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Summary Britain under Wilson, Heath and Callaghan
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Notes based on the section of British History A-Level covering Wilson, Heath and Callaghan.
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Chapter 5-Labour and Conservative Governments, 1964-79Why did the Conservatives lose the election of 1964?
The 1964 election victory was not a landslide like that of 1945. Labour actually gained fewer votes than in 1959, but the
Conservatives lost over 1.6 million votes and the Liberals gained over 1.5 million votes. Thus, it may have been more a question
of discontented middle-class voters than a big swing to Labour.
Possible reasons for the result
Loss of popularity for the Conservatives
The Conservative’s leader, Sir Alec Douglas-Home seemed out of touch with the electorate, however this can be
overstated. Many found Douglas-Home to be more trustworthy than the Labour leader, Harold Wilson.
Many people blamed the Conservatives economic record. There were accusations that Britain had experienced ‘13
Wasted Years’ and had fallen behind other countries and there was much talk of inflation, unemployment and decline
in manufacturing areas. In reality, Conservatives had cut income tax in 1963 and the number out of work fell.
The Tories had bad press over the Profumo scandal, which was seen as an upper class sex scandal, but this did not seem
to have had much of an impact on traditional Tory supporters: older voters and women (they weren't in a union so
were less likely to vote Labour) who were interviewed in opinion polls continued to prefer the Conservatives.
The appeal of Labour
The new Labour leader, Harold Wilson, was seen as a man of the people who offered a break from the public-school-
educated political leaders since 1945. His appeal can be exaggerated though as, while articulate, Wilson was not a
charismatic leader like Tony Blair later on.
It was certainly true that Labour had eased their divisions and seemed more united, though few of the team had
experience in power.
Wilson made an appeal to those who wanted a more modern, scientific and technological Britain by appealing for more
economic planning and using the technological revolution to take Britain forward. However, it is not actually clear what
Wilson meant when he said, ‘technological revolution’! Wilson himself seemed to personify this, he was a former
teacher of Economics at Oxford-but stressed himself to be unlike the Old Etonians which preceded him-and sought to
display himself as a simple, Yorkshire-born, Grammar-school football fan.
Labour’s campaign was broader in its appeal and more carefully targeted than in the past. For example, the party’s
election manifesto offered social progress, but did not stress nationalisation of industry as this was not popular.
Labour did not actually gain all that many more votes. Many voters were concerned with Labour’s left-wing and the
influence of trade unions. In some areas Labour lost votes because voters disliked immigration and thought the Tories
were more likely to control it. The result was also likely so close due to the surprising ability of Douglas-Home as a
trustworthy and modest leader and the Conservative tax cuts and a fall in unemployment from 900,000 in February
1963 to 300,000 by July 1964as well as general attitudes to the Labour party
Other factors
Many felt that after 13 years it was just time for a change. This was particularly true of the voters who had only known
Conservative rule, though few young voters actually turned out.
There had been considerable change in Britain since 1951; there had been excitement about technology, space
exploration, more opportunities to travel and more educational opportunities. The world was changing rapidly, and
Labour seemed the ones best equipped to take Britain forward.
Another important factor was the something of a revival of the Liberals. Relatively few voters switched from
Conservative to Labour, instead changing to vote Liberal. Though the Liberals only won three more seats than in 1959,
the split in some marginal constituencies between Labour and Conservative was significant in bringing about Labour
victories in constituencies which they had not taken in 1959.
The growth of satire on TV and in the press and a less respectful attitude to politicians was another factor. Satirists
poked fun at Wilson’s lower-middle-class habits and manners- he was supposed to like HP sauce and the attempts at
poetry by his wife Mary, were the subject of some unkind mockery. Generally, though, satire mocked the Conservatives
and therefore seemed to benefit Labour.
, Wilson’s Governments, 1964-70
In 1964, Wilson had a majority of only 4 MPs. Given that divisions in the party had not gone away. Wilson did well to increase his
majority in 1966, winning 100 seats more than the Conservatives. However, in 1970 Wilson lost the election and many in his
own party were disappointed at his lack of progress.
What problems did Wilson face in 1964?
The majority of four seats
The need to fulfil party promises about modernising British society
Pressing foreign and colonial problems
Senior government figures were talented but several of them disliked each other.
Stagflation characterised the economy (a mixture of inflation and stagnation; a period of low growth, rising
unemployment and rising prices. The government continued to believe this was down to high wage increases but this
widened arguments in the Labour ranks over economic policy.).
Britain’s growth was very slow compared to other developed industrial countries; nationalised industries were very
costly due to lack of investment in the 1950s and defence costs were very high, preventing domestic investment.
Away from the economy, changes in society had not been reflected in the existing laws and the education system did
not offer the high quality technical and scientific training or widespread opportunities for students to go into higher
education.
There were also divisions in the party over:
bringing more sectors of the economy under state control
abolishing or reforming institutions that appears to protect privilege such as the House of Lords
remaining outside the EEC
abandoning nuclear weapons
speeding up the process of decolonisation
distancing Britain from US foreign policy.
The right of the party believed these policies were vote losers and either impractical or irresponsible. They offered a
modernising agenda which seemed realistic; they believed the government should:
Promote economic growth and a fairer distribution of wealth by economic planning and taxation policy.
Apply to join the Common Market (EEC)
Retain Britain’s nuclear weapons
Maintain close alliances with the USA to guarantee national security
Resist the demand for further nationalisation
What did Wilson achieve?
Social reforms
Roy Jenkins as Home Secretary undertook a policy of modernisation that led to some of the most significant domestic changes in
the century:
Race relations laws made discrimination illegal (November 1965&April 1968)
Capital punishment was ended (November 1965)
The voting age weas lowered from 21 to 18 (May 1969)
Abortion was legalised and more contraception was made available (June 1967)
Homosexual acts between consenting adults in private were legalised (July 1967)
The equal pay law meant men and women had to receive the same pay for the same work (May 1970)
Education
For schools, the Comprehensive system was expanded. In higher education, the Open University was established to give greater
access to higher education to people of all ages and the number of universities increased following the advance of the 1963
Robbins Report on Higher Education (argued for more equal and less stigmatised views of those who should attend university.).
Economic policy
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