History

[byrnesix]

What were the future policies of the Tory party in the 1945 election? How did their policies differ from the winning Labour party? Would they have stood a better chance of winning if Churchill had passed the party leadership to Anthony Eden, saying he (Churchill)had done enough for the country?

[Octavius]

Here is a site which may be of use:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote20 01/in_depth/election_battles/1945_over.stm

[byrnesix]

Thank you Octavius. Very useful. I am trying to figure out what sort of country we would have today if the Tories had won in 1945 and then lost power in 1951.

[jno]

in the long run it might not have made that much difference. Labour brought in various social changes - NHS, privatisations - that were in large part done away with under Thatcher. (The NHS may be one of the few survivors.) I think the big driver of change in our lives has been technology, especially over recent years, rather than politics.

[Narolines]

Jno, I think you meant "nationalisations", didn't you?

[byrnesix]

Thank you for all your comments. I have found Answerbank absorbing (but taking up too much time!) I have written to the AB section suggesting a topic of politics and posing the question "Do we really need to have the Houses of Parliament in London". I suggested that somewhere mid-country like Uttoxeter would be a good spot!