'We like local patriotism': The conservative party and the discourse of decentralisation, 1947-51

English Historical Review

Volumn 122, Issue 498, 2007, Pages 965-984

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EID: 41949104944     PISSN: 00138266     EISSN: 14774534     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/ehr/cem254     Document Type: Review

References (177)

1. J. Mitchell, Conservatives and the Union: A Study of Conservative Parly Attitudes to Scotland (Edinburgh, 1990), 27;
2. R. Hnlay, A Partnership for Good? Scottish Politics and the Union since 1880 (Edinburgh, 1997), 138-40.
3. K. O. Morgan, Wales, 1880-1980: Rebirth of a Nation (Cardiff, 1981), 379.
4. B. Schwarz, 'The Tide of History. The Reconstruction of Conservatism, 1945-51', in Nick Tiratsoo (ed.), The Attlee Years (London, 1991), 156;
5. A. B. Philip, The Welsh Question: Nationalism in Welsh Politics, 1945-70 (Cardiff, 1975), 295-7;
6. J. Kellas, 'The Party in Scotland' in A. Seldon and S. Ball (ed.), Conservative Century: The Conservative Party since 1900 (Oxford, 1994), 677-9;
7. J. Ramsden, The Age of Churchill and Eden, 1940-1957 (London, 1995), 245-6.
8. J. Ramsden, The Making of Conservative Party Policy: The Conservative Research Department since 1929 (London, 1980);
9. A. Seldon, Churchill's Indian Summer: The Conservative Government, 1951-55 (London, 1981);
10. Ramsden, Age of Churchill and Eden; A. Seldon and S. Ball (ed.), Conservative Century: The Conservative Partysince 1900 (Oxford, 1994);
11. M. Francis and I. Zweiniger-Bargielowska, The Conservatives and British Society, 1880-1990 (Cardiff, 1996);
12. H. Jones and M. Kandiah (ed.), The Myth of Consensus: New Views on British History, 1945-64 (London, 1996);
13. M. Durham, 'Defeat and Renewal: The Ideology of the Right' in J. Fyrth (ed.), Labour's Promised Land: Culture and Society in Labour Britain, 1945-51 (London, 1995), 100-11;
14. H. Jones, 'New Conservatism? The Industrial Charter, Modernity and the Reconstruction of British Conservatism after the War', in B. Conekin, F. Mort and C. Waters (ed.), Moments of Modernity: Reconstructing Britain, 1945-1964 (London, 1999), 171-88;
15. E. H. H. Green, 'Thatcherism: An Historical Perspective', TRHS, 6th ser., ix (1999), 17-42;
16. D. Willens, 'The New Conservatism? 1945-1951', in S. Ball and A. Seldon (ed.), Recovering Power: The Conservatives in Opposition since 1867 (Palgrave, 2005) 169-91;
17. R. Weight, Patriots: National Identity in Britain, 1940-2000 (London, 2002), 170-4.
18. For a European parallel, V. A Schmidt, Democratizing France: The Political and Administrative History of Decentralization (Cambridge, 1991).
19. R. McKibbin, 'Class and Conventional Wisdom: The Conservative Party and the "Public" in Inter-War Britain' in his The Ideologies of Class: Social Relations in Britain, 1880-1950 (Oxford, 1990), 271-5, 280, 292-3;
20. R. McKibbin, Classes and Cultures: England 1918-1951 (Oxford, 1998), 204.
21. Such themes were regularly treated in The Elector, a monthly leaflet produced by the Party from 1924 to 1938,
22. and statements such as Election Notes for Conservative Speakers and Workers: General Election, 1931 (Westminster, 1931).
23. See N. R. McCrillis, The British Conservative Party in the Age of Universal Suffrage: Popular Conservatism, 1918-1929 (Columbus, Ohio, 1998), 76-8.
24. For traditional Tory hostility to Socialism: M. Cowling, The Impact of Labour: The Beginning of Modern British Politics (Cambridge, 1971), 168, 216-17, 416;
25. E. H. H. Green, Ideologies of Conservatism: Conservative Political Ideas in the Twentieth Century (Oxford, 2002), 119-24.
