The Conservative revival between 1951 and 1957 reshaped Britain’s post-war politics, fostering economic growth, political consensus, and new debates about prosperity and welfare.
Churchill’s Return to Office (1951–1955)
Winston Churchill, having led Britain through war, returned to power at the age of 77 in October 1951. His leadership in this period was symbolic rather than radical, aiming to reassure the public of stable governance.
Policy Continuity: Churchill accepted the post-war welfare state and the nationalised industries established by Labour. This acceptance underlined the emergence of consensus politics, with both main parties supporting mixed economy principles.
Focus on Foreign Affairs: Churchill’s main interest lay in foreign policy and Cold War diplomacy; domestically, his ministers carried much of the day-to-day administration.
Delegation: As his health declined—suffering a stroke in 1953—Churchill increasingly delegated domestic issues to key figures like Rab Butler (Chancellor of the Exchequer) and Anthony Eden (Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary).
Eden’s Short Premiership (1955–1957)
Anthony Eden succeeded Churchill in April 1955, inheriting a strong economy and electoral popularity.
Early Strength: Eden won a general election soon after taking office, securing a clear Conservative mandate. He promised to continue prosperity and stability.
Domestic Caution: Eden had limited experience with economic affairs. He largely maintained Butler’s economic direction, avoiding major domestic reforms.
Suez Crisis: Eden’s premiership was overshadowed by the disastrous Suez Crisis in 1956, damaging Britain’s international standing and undermining his authority at home. His handling of Suez accelerated his resignation in January 1957.
Macmillan and the Continuation of Consensus
Following Eden’s resignation, Harold Macmillan became Prime Minister. Known for his political pragmatism, Macmillan skilfully blended Conservative leadership with the maintenance of the post-war settlement.
‘Never Had It So Good’: Macmillan captured the spirit of rising prosperity with his famous 1957 declaration. He promised to balance economic growth with social stability.
Policy Continuity: He continued ‘stop-go’ economic management and maintained commitment to the welfare state, symbolising high consensus politics.
Conservative Economic Management
Consumer Boom and Rising Living Standards
One of the hallmarks of Conservative rule during this period was the dramatic increase in consumer spending.
Wages and Credit: Wages rose steadily and consumer credit expanded, enabling more people to purchase household goods such as televisions, washing machines, and cars.
Housing Expansion: The Conservatives promised to build 300,000 houses a year—a target generally met, improving living conditions and home ownership.
Symbol of Affluence: Ownership of consumer goods became a visible symbol of the so-called ‘Affluent Society’.
Inflation and the ‘Stop-Go’ Cycle
Despite consumer prosperity, economic management faced persistent challenges.
Inflation Control: Rising wages and spending risked inflation, requiring government intervention to cool the economy.
‘Stop-Go’ Policy: To manage this, the government used interest rate rises and spending cuts to ‘stop’ overheating, then relaxed controls to ‘go’ when economic slowdown threatened.
Criticism: This cycle led to inconsistent growth, periodic unemployment spikes, and scepticism among economists about Britain’s competitiveness.
Balancing Growth and Stability
The Conservatives aimed to maintain economic expansion while avoiding the crises that plagued pre-war Britain.
Exports and Imports: Britain ran trade deficits due to high imports driven by consumer demand, which periodically strained the balance of payments.
Sterling Crises: Frequent currency pressures revealed the fragility of Britain’s financial position in the global economy.
Labour’s Weaknesses and Divisions
Internal Factionalism
While the Conservatives enjoyed relative unity, the Labour Party struggled with ideological splits.
Bevanites vs. Gaitskellites: The Labour left, led by Aneurin Bevan, clashed with the right under Hugh Gaitskell over issues like rearmament and welfare spending.
Nuclear Policy: Disagreements over Britain’s nuclear weapons programme deepened divisions, with some advocating unilateral disarmament.
Foreign Policy Disputes
Labour’s handling of foreign affairs further exposed rifts.
Colonial Policy: Disputes arose over the pace of decolonisation and attitudes towards American influence during the Cold War.
