Chronology: Key Events in Post-war Britain 1951–94

1951 General election victory for the Conservatives.
1951–55 Conservatives govern under premiership of Churchill.
1952 A significant surplus on the balance of payments is achieved.
1953 The end of the Korean War (1).
1955 Churchill resigns and is replaced by Anthony Eden. Hugh Gaitskell takes over from Clement Atlee as leader of the Labour party.
1957 Eden resigns and is replaced by Harold Macmillan.
1959 General election victory for the Conservatives.
1961 Labour party conference endorses support for NATO and a national defence policy based on the possession of nuclear armaments (2).
1963 Macmillan resigns and is replaced by Sir Alec Douglas-Home. Hugh Gaitskell dies and is replaced by Harold Wilson. Philby spy scandal and Profumo Affair are revealed.
1964 General election victory for Labour.
1965 Edward Heath is elected as new leader of the Conservative party.
1966 General election victory for Labour.
1966–70 Labour governs under premiership of Wilson.
1967 Criminal Justices Act, Sexual Offences Act, Abortion Act and Family Planning Act are passed (3).
1968 Commonwealth Immigrations Act is passed.
1969 Representation of the People Act is passed (4).
1970 General election victory for the Conservatives.
1970–74 Conservatives govern under premiership of Heath.
1971 The House of Commons votes in favour of Britain joining the European Economic Community (EEC). The Industrial Relations Act is passed.
1972 Strikes by miners, rail workers and dockers take place. The ‘three-stage’ economic policy is announced (5).
1973 Energy crisis and the introduction of the ‘three-day week’.
1974 Strike by miners takes place. General election victory for Labour.
1974–79 Labour governs under premiership of Wilson (until 1975) and Callaghan.
1975 Margaret Thatcher is elected as new leader of the Conservative party.
1977 Lib–Lab pact is formed (6).
1979 General election victory for the Conservatives.
1979–94 Conservatives govern under premiership of Thatcher (until 1990) and Major.
1980 Employment and Housing Acts are passed.
1984 Trade Union Act is passed (7).
1984–5 Miners’ Strike (8).
1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement (9).
1986 Wapping dispute.
1988 Local Government Finance Act leads to the introduction of the Community Charge (‘Poll Tax’) (10). Education Act is passed.
1990 London riots.
1993 Downing Street declaration (11).
1994 IRA and Loyalist ceasefires are announced.

(1) A war broke out in Korea in June 1950 when the communist North invaded the South. The Labour government decided to support attempts by the USA to intervene and settle the dispute in favour of the South. The war lasted until 1953 and Britain’s military commitment cost in the region of £4,700 million.

(2) By 1961 Gaitskell, the Labour leader, had managed to persuade most of his party to agree to a defence policy that revolved around support for a nuclear-armed North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) defence system. This was a major achievement given that there had been rising support in the party for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).

(3) This legislation was characteristic of an approach designed to create a more equal, free and caring society. It partly became linked with the idea that the decade was the ‘swinging sixties’.

(4) The vote was given to all over the age of 18.

(5) The ‘three-stage’ policy aimed to control prices and incomes using a number of specific measures that were introduced gradually. Although the policy seemed to benefit the economy in general, it was unpopular with the working classes and led to strike action.

(6) An agreement was made between the minority Labour government and the Liberal party to support each other over proposed policy and legislation to do with Europe, devolution, housing and local authorities. It lasted until the summer of 1978.

(7) This act, along with employment legislation passed in 1980 and 1982, severely restricted the power of Trade Unions.

(8) The strike was specifically about the government’s decision to close in 1984 what it called twenty ‘uneconomic pits’. It was more generally concerned with what union leaders such as Arthur Scargill saw as an unjust attack on the rights of ordinary working people. The strike lasted for 362 days and was characterised by a good deal of physical confrontation. The miners eventually voted (narrowly) to go back to work. By 1987, 42 coal pits had been shut down, resulting in substantial localised unemployment and disruption to mining communities.

(9) This was significant in that the agreement provided for a clear structure of involvement for Republicans in the future government of Northern Ireland. It greatly angered the Unionists led by Ian Paisley who claimed that they had been betrayed by Margaret Thatcher.

(10) The Community Charge was very unpopular as it was considered unfair. It led to the formation of an Anti-Poll Tax Association and widespread social unrest. From March 1990 to December 1991, 11 million summonses were issued for non-payment of the tax. Thatcher refused to review the system but its abandonment came not long after she left office.

(11) This built on the agreement of 1985 but was seen as being especially important for laying emphasis on the idea that unity in Northern Ireland could only come about by respecting the ‘consent of the majority of the people of Northern Ireland’. It laid the path for peaceful negotiations to end decades of violent conflict.