26. For the impact of ¡nterwar propaganda: D. Jarvis, 'British Conservatism and Class Politics in the 1920s', ante, cxi (1996), 59-84;
27. D. Jarvis, 'The Shaping of Conservative Electoral Hegemony, 1918-39', in J. Lawrence and M. Taylor (ed.), Party, State and Society: Electoral Behaviour in Britain since 1820 (Aldershot, 1997), 131-52;
28. P. Williamson, 'The Doctrinal Politics of Stanley Baldwin', in M. Bentley (ed.), Public and Private Doctrine (Cambridge, 1993), 181-208.
29. For wider cultural perspectives: T. Shaw, 'Early Warnings of the Red Peril: A Pre-History of Cold War British Cinema, 1917-1939', Film History, xiv (2002), 354-69;
30. M. Paris, 'Red Menace! Russia and British Juvenile Fiction', Contemporary British History, xix (June 2005), 117-32.
31. J. Ramsden, The Making of Conservative Party Policy: The Conservative Research Department since 1929 (London, 1980), 135-41.
32. The Right Road for Britain: The Conservative Party's Statement of Policy (London, 1949), 8, 65.
33. This Is the Road: The Conservative and Unionist Party's Policy, General Election 1950 (London, 1950), 14;
34. J. Barnes, 'Ideology and Factions', in Seldon and Ball, eds., Conservative Century, 326;
35. H. Jones, 'A Bloodless Counter-Revolution: The Conservative Party and the Defence of Inequality, 1945-51' in Jones and Kandish, eds., Myth of Consensus, 10-11.
36. Q. Hogg, The Case for Conservatism (West Drayton, 1947), 62.
37. In Scotland, the Conservatives and their allies polled over 40 per cent of the vote, but won only twenty-seven of the seventy-one seats; in Wales, 24 per cent of the votes yielded just four MPs, barely one-tenth of the total. F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Statistics, 1918-1970 (2nd edn, Chichester, 1971), 12-13.
38. Philip, Welsh Question, 74;
39. R. J. Finlay, Independent and Free. Scottish Politics and the Origins of the Scottish National Party, 1918-1945 (Edinburgh, 1994);
40. R. J. Finlay, 'Pressure Group or Political Party? The Nationalist Impact on Scottish Politics, 1928-1945', 20th Century British History, iii (1992), 274-97.
41. Philip, Welsh Question, 210;
42. J. Mitchell, Strategies for Self-Government. The Campaigns for a Scottish Parliament (Edinburgh, 1996), 85-97;
43. Bodleian Library [Bod. Lib.], Conservative Party Archive [CPA], SUMC1/47, 'Scottish National Convention'. A set of questions drawn up by J. N. Browne for consideration by the SUMC (n.d., June 1950).
44. S. Ball, 'The National and Regional Party Structure', in Seldon and Ball, eds., Conservative Century, 205-7.
45. Kellas, 'Party in Scotland', 675-90; I. G. C. Hutchinson, 'Scottish Unionism Between the Two World Wars', in C. M. MacDonald (ed.), Unionist Scotland, 1800-1997 (Edinburgh, 1998), 73-99;
46. G. Ward-Smith, 'Baldwin and Scotland: More than Englishness', Contemporary British History, xv (2001), 61-82.
47. By 1939, the Scottish Office had oversight of education, agriculture, health, and law and order, and Scotland was represented by a Secretary of State with a seat in Cabinet and two undersecretaries. Mitchell, Conservatives and the Union, 17-25;
48. Finlay, A Partnership for Good?, in-12, for the limits of this apparent devolution.
49. J. Barnes and R. Cockett, 'The Making of Party Policy', in Seldon and Ball (ed.), Conservative Century, 347-8.
50. Ramsden, The Making of Conservative Party Policy: The Conservative Research Department since 1929 (London, 1981), 122-3;
51. R- Shepherd, Iain Macleod (London, 1994), 42-7.
52. F. Aubel, 'The Conservatives in Wales, 1880-1935', in Francis and Zweiniger-Bargielowska, eds., Conservatives and British Society, 96-110;
53. M. Cragoe, 'Conservatives, "Englishness" and "Civic Nationalism" between the wars', in D. Tanner and C. Willliams, eds., Debating the Nation (Manchester, forthcoming).