Suez Stance: Although Eden’s handling of Suez damaged the Conservatives, Labour’s response was divided and failed to capitalise fully on government mismanagement.
Electoral Impact
These internal quarrels made Labour appear disunited and out of touch with the electorate’s focus on material prosperity.
Loss of Momentum: Many voters associated Labour with austerity and rationing from the late 1940s.
Conservative Advantage: The Conservatives projected an image of modernity and competence, benefiting from the public’s desire for continuity and rising living standards.
The Rise of Consensus Politics
Acceptance of the Welfare State
A defining feature of the 1950s was the broad political consensus between Conservatives and Labour on the fundamentals of Britain’s post-war society.
Beveridge Principles: Both parties supported the welfare state framework rooted in the Beveridge Report, ensuring universal healthcare, education, and social security.
No Reversal: There was no attempt to reverse Labour’s nationalisations of key industries like coal, railways, or steel.
Mixed Economy Endorsement
The idea of a mixed economy—with both private enterprise and significant state involvement—was widely accepted.
Private Sector Growth: While industry and finance remained largely in private hands, strategic sectors stayed under public control.
Economic Planning: Governments used Keynesian principles to intervene in the economy to smooth out booms and busts.
Shared Priorities
Both major parties prioritised:
Full Employment: Policies aimed to keep unemployment low, a stark contrast to the mass joblessness of the interwar years.
Rising Incomes: Wage growth was tolerated to maintain industrial peace and consumer confidence.
Social Stability: By ensuring rising living standards, consensus politics helped reduce class tensions and radical alternatives.
By 1957, the Conservative Party had successfully positioned itself as the steward of economic growth and social consensus. The era’s prosperity reinforced public trust in moderate politics and framed debates for decades to come. While economic challenges like inflation and balance of payments issues persisted, the commitment to rising affluence and shared prosperity defined the spirit of the age. The leadership transitions from Churchill to Eden and Macmillan demonstrated a continuity of vision, ensuring the Conservative dominance of the 1950s. Labour’s inability to adapt to this new landscape left it struggling to present a coherent alternative until the 1960s. The legacy of this period was a deeply rooted political consensus that would influence British politics until the challenges of the 1970s began to unravel it.
FAQ
Conservative housing policy played a vital role in consolidating public support and demonstrating the party’s commitment to improving everyday life. After years of post-war housing shortages and substandard accommodation, the Conservatives pledged to build 300,000 new houses annually—a target largely met under Churchill and Eden. This promise responded directly to public demand for better living conditions, especially among young families and returning servicemen. By expanding both public and private house building, they facilitated a boom in home ownership, which symbolised economic security and social mobility. Home ownership rose from about 29% in 1951 to over 40% by the late 1950s, reflecting the broadening ‘property-owning democracy’. This success story gave many families their first gardens and modern amenities like indoor bathrooms, linking the Conservative Party to rising living standards. Such tangible improvements contrasted favourably with the memory of Labour’s post-war austerity, bolstering Conservative electoral appeal and reinforcing the narrative of national recovery.
Rab Butler, as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1951 to 1955, was a key architect of Conservative economic policy and instrumental in managing Britain’s fragile post-war economy. Known for his pragmatic and moderate approach, Butler accepted the need for government intervention to maintain full employment and avoid a return to interwar depression levels. He introduced measures to stimulate demand and boost consumer confidence, which fed into the wider narrative of affluence. Butler oversaw tax cuts and increased spending to encourage growth but also had to rein in inflationary pressures when the economy overheated. His policies laid the foundations for the ‘stop-go’ cycles, balancing growth with periodic restraint through higher interest rates or spending cuts. He was also influential in maintaining consensus politics by resisting calls from within the Conservative Party for sweeping cuts to the welfare state. Butler’s blend of Keynesian economics and Conservative caution made him pivotal in sustaining both economic expansion and political stability during the early 1950s.
