Labour 'Changed the Face of Britain' Between the Years of 1945-51. Discuss

However, it wasn’t solely the government that was influencing the economy, there were other factors that played a vital role in Britain’s recovery too. For example, the expansion of the economy was mainly in new industries such as electrical engineering, which grew at between 4-5% per annum, and expanded so rapidly that in the 1930s electricity consumption per head of population increased by 70%. Furthermore, industries such as household electrical goods, cars, and transport flourished in parts of the south and midlands creating new jobs which gave people money to spend and created even more demand for new products. It is therefore arguable that it was new technology

As well as labour disunity there are other factors to consider as to why conservatives dominated. Firstly, the reorganisation of the party machine led by Lord Woolton after the dislocation caused by the war and the shock defeat for the conservatives in 1946 proved pivotal for the conservatives in improving their ideas (new conservatives with new ideas) and general organisation.

Heath can be seen to be a successful leader due to the fact he won the 1970 election, much to Harold Wilson’s surprise. However, many would place the win not down to the

Firstly the House of Lords reform where the voting rights of most hereditary peers was abolished. This makes the UK less undemocratic rather then more democratic. This is due to the fact that the House of Lords as a whole is an unelected chamber and therefore undemocratic, however by removing the voting rights of some

This essay will examine how the development of the Welfare State and the NHS changed the lives of the people of Britain since its introduction in 1948. To enable me to do so, I will analyse and evaluate the key relevant aspects that happened during that period.

Disraeli believed in an organic society held together by duty and responsibility, and was responsible for the Second Reform Act which gave the working class the vote and also improved housing conditions and hygiene. This is often seen as a form of Tory welfarism. One nationism reached its peak in the 1950s and 1960s when conservative governments in the UK promoted social welfare, in stark contrast to later, New Right conservative governments such as the Thatcher Government (1979-90). In the 50s one-nation conservatism was seen as a ‘middle way’ between ‘laissez-faire’ liberalism and socialist state planning. Therefore, paternalistic conservatism could be seen as the way of moderation.

The 1906 UK general election was a shock event in British politics when the Liberal party not only beat the Conservative party but gained an unprecedented amount of their seats in Parliament. The Two main reasons for the Conservative loss , the 1902 Education Act and Tariff Reform, were both acts by the Conservatives themselves. Alongside these two reasons, the Liberal party also had a very successful opposition campaign which possibly could have won them the election on its own.

This period of Labour rule is often marked down as a poor performance on behalf of the labour party, critically looked upon by many historians. There were many failings under the rule of this government however the circumstances they were placed in caused severe restraints in their options.

The people were finally being valued and everyone was given a chance to work towards improving the things taking place around them. While it is very debatable, the actions that were taken and how individuals started to think on their own cause the Revolution to be a special and more defining type of radical. There has never been a revolution that has been born out of ideas alone and this time, it was at least the beginning of seeing change. Starting with the Tories and Whigs reformation, carrying out through the war and even the justice and social systems, the radicalism started growing and spreading. There was still a long way to go and a huge separation between conservative and liberal views, but it was a revolution for the people. It was special for the 18th century and was able to be carried out due to the segregation of beliefs, the magnum opus, and the acts of the

Britain’s provision of welfare underwent a massive overhaul in the middle of the second World War .William Beveridge played a key role in these changes by writing a report which revised the social security system. It was determined by Beveridge that certain policies were required to combat the evils of society. They were referred to as “The Five Giants”.

It saw high wages fought for by unions as being a factor in unemployment. They replaced grants with loans from the social fund, benefit eligibility was reduced and payments cut.Pensions decreased, council houses were sold and companies were privatised. Care in the community was introduced encouraging more care by family members (free). They pushed for the nuclear family, outcasting women and ostrecising single mothers.

Both of the Labour Governments had some great successes, for instance, the 1964-1970 Labour government won the 1966 election with a majority of 100 seats. The Labour government of 1974-1979 did not win the election with a majority but managed to reduce inflation in 1978 from 15% to 8% which was a very large success as inflation had been a problem for a long time. Just from looking at the two governments you assume that the 1964-1970 labour government was more successful than the 1974-1979 labour government because they were in power for longer, and they won with a much larger majority of seats in the elections.

Whether or not there truly was a ‘post war consensus’ in British politics from 1951 to 1964 is a highly debatable topic of which historians can often appear to be in two minds about; on one hand, Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson infamously described the period as ‘Thirteen years wasted’, whereas historian Robert Blake (a supporter of the Conservatives’, regards it as a ‘Golden age of growth’. The likes of Kevin Jeffrey’s even argue that consensus had even started before the war. Overall, the central issue was the idea of a mixed economy.

Until 1905 this was the only form of welfare available. But in 1906 a Liberal government came to power and decided that a larger section of society and not just the extreme poor were in need of public services. An important social survey was carried out and the results were quite bleak. It showed that a third of the population of London was living in extreme poverty, facing a daily struggle just to survive. Conscription for the military during the Boer war(1899-1902) showed up another large problem. A very large number of young men were shown to be not fit enough for military service. This indicated poor public health and this was a serious concern to the

However, I do not believe that the working class had the impact that others have claimed. Because politicians were a rich landowning elite and did not have to take into account the electorate or constituent’s opinions as they owned the land their voters lived on. Furthermore, the majority of the MPs were controlled by the trading companies and sadly, like today; the corporations had more power than the people. That aside, they did put pressure on parliament and gave force to the political proponents of abolition.