54. A. Roth, Enoch Powell: Tory Tribune (London, 1970), 54-5.
55. Scotsman, 14 Dec. 1946, 'Unionist MPs "Watchdogs of Westminster"'.
56. Bod. Lib., CPA, SUMC 1/46, J. M. MacCormick to Sir A. S. L. Young, 8 Jan. 1946; [unknown] to Lt-Cmdr G. I. Clark Hutchison, 'Statement issued to the Press' (15 May 1946).
57. Bod. Lib., CPA, SUMC, 1/15, Memorandum on the Administration of Scottish Affairs, 25 Oct. 1945, enclosed with letter of Sir Basil Neven-Spence to Sir W Churchill, 24 Mar. 1947.
58. Bod. Lib., CPA, SUMC 1/15, 'Scottish Local Government: Memorandum of the Problem of Past-War Reconstruction', published by the Scottish Unionist Association, 1944 [typescript] Docketed 14 Apr. 1944. SUMC, I/II, [J. R. Hutchison?] to Winston Churchill, 24 Mar. 1947.
59. Bod. Lib., CPA, SUMC 4, Minutes of SUMC meetings, 5, 12 Apr., 3, 17, 31 May 1949.
60. For the special circumstances surrounding this contest, M. Dyer, '"A Nationalist in the Churchillian Sense": J. MacCormick, the Paisley By-Election of 18 February 1948, Home Rule and the Crisis in Scottish Liberalism', Parliamentary History, xxii (2003), 285-307.
61. Bod. Lib., CPA, SUMC1/51, Minutes of SUMC meetings, 15 Feb. 1949, section I.
62. Scotsman, 2 June 1949.
63. Mitchell, Conservatives and the Union, 27.
64. Bod. Lib., CPA, SUMC 4, Minutes of SUMC meetings, 15 Nov. 1949;
65. SUMC 4, Minutes of SUMC meetings, 6 Dec. 1949, 'Report on Special Conference held in Glasgow'.
66. Seldon, Churchill's Indian Summer, 130.
67. Glasgow Herald, 29 Nov. 1949, 5f, 'Unionist Policy on Scots Devolution'.
68. Glasgow Herald, 29 Nov. 1949, 4, [29 Nov. 1949, 4,] 'A Policy for Scotland'.
69. Bod. Lib, CPA, AP 1/3, 'Advisory Committee on Policy and Political Education', [date?], item 4.
70. Western Mail, 18 Aug. 1945, 'Our London Letter: Fight for Welsh Office May be Won';
71. K. O. Morgan, 'Power and Glory: War and Reconstruction, 1939-1951', in D. Tanner, C. Williams and D. Hopkin (ed.), The Labour Party in Wales, 1900-2000 (Cardiff, 2000), 180;
72. I. Levitt, 'The Origins of the Scottish Development Department, 1943-1962', Scottish Affairs, xiv (1996), 44-5.
73. Those promoting this line included the Liberals, of course: Western Mail, 30 Sept. 1946, 'Subsidiary Parliament for Wales'; Western Mail, 11 Dec. 1946, 'Our London Letter';
74. Western Mail, 27 Jan. 1947, 'Welsh Liberal Attack on Socialist Programme'.
75. Ramsden, Age of Churchill and Eden, 155;
76. Western Mail, 19 May 1947, 'Eden: Conservatives are the Freedom Planners'.
77. Western Mail, 22 July 1947, 'Conservatives and Policy for Wales'. The Charter was discussed and approved by many other local Conservative Associations over the summer, including that at Denbigh: Ramsden, Age of Balfour and Baldwin, 156.
