Britain and Consensus Politics, 1945-1955 : Myth or Reality?

Abstract

This study lies within the framework of the years 1945-1955, which correspond to Clement Attlee’s Labourite and Winston Churchill’s Conservative administrations. Many analysts claim that, after World War II, a tacit political and economic agreement was established. Soon dissenting voices from the so-called anti-consensualists arose in the historiographical debate. These two schools of thought are compared in the first part of this work. The objective is to demonstrate, by means of an analysis of their speeches and the proposals of their respective political parties, that the ideological differences hindered a total agreement. These primary sources are examined from several perspectives. The main emphasis of this study falls on the ideology as a distinctive element and its influence on other fields such as education, the welfare system or the economy. The results reveal a lack of consensus based on their opposite political cultures.