Consensus politics in the 1950s reinforced a sense of national unity and common purpose, influencing social attitudes towards welfare, class, and economic progress. The acceptance by both major parties of the welfare state meant citizens could rely on universal healthcare, education, and social security, which fostered feelings of social security and collective responsibility. This broad agreement reduced the ideological polarisation seen in earlier decades, promoting moderation and dampening support for extreme political alternatives. The emphasis on rising living standards encouraged aspirations towards home ownership and material comfort, contributing to the development of a more consumer-oriented and individualistic society. Social mobility was perceived to be increasing, with more working-class families able to purchase household appliances, cars, and better housing. However, consensus politics also papered over deep-seated inequalities; while prosperity rose, the benefits were unevenly distributed. Yet, the shared commitment to a mixed economy and welfare provision reassured the public that the state would act as a safety net, shaping a more optimistic and less radical political culture.
Britain’s economic fortunes during 1951–1957 were significantly influenced by international developments, highlighting the vulnerabilities of an economy still recovering from the Second World War. Firstly, Britain remained heavily dependent on trade with the Commonwealth and the United States, making its balance of payments sensitive to global market fluctuations. The Korean War (1950–1953) drove up raw material costs, increasing import prices and straining currency reserves. Additionally, maintaining the value of the pound sterling was vital to Britain’s role as a global financial centre, but recurrent trade deficits frequently threatened the currency’s stability, triggering ‘sterling crises’. Britain’s commitment to defend its empire and participate actively in Cold War conflicts, like Korea and Suez, also drained financial resources that could have been invested domestically. US loans and aid under the Marshall Plan had ended, making Britain more exposed to international market forces. These external pressures complicated the Conservatives’ efforts to balance growth and inflation control, necessitating the repeated ‘stop-go’ adjustments in policy to cope with economic shocks beyond their control.
Media and advertising were crucial in shaping and amplifying Britain’s burgeoning consumer culture during the Conservative revival. The rapid spread of television ownership transformed how people consumed information and entertainment, with iconic events like the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 boosting TV sales. Commercial advertising, increasingly visible in newspapers, cinemas, and on billboards, promoted new household products, cars, and fashionable goods, enticing consumers to aspire to modern lifestyles. Hire purchase agreements and easy credit enabled families to buy items that had previously been luxuries. Brands cultivated loyalty and status, turning washing machines, refrigerators, and televisions into symbols of post-war affluence. The Conservative government indirectly benefitted from this consumer boom as rising standards of living became associated with their economic management. The media’s portrayal of a comfortable, modern Britain reassured voters that post-war hardships were receding. Ultimately, the fusion of mass media, advertising, and credit expansion was instrumental in embedding a culture of consumerism that defined 1950s Britain and underpinned the political success of the Conservatives.
Practice Questions
To what extent did Conservative economic policy between 1951 and 1957 achieve prosperity without instability?
Conservative economic policy from 1951 to 1957 succeeded in promoting consumer prosperity through rising wages, home ownership, and expanded credit, underpinning the image of an ‘Affluent Society’. However, this prosperity was fragile due to persistent inflationary pressures and repeated balance of payments crises. The reliance on ‘stop-go’ measures exposed weaknesses in sustaining stable growth. While Macmillan and predecessors ensured short-term affluence and social contentment, structural economic problems were only papered over, not resolved. Therefore, Conservative policy achieved notable prosperity but failed to eliminate the recurring economic instability that would challenge Britain in subsequent decades.
Explain why the Labour Party struggled to challenge the Conservatives effectively between 1951 and 1957.
Labour struggled to present a credible challenge to the Conservatives between 1951 and 1957 mainly due to internal ideological divisions and public perception. Bitter disputes between Bevanites and Gaitskellites weakened party unity, particularly over nuclear policy and spending priorities. Many voters also associated Labour with post-war austerity and rationing, contrasting with Conservative promises of rising living standards and economic modernisation. Additionally, the Conservatives adeptly adopted consensus politics, supporting the welfare state Labour had built, leaving few clear policy differences. These factors combined left Labour appearing divided and outdated, helping secure continued Conservative dominance.
