British Politics and Society since 1940: From Blitz to Blair

Résumé du document

"Let's be frank about it, most of our people have never had it so good? (Harold Macmillan, 1957). To What extent did the dominance of the Conservatives between 1951 and 1964 rely on affluence and social change rather than politics? Following the 1945's General Elections defeat, no one would have expected to see Tories back in power in 1951. The ?Waterloo defeat' of the Conservative party in 1945 has often been explained by the fact that "in 1945, the party was out of touch with the egalitarian spirit of the people's war and not to be trusted to implement the proposals outlined during the wartime coalition.?

Extraits

[...] Samuel H. Beer, Modern British Politics, (Faber and Faber, 1965), p353. Kevin Morgan, British Politics and Society since 1940 : From Blitz to Blair, Course Notes, (University of Manchester, 2007) Kevin Morgan, Course notes. Kevin Morgan, course notes. Ingrid Von Rosenberg, Britain from 1945 to the Present, course notes, (University of Dresden, 2003) Samuel H. Beer, p353. Samuel H. Beer, p357. [...]

[...] Despite fears of massive privatizations, the Conservatives ‘only' denationalised iron and steel and road haulage industries. They also maintained the NHS system, implemented a housing program of 300,000 houses a year, had an ‘appeasing' attitude towards unions and supported a Keynesian mixed economy and full employment[6]. They did not only ‘maintain' past labour policies, they also improved investments on Welfare. This era is characterized by increasing in the quantity of teachers more), in the Hospital Doctors more), and in GP's more) and nurses more). [...]

[...] This led to an overall fell in share of world exports of manufactured goods from 20% in 1954 to ‘only' 15% in 1960[14]. Moreover, the national averages that showed improvements in standard of livings might also hide the remaining poverty on Britain's territory, as of the population held 75% of the personal wealth. Parts of the territory such as Northern Ireland, Scotland and Northern England didn't enjoy as much this prosperity. Northern Ireland unemployment level reached through the same period. In major Britain's city such as Glasgow, slums and accommodations without amenities remained common[15]. [...]

[...] In that respect, Neil Rolling explained that “Even after 1952 the Conservative Government still put higher premium on the full integration of Britain into the international economy and on encouraging the widest possible use of sterling than on the maintenance of full employment.”[17] The ‘stop and go' cycles used by Conservatives governments to stimulate or depress economic activity have also had many drawbacks. The governments used to reduce taxes and interest rates to boost the economy. But quickly, this turned to favour importations and putted the pound under pressure. Then the governments had to increase taxes and interests again. [...]

[...] However, not all the people have benefited from these changes as part of the citizens have been ‘forgotten' by the system, (old, large families, and single women). Moreover, one can wonder whether the ‘stop and go' strategy was a good option rather than an investment strategy which could have been based upon budgetary deficits as it has been done in France. The economic growths that other western countries have known at the same period tend to show that this affluence has also a lot to do with a period of economic well-being. [...]