Post-war consensus was a myth. Discuss.

This essay hasn't yet been marked by one of our teachers

You can view 3 essays on 1950-1999 that have been Marked by Teachers

The first 200 words of this essay...

'Post-war consensus was a myth'. Discuss.

In 1945 Clement Attlee was elected Prime Minister of Great Britain. In the ensuing years, certain historians believe that there was a political consensus, a debate which was laid out by Paul Addison in 1975.1 However other historians such as Harriet Jones have disagreed with this and argue that this post-war political consensus was a myth. Other historians such as Kavanagh and Morris have defined consensus as "a high level of agreement at both elite and popular levels".2 This essay will argue that there was consensus among the British political elite, however, it will also argue that, at 'popular levels' there is the view that a consensus between these supporters of the conservative and labour parties did not exist.

The argument that post-war consensus was a myth is supported by the differences between their policies, as seen in the 1950's election manifestos. In 1950 the Labour party were pursuing a policy of nationalisation of key industries within the British economy, for example the coal, electric and steel sectors. This is clearly stated in their manifesto with their defence of this policy arguing that "in 1949 output was 28 million tonnes