78. Western Mail, 22 Sept. 1947, '"Real Hope" Policy for Wales Plea to Conservatives';
79. Western Mail, 6 Oct. 1947, 'Conservatives to Formulate Policy for Wales'.
80. Bod. Lib., CPA, CCO, 4/2/183, S. Pierssene to H. Hopkinson, 22 Jan. 1949;
81. E. Powell to W. V. Weak, 17 Aug. 1948;
82. Western Mail, 17 Jan. 1948, 'Vital to Preserve Farms of Wales';
83. Western Mail, 3 May 1948, 'New Tory Policy for Wales May Follow Brigadier's Tour'.
84. Bod. Lib., CPA, CCo, 4/2/183, 'Report on Rural Wales', typescript dated 20 Jan. 1948, 9-10, para. 19.
85. A. Howard, RAB: The Life of R. A. Butler (London, 1987), 151-60;
86. Ramsden, Age of Churchill and Eden, 143-6.
87. Hansard, 5th ser., vol. 446, cc. 692-6 (26 Jan. 1948).
88. Bod. Lib.; CPA, CCO, 4/21/183, H. Hopkins to S. Pierssene, 21 Jan. 1948.
89. Philip, Welsh Question, 295.
90. Western Mail, i Mar. 1949, letter of H. Raymond Gower, PPC Ogmore Division, 'Tory Policy for Wales'.
91. There were some who opposed the Welsh 'Charter' on the grounds that it fostered Welsh nationalism: Western Mail, 5 Mar. 1949, letter of Lord Merthyr, Saundersfoot: 'Lord Merthyr on Tory policy'.
92. Western Mail, 30 Oct. 1954, editorial 'Aberdare'.
93. Western Mail, 1 Mar. 1949, editorial 'Tory Policy for Wales'.
94. Western Mail, 10 Mar. 1949, letter of H. W. J. Edwards, 'Lord Merthyr's Attack'.
95. J. G. Jones, 'The Parliament for Wales Campaign', Welsh History Review, xiv (1992), 207;
96. Philip, Welsh Question, 257. The Conservative Party had spies at the meeting: Bod. Lib., CPA, CCO 4,4/3/24, Miss James to T. F. Watson, 5 July 1950.
97. Bod. Lib., CPA, CCO, 4/4/324, J. V. Garmonsway to J. P. L. Thomas, 17 May 1951.
98. Western Mail, 31 Mar. 1951, 'Self-government not a solution to Welsh problems-Conservative View'.
99. Bod. Lib., CPA, CCO 4, 4/324, J. V. Garmonsway ro J. P. L. Thomas, 17 May 1951.
100. Bod. Lib., CPA, CCO 4, 4/324, Meeting at Ludlow, 27 May 1951; CCO 4, 4/324, Enoch Powell to J. L. P. Thomas, 28 May 1951.
101. Bod. Lib., CPA, CCO, 4/4/324, Confidential 'Memorandum from the Chairman to Constituency Chairmen'.
102. Western Mail, 9 Oct. 1951, 'Conservative Party's Aims for Wales'; 10,000 copies were produced in English and Welsh.
103. Barnes and Cockett, 'Making of Party Policy', 347-8, 379.
104. Cenrral Office rook a strict line with any unauthorised statements of policy in both Wales and Scotland: Bod. Lib., CPA, AP 1/3, Cub Alport to R. A. Butler, 12 Dec. 1947;
105. S. Pierssene to Alporr, 11 June 1948.
106. K. Jeffreys, The Churchill Coalition and Wartime Politics 1940-45 (Manchester, 1991);
107. S. Brooke, Labours War: The Labour Party During the Second World War (Oxford, 1992);
108. Green, 'Thatcherism', 21-2.
109. The Industrial Charter: A Statement of Conservative Industrial Policy (Conservative and Unionist Central Office, London, 1947), 24-7;
110. Mitchell, Conservatives and the Union, 50.
111. Right Road, 7-8.
112. M. D. Kandiah, 'The Conservative Party and the Early Cold War: The Construction of "New" Conservatism', in M. F. Hopkins, M. D. Kandiah and G. Staerck (ed.), Cold War Britain, 1945-1964 (London, 2003), 30-8.
