMillan admitted that the Suez Crisis increased the National debt by £564 Million.

Examples of three young rising politicians MacMillan appointed, gaining favourability:

• Reginald Maudling

• Julian Amery

• Iain Macleod

What did Eden describe MacMillan as?

“Radical in his social, human and economic thinking.”

How much of a majority did MacMillan win the 1959 election by?

Majority of 100

Why was the economy in trouble, and what was MacMillan’s “People had never had it so good” a warning of?

Wages were running ahead of productivity - Inflation.

Who suggested wage increase limitations and cuts in 1958, leading to his and the the Treasury’s resignation?

Thorneycroft

What were the amount of tax cuts before the April 1959 election?

£370 Million along with beer duty cut.

Reasons for 1959 Election win:

• Rise of consumerism

• Good TV PM, personal popularity rose from 40%-70% during 1957-1959.

• Heathcote Amory’s tax cuts.

• Labour split, electorate also did not find Gaitskell’s promises convincing.

• Party Chairman Hailsham used new campaigning methods like commercial advertisers.

How many homes did the conservatives build between 1955-1964, creating a “Property owning democracy”?

3.1 Million

Why was it easier to buy goods, cars, mod cons and foreign holidays?

The availability of credit.

Criticism of Tory House building campaigns:

Came from borrowing and this created large, socially harmful debt.

MacMillan Acts of First Ministry:

• Rent Act 1957: Abolished rent control, causing 810,000 houses to move out of rent control.

• The Life Peers Act 1957: MPs and public figures could become lords, then to have it ceased on death.

• The Homicide Act 1957: Reduced the number of executions, in response to controversial hangings like Ruth Ellis.

• Mental Health Act 1959: Mental and physical illness to be treated in the same way.
  

What did Labour call the Rent Act 1957?

A “Landlords’ charter” to exploit the vulnerable.

How many days were lost to strike action in 1957?

8.5 Million days

What was unemployment at in 1963 due to economic stagnation?

900,000 unemployed

What industry did Britain spend on heavily, causing her to fall behind industrially?

The Nuclear arms programme, naval and military bases.

Who did MacMillan appoint as the Home Secretary and Education Secretary at the 1959 election?

• Butler - Home Secretary

• Boyle - Education Secretary

British Nuclear Advancement up until 1963 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty:

• Atomic Bomb detonated in 1952 and Hydrogen Bomb detonated in 1957.

• Nassau Agreement - UK to use US Polaris submarines to launch nukes.

Education reports 1945-64:

• Percy Report - University curriculum should favour Latin and Classics

• Barlow Report - Called for expansion of government funded engineers

• 1965 Beloe Report - CSE’S Introduced for secondary modern schools, 40% Did CSE, 20% Did O Levels.

• Noorwood Report - Called for Equality of status between secondary modern and grammar.

• 1963 Lord Robbins report - Called for education for workforce, as only 4% of 18 year olds entered full time uni courses, lower figures for working class and female. Advocated for an increase in University students, with up to 217,000 by 1974.

Education advancements 1945-1964 beside reports:

• Red brick Keele and Nottingham built 1951 and Southampton 1952.

• 1947 - O levels and A levels introduced, yet they were only accessible for grammar schools.

• Youth Employment Service set up

• Post 1944 university was predominantly male and middle class.

• 84,000 students in University in 1951.

• Most local authorities retained 11+ until 1965.

• More new universities in Warwick, Kent, Lancaster, York and East Anglia created.

Immigration Policy 1945-64:

• 1948 - Windrush Generation from West Indies

• 1958 - 210,000 Commonwealth immigrants in Britain

• Rumours that they were coming for benefits not jobs circulated by many like Moseley. Led to race riots e.g Notting Hill 1958.

• Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 - Immigration control by using work permits.

Empire Policy 1945-1964:

• 1947 - India given independence

• 1950 - War against insurgencies in Malaya

• 1952 - War against insurgencies in Kenya

• 1957 - Ghana and Malaya decolonised

• 1958 - West Indies decolonised

• 1960 - Nigeria and Cyprus decolonised

February 1960 - Macmillans ‘Winds of Change’ speech, a speech that MacMillan disclosed his commitment to grant independence.

What group did Conservatives who opposed MacMillan’s ‘Winds of Change’ form?

League of Empire Loyalists.

Macmillan’s early 60’s economy:

• 1961 - Over heating led to a pay pause and loan from International Monetary Fund.

• 1962 - Macmillan’s sets up the National Economic Development Council to encourage national co-operation.

• 1963 - Stop-Go meant Britain could not meet demand of higher purchasing power, thus the trade gap grew. This caused the balance of payments to be £800 million in debt by 1964.

• EFTA (Denmark, Norway, Britain, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, Portugal) had been outstripped by EEC (France, West Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg).

Who did MacMillan appoint in 1961 to negotiate with the EEC?

Edward Heath

What chancellor did Macmillan replace with Reginald Maudling as part of the Night of the Long Knives?

Selwyn Lloyd

Macmillan’s reasons for trying to join the EEC:

• The Suez Crisis had cast doubt over British position as a world power. They were also at risk due to dependence on US as shown by Suez.

• To boost industrial production.

• The Tory party was dominated by its ‘City orientated managerial element’.

Why was Britain’s EEC application rejected in January 1963?

• De Gaulle feared it would lead to a closer US-European link, undermining the whole purpose of EEC being a counterbalance to Americanisation.

• EEC Rules blocked Britain’s Commonwealth preferences and free trade with EFTA.

• Lamb Exports with New Zealand would have thus been compromised.

What loss of a by election caused the 1962 Night of the Long Knives, how much of his cabinet did Macmillan remove?

Orpington by-election, he removed a full third of his cabinet.

What act did MacMillan pass in 1963 which allowed Hailsham and Douglas Home to stand in the commons?

The 1963 Peerage Act.

1963 Affair Scandals:

• January 1963 - Kim Philby defects to the USSR as a spy, even after Macmillan had investigated him in 1955 as Foreign secretary.

• Vassal Affair 1963 - John Vassall was blackmailed by the KGB over his homosexuality and provided secrets regarding the navy. Exhibited lack of control over departments.

• Argyll Case 1963 - The public divorce of Duke Of Argyll and his wife, who had many secret lovers in government.

• March 1963 - John Profumo, the Secretary of State for war, was in a relationship with showgirl Christine Keeler. She was also involved with a Russian naval attache, Yevgeny Ivanov. Profumo further lied to the commons saying it ended in 1961, and involved no ‘impropriety’.

What report in 1963 called for major cuts to rail services, showing concerns over economic modernisation?

Beeching Report 1963

How did the Lord Chancellor wrongly nominate Home?

Butler had received 9 out of 20 votes, yet Home was nominated.

Why did Macmillan resign as PM?

Stomach Surgery

What was Home’s allocation to PM labelled?

He was the compromise candidate

What was the common theme between Eden, Macmillan, Douglas-Home and nine other tory cabinet members that made them unfavourable?

Part of the Eton “Old boy network”

What did Harold use against the establishment to win the next election and sympathise with the working class?

• Lack of parliamentary experience

• Recognisal that youth culture was shifting to resent the aristocratic establishment