Heath government 1970-74

Why did conservatives win

• Heath was not seen as Establishment - new face of the Tories

• party had a positive record 1951-63

• decrease in Liberal share of the vote - returning to the party?

• knee jerk reaction away from Labour/best of a bad bunch?

Why did Labour lose

• trade unions - wildcat strikes, In Place of Strife

• Devaluation in 1967 - poor handling of the economy

• EEC rejection 1967

• failure to deliver on optimistic 1964 manifesto

• WIlson’s appeal wears off - his leadership is indecisive

What were Heath’s aims

• to join the EEC (was chief negotiator 1961-93)

• develop policies on industrial relations and economic modernisation

• Selsdon Park Meeting 1970 - decided on tougher approaches to economic [problems/more free market, eg not propping up failing businesses with state aid

Selsdon Park conference

1970 - Tories agreed to allow free market economics to take place and not help failing ‘lame duck’ businesses - seen in Wilson’s criticism/insult ‘Selsdon Man’

Heath’s U-turn

1971 - after claiming he would not nationalise industries (Selsdon Park) he nationalised Rolls Royce to combat unemployment/ bail the company out

• direct state intervention, a u-turn on set out free market policy

Was it actually a U-turn?

• yes - he interfered with free market economics

• no - he was actually helping the free market by driving up employment, and Selsdon was not about not helping all enterprises

What was the Barber Boom

Chancellor Barber introduced tax cuts to stimulate the economy and spending cuts to save government money

Negative effects of the Barber boom

led to stagflation - economic stagnation and high inflation

Industrial Relations Act

1971 - the government’s bill to control the unions, including;

• setting up an industrial relations court

• strike ballots made necessary

• ‘cooling-off’ period before oficial strikes are allowed to happen

Results of the industrial relations Act

both the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) opposed it

the miners went on strike in 1972 and then 1974

major strikes in 1972

miners, ambulance drivers, civil servants, hospital staff, fire fighters, etc

days lost in strikes = 23,909,000

gov. response - Industry Act

1972

Heath returns to a policy of reducing wage demands - aimed to involve the TUC, CBI and gov in agreeing wages and benefits

heavily criticised by some on the right eg Enoch Powell

NUM national strike

1974 - because…

• 1973 oil price crisis, demand on miners gave grounds to demand

• refused to accept the gov’s pay offer, Willie Whitelaw, Minister of Employment failed to negotiate

the Oil Price crisis

1973 - Oct Yom Kippur war breaks out in the Middle East

• prompted the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to declare an oil embargo

• the price of oil increased by x4, long queues formed outside of petrol stations

Oil Price crisis significance for Heath’s government

the UK relied on oil for petrol to fuel most of its industries - the rise in expense was a costly to business. The need for coal as an alternative energy source would give the NUM average for their strikes and demand a pay rise

the three day week

1974 - fuel was rationed and there was a speed limit of 50mph on all roads. TV ended at 10.30 and there were cuts made to lighting and heating

introduced to conserve electricity during industrial strikes and lack of coal supply

why did Heath call an election in 1974

called on the central issue ‘who governs Britain?’ to gain control over the strikes - this backfired

election results seats 1974

con - 297

lab - 301

Conservatives may have the majority, but labour win by seats (FPTP)

election results 1974 %

con -37.9%

lab - 37.1%