113. Right Road, 7.
114. Among many examples from Scotland and Wales, see: Perthshire Advertiser, 3 Oct. 1951, 7, 'Mr Snadden Expects Labour Party to Play Two "Aces"' (William McNair Snadden);
115. Perthshire Advertiser, 10 Oct. 1951,5, 'Unionist Aims for the Empire and Scotland' (Col. A. Gomme Duncan);
116. Northern Scot & Moray and Nairn Express, 11 Aug. 1951, 4, 'Danger in Disillusioned Socialists' (Miss Janet Murray);
117. Western Mail, 6 Feb. 1950, 'Nationalisation: Policy of Contradiction' (Stuart Hallinan);
118. Western Mail, 8 Apr. 1950, letter of E. R. Watts, Forest Lodge, Brecon 'Crime and Communism'.
119. Western Mail, 9 Apr. 1948, 'Tories to Support Mr Hopkin Morris', speech of Major D. Gibson Watt.
120. Right Road, 8.
121. C. Harvie, 'English Regionalism: The Dog that Never Barked', in B. Crick (ed.), National Identities: The Constitution of the United Kingdom (London, 1991);
122. Weight, Patriots, 591-603.
123. This paragraph is based on K. Young and N. Rao, Local Government since 1945 (Oxford, 1997), 87-101;
124. B. Keith-Lucas and P. G. Richards, A History of Local Government in the Twentieth Century (London, 1978), 204-5.
125. Report of the Local Government Boundary Commission for the Year 1947 (London, 1948).
126. Councillor, 2, 2 (July 1949), 1. 'The Boundary Commission'.
127. Bod. Lib., CPA, AP 1/3 'Report of the Advisory Committee on Policy and Political Education'(n.d., Oct. 1948), 4.
128. Madeod was replaced by Michael Fraser in Apr. 1950.
129. Both men contributed article to the periodical: Councillor, 2,1 (July 1948), 6-8 'National Health Service Scheme' by Iain McLeod; 1, 3 (Aug. 1948), 5-9, 'Local Government Act' by J. E. Powell;
130. 12 (May 1949), 7, 14. The Welsh, Scottish and English local government areas were often linked by contemporaries: for example, Economist, 8 July 1950, 60, quoted in Jones, 'Parliament for Wales Campaign', 213.
131. Councillor, 1, 6 (Nov. 1948), 1, 'Structure of Local Government'.
132. Councillor, 3, 4 (Nov. 1950), 1, 'Town Hall not Whitehall';
133. 6-9, 'The Case for Local Government' by Cllr. Professor K. C. Wheare.
134. Keith-Lucas and Richards, History of Local Government, 204;
135. Councillor, 1, 3 (Aug. 1948), 15;
136. 3 (Aug. 1949), 12 'Local Administration, speech by Henry Brown; 3, 11 (June 1952), 6-12 'Powers of Local Authorities' by Commander T. D. Gallbraith.
137. Western Mail, 27 Oct. 1945, editorial 'Borough elections';
138. Carmarthen Journal, 26 Oct. 1945. editorial, 'The November Elections'.
139. Keith-Lucas and Richards, History of Local Government, 120-1;
140. Western Mail, 11 May 1949, 'How Socialists Shackle their Council Members';
141. Councillor, 2, 2 (July 1949). 4-9 'Labour Groups on Local Authorities'; 4. 11 (July 1952).
142. 'Labour Party Council Groups', The National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations Third Annual Local Government Conference, London, 11 October, 1949 (London, 1949), 4-9, 'Politics and Local Government' by Henry Brooke.
143. Western Mail, 14 Feb. 1950, 'Anglesey's "High Hopes"', comment of Mr Goronwy Wyn Williams in Caernarvon;
144. Western Mail, 20 Aug. 1946, letter of Richard Morris, 'Secretary for Wales'.
145. Councillor, 2, 4 (Sept. 1949). 9-10 'Aldermanic Elections'.
146. Western Mail, 4 May 1945, editorial, "The Big Stick'. Conservative-controlled Councils did not behave this way, apparently: Western Mail, 24 Apr. 1946, 'Political Bias on Welsh Councils'.
