The Conservative Party and the Extreme Right 1945-1975

Mark Pitchford explores the Conservative Party’s relationship with the extreme right between 1945 and 1975. For the first time, this book shows how the Conservative Party, realizing that its well known pre-Second World War connections with the extreme right were now embarrassing, used its bureaucracy to implement a policy of investigating extreme right groups and taking action to minimize their chances of success. This book reveals the Conservative Party's relationship with the extreme right between 1945 and 1975. It shows how the Party, realising that its well-documented pre-Second World War connections with the extreme right were now embarrassing, used its bureaucracy to implement a policy of investigating extreme-right groups and taking action to minimise their chances of success. The book focuses on the Conservative Party's investigation of right-wing groups, and shows how its perception of their nature determined the party bureaucracy's response. It draws on extensive information from the Conservative Party Archive, supported by other sources, including interviews with leading players in the events of the 1970s. The book draws a comparison between the Conservative Party machine's negative attitude towards the extreme right and its support for progressive groups. It concludes that the Conservative Party acted as a persistent block to the external extreme right in a number of ways, and that the Party bureaucracy persistently denied the extreme right party assistance, access to funds and representation within party organisations. The book reaches a climax with the formulation of a ‘plan’ threatening its own candidate if he failed to remove the extreme right from the Conservative Monday Club This book reveals the Conservative Party's relationship with the extreme right between 1945 and 1975. For the first time, this book shows how the Conservative Party, realising that its well known pre-Second World War connections with the extreme right were now embarrassing, used its bureaucracy to implement a policy of investigating extreme right groups and taking action to minimise their chances of success. The book focuses on the Conservative Party's investigation of right-wing groups, and shows how its perception of their nature determined the party bureaucracy's response. The book draws a comparison between the Conservative Party machine's negative attitude towards the extreme right and its support for progressive groups. It concludes that the Conservative Party acted as a persistent block to the external extreme right in a number of ways, and that the Party bureaucracy persistently denied the extreme right within the party assistance, access to funds, and representation within party organisations. It reaches a climax with the formulation of 'plan' threatening its own candidate if he failed to remove the extreme right from the Conservative Monday Club Copyright 5 Contents 6 Abbreviations 7 Preface 8 Introduction 10 1. The shock of opposition, 1945–51 19 2. Consensus Conservatism and extreme right revival, 1951–57 48 3. Macmillan and Home:‘pink socialism’ and ‘true-blue’ Conservatism, 1957–64 78 4. Edward Heath: a rightwards turn and the coalescence of the extreme right, 1964–70 134 5. ‘Heathco’ meets the extreme right’s challenge, 1970–75 190 Conclusion: keeping it right 228 Bibliography 238 Index 248 This Text Shows How The Conservative Party, Realising That Its Well-documented Pre-second World War Connections With The Extreme Right Were Now Embarrassing, Used Its Bureaucracy To Implement A Policy Of Investigating Extreme Right Groups And Taking Action To Minimise Their Chances Of Success. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 229-238). The shock of opposition, 1945-51 Consensus Conservatism and extreme-right revival, 1951-57 Macmillan and Home : 'pink socialism' and 'true-blue' Conservatism, 1957-64 Edward Heath : a rightwards turn and the coalescence of the extreme right, 1964-70 'Heathco' meets the extreme-right's challenge, 1970-75 Conclusion : keeping it right.