The Age of Consensus

The Age of Consensus

(1945–1979)

The decades after the end of World War II were a time of cultural

vitality and increasing pluralism. On the political side the era saw

the formation of the welfare state, which attracted support from all

parties but eventually also became the target of criticism. The period

also saw the decolonization of nearly all of the British Empire and the

weakening of key sectors of the British economy. Suppressed populations

within Britain—Scottish and Welsh nationalists, Catholics in

Northern Ireland, immigrants, people of color, sexual minorities, and

women—increasingly began to make their voices heard.

Postwar Britain

Although the Allied victory had brought much rejoicing, Britain

faced numerous problems after the war, both internally and externally.

The war’s expense was a major concern: Britain had used up all

of its foreign reserves of currency and had to borrow immense sums

of money from the United States. After the glow of victory wore off,

life was drab, food rationing was still in force, and there seemed few

economic opportunities. In the years following 1945, many Britons

who could afford to do so emigrated to Australia, Canada, or the

United States.

Many in Britain expected that the general election in 1945—the first

in 10 years, called after victory in Europe—would be a triumph for the

Conservatives and for their leader, the great wartime prime minister

Winston Churchill (1874–1965). Instead it was a landslide victory

for the Labour Party under Churchill’s wartime deputy, Clement Atlee

(1883–1967), who became the new prime minister. Labour won 394

seats to the Conservatives’ 210, a nearly 2-to-1 majority that ensured

Labour would govern with few political checks.

The reasons for the Labour victory were many. While Churchill

remained personally popular, many continued to hold the Conservative

Party responsible for the economic and diplomatic errors of the 1930s.

In addition,...