147. Councillor, 3, 6 (Jan. 1951) 1 'Threat to Freedom; 4. 7 (Mar. 1952). 1-3, 'Tyrannical Majority'.
148. Councillor, 1, 9 (Feb. 1949), 10, 'Official Statement of Conservative and Unionist Policy on Local Government'.
149. This Is the Road: The Conservative and Unionist Party's Policy, General Election 1950 (London, 1950), 21-2.
150. Councillor, 2, 4 (Sept. 1949), 11, 'Local Democracy'.
151. Councillor, 2, 6 (Nov. 1949), 5-6 'Local Government Conference', speech by Churchill. Bod. Lib., CPA, CCO 4/3/184, Local Government-Conferences: Geoffrey Hutchinson, KC to Lord Woolton, 3 June 1949.
152. Councillor, 3, 5 (Dec. 1950), 1.
153. Councillor, 3, 5 (Dec. 1950), 31-7;
154. Ramsden, Age of Churchill and Eden, 207.
155. The classic exposition of this can be found in a speech by Lord Justice Denning at the Annual Conference of the Association of Municipal Corporations in Southport, 1951: Councillor, 4, 6 (Feb. 1952), 1-6.
156. Williamson, 'Doctrinal Politics', 181-208; A. Causey, 'English Art and "The National Character", 1933-34', in D. P. Corbet, Y. Holt and E Russell (ed.), The Geographies of Englishness: Landscape and the National Past, 1880-1940 (New Haven, 2002), 275-302;
157. Cragoe, 'Conservatives, 'Englishness' and 'Civic Nationalism' between the wars'; Jones, 'New Conservatism?', 172-5.
158. This Is the Road, 19-20, 'The United Kingdom'.
159. Glasgow Herald, 28 Jan. 1950, 'Labour's Manifesto Omissions'.
160. Western Mail, 9 Feb. 1950, 'Mr Churchill offers freedom and abundance'.
161. Glasgow Herald, 15 Feb. 1950, 'Churchill Flays Socialist State Plan'.
162. Bod. Lib., CPA, LCC 1/1/6, James Stuart to Patrick Buchan-Hepburn, 20 Sept. 1951.
163. Glasgow Herald, 18 Oct. 1951, 'No Easy Road for Britain' (Churchill at Glasgow).
164. Western Mail, 3 Aug. 1951, 'Woolton renews promise to Wales'.
165. Western Mail, 15 Oct. 1951, 'R. A. Butler-How Conservatives' plan for Minister of Wales would function'.
166. Western Mail, 12 Oct. 1951, 'Mr Eden at Cardiff-New and just status is offered to Wales';
167. cf. a very similar speech at Usher Hall, Edinburgh: Glasgow Herald, 16 Oct. 1951, 'Eden's Watchword for Scots Electors'.
168. This analysis is based on the collection of election addresses held at the Conservative Party Archive in the Bodleian Library. In 1950,60 per cent of Welsh and 82 per cent of Scottish addresses mentioned regional policy; the equivalent figures for 1951 were 69 and 75 per cent. No Welsh addresses in 1950 and only three in 1951 made any reference to local nationalist activity; seven did so in Scotland at both elections.
169. Address of Kerr (Dunfemrline, 1950); Kerby (Swansea West, 1951).
170. Addresses of Archibald Tennant, Orkney (1951);
171. J. E. Bryn Roberts, Caernarvon (1051).
172. Bod. Lib, CPA, Election Addresses-General Election 1951-Wales;
173. Peter Thomas, Conway.
174. Craig, Election Statistics, 1918-1970,14.
175. H. G. Nicholas, The British General Eledion of 1950 (London, 1951), 321.
176. Craig, Election Statistics, 14-15.
177. Butler, Election of 1951, 237.