Britannia 68’:
1955 - 1957: Anthony Eden (Conservative)
1955 (Majority) def. Clement Attlee (Labour), Clement Davies (Liberal)
1957 - 1960: Selwyn Lloyd (Conservative Majority)
1960 - 1963: Hugh Gaitskell (Labour)
1960 (Majority) def. Selwyn Lloyd (Conservative), Jo Grimond (Liberal)
1963 - 1965: George Brown (Labour Majority)
1965 - 1968: Quintin Hogg (Conservative)
1965 (Majority) def. George Brown (Labour), Jo Grimond (Liberal)
1968 - 1969: Reginald Maudling (Conservative Majority)
1969 - : Anthony Crosland (Labour)
1969 (Majority) def. Reginald Maudling (Conservative), Jeremy Thorpe (Liberal), Collective Leadership (Unity)
Britain, 1969;
The ashes of Belfast and Derry still smoulder, the air of Glasgow and Manchester is still quiet even as men prepare to go back to work, in London the remnants of rubber bullets and tear gas canisters are brushed away, alongside broken glass, discarded banners and the occasional blood soaked rag.
The past year has been one of a seeming endless chaos.
Quintin Hogg and Reginald Maudling were not the men to bring a peaceful resolution to the chaos of 68’ - 69’. British troops continued messy engagements in Aden and Malaysia was bad enough, but the sudden and violent end of British Hong Kong would scar the psyche of Britain. The government’s support for the increasingly unpopular Vietnam War didn’t help matters much.
The economic woes didn’t help things, the economy had been overheating since George Brown had stumbled into the Prime Minister’s office. But the inability to call a wage freeze or stop the Unions organising strikes would drag on the Hogg government’s ability to govern. Hogg would try and rabble rouse about ‘enemies within’, but red baiting didn’t particularly work on the masses in this regard.
Britain it seemed would freeze through a series of different and disparate strikes that sprang up across the country. Hogg and Maudling would try and negotiate at various points, but often the police were sent to bluntly keep order.
Hogg would be forced to go, following a brutal crushing of a student demonstration against Vietnam and British Intervention in Biafra, not helping matters was the appearance of several MPs at the rally, including folks ranging from Renee Short to Jo Grimond to Enoch Powell who proceeded to demand Hogg’s head for his inability to seemingly govern.
Comparisons made to the deceased President De Gaulle rattled on, as Hogg would be met by men in grey suits who politely asked for his resignation. Unlike De Gaulle, Hogg didn’t board a helicopter to regroup, instead accepting and moving on.
Maudling, was popular within the party and despite his handling of protests as Home Secretary seemed up for the job. But Labour’s slightly younger leader, seemed capable and charismatic in comparison to the increasingly alcohol dependent Maudling.
Maudling seeing somewhat buoyant numbers thanks to an economy that had paused somewhat on the overheating, he would call an election.
But the mood of discontent lingered, particularly in Northern Ireland which saw various different politicians campaigning on behalf of the so called ‘Unity’ electoral pact. As pogroms flared up in Belfast and Derry and the army was deployed to try and keep order, Maudling was seen as being out of touch of governance, unable to deal with the problems at hand.
In the wake of the aloof and drunken Maudling, Labour swept back into office on a platform of ‘change’.
But it wasn’t to be the change that the students, protestors and strikers had wanted. Anthony Crosland had a mandate and a vision of governance that he wanted to achieve, Social Democracy was to be the cry for the 70s…
Meanwhile in Conservative Party, questions were being asked. It wasn’t their fault that all this happened, some said, it was the fault of students, Communists and protesters and that a firm hand should be applied. And one man who seemed to be able to convey that message is former Home Secretary Airey Neave, a man who seems to have plans for the future.
this is my first attempt to come up with a British Mai 68’ as it were, I would certainly like to go back to this because it’s interesting but I feel like I should read up a bit more on it etc.
