Britain in the Second Half of the 20th Century

A Conservative government returned to power in 1951 under Winston Churchill. The Conservatives accepted most of the changes the Labour Party had made. By 1955, rationing and most other wartime controls had ended. Industry was thriving, jobs were plentiful, and wages were good. Churchill retired in 1955, and Sir Anthony Eden succeeded him as prime minister. Eden resigned in 1957, and Harold Macmillan succeeded him.

The economy continued to expand until the early 1960s. Hoping to improve the economy, the government applied for membership of the European Economic Community. By joining the EEC, Macmillan hoped the UK would be able to expand its export trade. But in January 1963, the UK's application was rejected, largely because of opposition from French President Charles de Gaulle. The rejection was a defeat for Macmillan. The 1964 election brought the Labour Party back to power under Harold Wilson.

In 1965 Parliament adopted a five-year national plan of economic recovery. This plan was based on encouraging monopoly development. Wilson’s government also lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. But at the same time the Labour government maintained a typical wage-freeze policy which led to wide-scale industrial unrest.

The government faced mounting economic problems. The UK was importing far more goods than it was exporting, and its industrial growth rate was too slow. The country's financial reserves shrank, and it had to borrow more and more money from other countries and international agencies. In 1966, the government began an austerityprogramme by increasing taxes and putting a ceiling on wages and prices. In October 1967, the UK was again rejected for membership of the EEC. In November, the government devalued the pound in response to the serious economic situation.

Modern Britain

On this background, the Conservatives won the elections of 1970, and Edward Heath formed the new Tory government. In 1971, agreement was reached on terms for the UK's entry into the EEC. The UK joined the EEC in 1973. However, continuing inflation, fuel shortages, strikes, and other matters caused serious problems for the Conservative government. In home policy, Heath decided to show his firm hand by a dramatic confrontation with miners. As a result, the Tories lost the 1974 general election.

Elections in 1974 brought the Labour Party back to power, and Harold Wilson again became prime minister. In 1976. James Callaghan succeeded him as prime minister and as leader of the Labour Party.

The new Labour government of Wilson – Callaghan took some positive measures: the miners received a wage increase; the full working week was restored. The Labour government managed to disguise the old policies by proposing a “voluntary” wage-freeze policy called the Social Contract. This led to a fall of Labour support.

Long-standing conflicts between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland became a serious problem during the late 1960's and the 1970's. In 1969, the government began sending troops to Northern Ireland to try to stop riots from occurring. But the violence continued. The UK Parliament at Westminster established direct rule over the country at various times.

Some people in Scotland and Wales demanded complete independence from the UK for their countries. In March 1979, the UK government allowed the people of Scotland and Wales to vote on the question of whether they should have their own legislatures. The voters in both countries failed to approve the establishment of the legislatures. The process under which Scotland and Wales would have received more control over their affairs is called devolution.

Elections held in May 1979 returned the Conservatives to power. Margaret Thatcher replaced Callaghan as prime minister. She became the first woman ever to hold the office. She headed the cabinet for more than 10 years. The government’s economic policy was focused on encouraging private enterprise and de-nationalization. As prime minister, Thatcher worked to reduce government involvement in the economy. The introduction of the poll tax in 1989 met overwhelming opposition in the country.

In April 1982, Argentine troops invaded and occupied the disputed Falkland Islands. British and Argentine forces fought air, sea, and land battles for control of the Falkland Islands. The Argentine forces surrendered in June 1982.

Meanwhile, the Liberal Party briefly allied with a Labour administration in 1978. In 1982, the Liberals formed an electoral alliance with a new party carved out of the Labour Party's right wing. This was the Social Democratic Party. In 1987, the Liberals and Social Democrats agreed to terms for merging the two parties. In 1990, the new party was named the Liberal Democrats.

In November 1990, Thatcher resigned as Conservative Party leader and prime minister. John Major succeeded her in both positions. In August 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. In early 1991, UK forces took part in the allied bombing of Iraqi military targets and in the ground offensive to liberate Kuwait.

Present-Day Britain

The economic policy of Great Britain in the 1990swas characterized by the strategy of economic regulation, which promoted the victory of the Conservatives in the general election in 1992. The cabinet headed by John Major continued the economic and social policies traditional for this party. This led to a fall of the Conservatives.

In 1997, Britain’s opposition Labour party routed the ruling Conservative party in the national election, and its leader Tony Blair replaced Major as head of the government. He became Britain’s youngest Prime Minister since 1812, ending 18 years of Tory rule since 1979. Blair repeated his success in the general election of 2002.

As Prime Minister Tony Blair presided over an optimistic first term in which Devolution brought self-governing powers to both Scotland and Wales, reversing control from London. The late 1990s and into the millennium saw an increased celebration of British culture in its myriad of aspects from the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations of 2002 to huge programmes of urban renewal of the long neglected industrial cities of the north, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and Glasgow, making them the great cities of culture they are today.

On 27 June 2007, the new Prime Minister Gordon Brown replaced Blair. Brown is the first prime minister from a Scottish constituency since 1964. He is also one of only five prime ministers who attended a university other than Oxford or Cambridge. Brown has proposed moving some traditional prime ministerial powers to the realm of Parliament, such as the power to declare war and approve appointments to senior positions. He has also proposed moving some powers from Parliament to citizens, including the right to form "citizens' juries", easily petition Parliament for new laws, and rally outside Westminster.

Brown was committed to the Iraq War, but said in a speech in June 2007 that he would "learn the lessons" from the mistakes made in Iraq. Brown said in a letter published on 17 March 2008 that the United Kingdom will hold an inquiry into the Iraq war.

In a speech in July 2007, Brown personally clarified his position regarding Britain's relationship with the USA: "We will not allow people to separate us from the United States of America in dealing with the common challenges that we face around the world."

In the local elections on 1 May 2008, Labour suffered their worst results in 40 years. Gordon Brown was quoted in the press as having said that the results were "a painful defeat for Labour".

As for the domestic policies, the Labour government admitted that the recession had been deeper than predicted, but claimed that the government's action to pump money into the economy had made a "real difference" to families and businesses. Later the year of 2009, a number of measures to help economic recovery were announced, including a public sector pay freeze, a levy on bank bonuses and a package of measures to help the unemployed.

The country's leading economic think tank forecasts that with spending on health and education protected, the areas most likely to face severe cuts are defence, housing, transport and higher education. Moreover, it is estimated that the cost to each individual family of paying back the national debt will be £2,400 a year for eight years.