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Defeat and the Coming of Mrs Thatcher
Thus spoke Mr Heath, in the opening shot of the General Election campaign. This appeal was to remain the central theme of the Tory campaign right up to polling day on 28 February. But on the very same day he d...
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Chapter
The National Government 1931–1939
While Baldwin was warding off attacks from within his own ranks, the Labour Government was drifting slowly on to the rocks. In 1930 and 1931 the international economic order of the 1920s, itself a futile attem...
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Chapter
The Way Back, 1966–1970
After the protracted agony with Macmillan and Home, no one was anxious to reopen the leadership question. The party now had time to settle down to a long haul. It had, if nothing else, plenty of time to think....
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Chapter
1940–1945
After Neville Chamberlain’s spectacular rejection by the Commons in May 1940, Churchill became Prime Minister, but he did not succeed to the leadership of the Conservative party until shortly before Chamberlai...
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Chapter
Return to Power, 1951
The Conservatives were destined to win the next two General Elections with increased majorities, and to rule continuously for thirteen years. But on taking office in October 1951, such a prospect seemed remote...
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Chapter
1924
In the aftermath of defeat, two developments took place in the Tory party: protection, as we have seen, was dropped from the party programme, and the Coalitionists were brought into the Shadow Cabinet. As alwa...
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Chapter
The Tory Crisis, 1929–1931
In the wake of defeat it is not surprising if politicians who have been rejected consider the question of their party leadership. But what happened between 1929 and 1930 was far more than the grumbling of a de...
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Chapter
Home to Heath, 1964–1966
The move from Government into Opposition is always hard, but especially for Conservatives, who consider themselves to be the natural party of Government. Moreover, after thirteen years in office the senior fig...
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Chapter
Conservative Policy in the 1930s
The 1930s were hardly the most heroic decade in Britain’s history. It is clear that the politicians in power failed to deal successfully with the major problems confronting the nation — though there is no reas...
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Chapter
The Trials of Edward Heath, 1970–1974
The premiership of Edward Heath will always remain controversial. The 1970s were a hard time for British governments, particularly in industrial and economic matters. Heath found himself confronted with the en...
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Chapter
The General Election of 1945
Early in 1945 it became clear that the Coalition Government was drawing to a close as the Allies marched on to victory. Churchill himself was in favour of continuing the Coalition until the final surrender of ...
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Chapter
The Turn of the Tide, 1950–1953
On 10 January 1950 Attlee announced the dissolution of Parliament. Churchill was on holiday in Madeira at the time, but he returned and was in command on 12 January. The Labour manifesto, Let us Win through Toget...
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Chapter
1922–1923
Although the Conservatives fought the General Election of 1922 as a separate party, they did not fight it as a united party. Austen Chamberlain, Balfour, Birkenhead and several others were all still outside Bo...
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Chapter
Sir Alec Douglas-Home
From his sick-bed, Macmillan was determined to play an active part in the selection of his successor. His initial choice appears to have been Hailsham, which was surprising in view of the manner in which he ha...
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Opposition, 1945–1951
In retrospect the period 1945–51 has acquired something of the aura of a heroic age in the history of the Conservative party. The party was in its worst position since 1906, faced with a powerful and undeniabl...
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Chapter
1918–1922
In 1918 the Conservative party was the major party in the Coalition Government — the Liberals being split — but the state was controlled by the Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, who held a position in Britis...
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Chapter
Macmillan in Power
The procedure adopted for selection of the leader in 1957 was almost fortuitous. It has been amply documented by those who took part in it. A discussion took place between Lord Kilmuir (Lord Chancellor) and Lo...
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Article
The new class and the left
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Chapter
Introduction
The first point to be made about the British Conservative party is that it is a coalition. It is not the party of a single class, nor does it represent a single, galvanising political idea. There are, it is tr...
