Labour Party in power between 1945-1951

Why did the Labour Party perform so well in the 1945 General Election?

• Conservative Party did not understand the needs of ordinary people.
• Churchill was unable to persuade people that he could be relied upon as a domestic politician.
• People still remembered that the Conservatives were unable to manage the economy in the 1930s.
• Conservatives's failed appeasement of Hitler.
• The Labour party were seen as being better at post-war social and economic reconstruction.
• The leading figures of the Labour Party had alot of experience from the war.
• British electoral system was in Labour's favour.
• Voters overlooked Labour's own failings.

Main features of the social security measures under Attlee's government:

• National Insurance Act - everyone had to give a certain amount of money to cover unemployment, sickness, maternity expenses, retirement and widowhood.
• Industrial Injury Act - Provided cover for work place accidents.
• Free medical treatment - National Health Service (NHS)
• Education Act
• Family Allowance Act - 25p for every child given to the mother.

Problems with the NHS:

• Many of the jobs created were managerial and administrative positions.
• The dandruff syndrome - free medical care meant that more people were wasting time and resources on trivial complaints.

The Nationalisation Programme:

• Was the common ownership by the means of production, distribution and exchange - basically government control.
• Government began to take control over fuel and power industries, iron and steel and transport systems such as railways.
• The government did this because they believed it would bring safety, productivity and efficiency to the nation.

Keynesianism:

• Was the belief that economic depression can be avoided if certain steps were done.
• John Keynes who first thought of it - he believed that it was the fall in demand of manufactured products that caused industrial economies to fall into recession, therefore the demands need to be kept high.
• To do this, the theory requires the government to be willing to run deficit budgets, even if that means borrowing money.

Why was Labour experiencing internal disputes over foreign policy?

• Some party members believed that Britain should follow the Soviet Union, Attlee disagreed.
• Left wing Labour members were very socialist, so alliances with USA would reduce the chance of Britain becoming independent in international affairs.
• However, right wing Labour members argued that the Soviets were dangerous and through the US, Britain can be sustained financially.

What was the legacy of the Attlee government between 1945-1951?

• Welfare policies from the Beveridge Report.
• Keynesianism and economic policies.
• Education based on equal opportunities.
• Foreign policies.
• Imperial policies and granting independence.
• "Greatest social revolution."