Labour post 1951.

Booklet 17

Shadow PM of Labour opposition

Hugh Gaitskell

What key labour figure died in 1951?

Ernest Bevin

In what year did Atlee retire?

1955

What was the labour cabinets only new suggestion that was labelled not a “vote winner”

Increased Nationalisation

Who was the labour split in the 1950s between?

Gaitskellites and Bevanites

What word did Bevan use to describe the tories?

“Vermin”

What was Bevan’s background?

Working class, son of a miner

What position did Wilson hold in Gaitskell’s shadow cabinet?

Shadow Chancellor

Popular quote used by conservatives in 1959 election to undermine Labour

“Life is better with the Conservatives. Dont let labour ruin it”

Name the two things Labour split over in the 1950s

• Unilateralism

• Nationalisation

Reasons why Labour lost in 1959:

• Opposition to EEC

• Consensus politics - Tories also pro-NHS

• Plans could lead to increased taxation

• Conservatives brought economic stability and tax cuts.

What group did Gaitskell and right of the labour party rally toward?

Campaign for Democratic Socialism

What was the argument behind the CDS?

Trade unions and leftist extremism should not be able to enforce their views on the moderate labour party.

Reasons for Labour split:

• Opposition from Trade Unions - FRANK COUSINS, leader of the Transport and General Workers Union led fierce opposition to Nuclear weaponary.

• Nuclear weapons - Many Bevanites rallied to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), and fell out of favour with Gaitskell when he attempted a block union vote to force through unilateralism.

• Argument over state ownership - Gaitskellites followed Crossland’s “Future of socialism” book, left criticised it as a betrayal. Gaitskell also wanted to drop Clause IV before the 1959 election, other parties in Europe had dropped this for Marxism.