Editing Harold Macmillan (section)

===First government, 1957–1959===
From the start of his premiership, Macmillan set out to portray an image of calm and style, in contrast to his excitable predecessor.  He silenced the klaxon on the Prime Ministerial car, which Eden had used frequently. He advertised his love of reading [[Anthony Trollope]] and [[Jane Austen]], and on the door of the Private Secretaries' room at Number Ten he hung a quote from ''[[The Gondoliers]]'': "Quiet, calm deliberation disentangles every knot".{{sfn|Horne|1989|pp=5, 13}}

Macmillan filled government posts with 35 Old Etonians, seven of them in Cabinet.<ref>David Butler, ''Twentieth Century British Political Facts 1900–2000'', Macmillan, 8th edition, 2000.</ref> He was also devoted to family members: when [[Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire]] was later appointed (Minister for Colonial Affairs from 1963 to 1964 among other positions) he described his uncle's behaviour as "the greatest act of nepotism ever".<ref>Gyles Brandreth. ''Brief encounters: meetings with remarkable people'' (2001) p. 214</ref> Macmillan's Defence Minister, [[Duncan Sandys]], wrote at the time: "Eden had no gift for leadership; under Macmillan as PM everything is better, Cabinet meetings are quite transformed".<ref name="Goodlad & Pearce, 2013 p.169">Goodlad & Pearce, 2013 p.169</ref> Many ministers found Macmillan to be more decisive and brisk than either Churchill or Eden had been.<ref name="Goodlad & Pearce, 2013 p.169"/> Another of Macmillan's ministers, [[Charles Hill, Baron Hill of Luton|Charles Hill]], stated that Macmillan dominated Cabinet meetings "by sheer superiority of mind and of judgement".<ref name="Goodlad & Pearce, 2013 p.170">Goodlad & Pearce, 2013 p.170</ref> Macmillan frequently made allusions to  history, literature and the classics at cabinet meetings, giving him a reputation as being both learned and entertaining, though many ministers found his manner too authoritarian.<ref name="Goodlad & Pearce, 2013 p.170"/> Macmillan had no "inner cabinet", and instead maintained one-on-one relationships with a few senior ministers such as Rab Butler who usually served as acting prime minister when Macmillan was on one of his frequent visits abroad.<ref name="Goodlad & Pearce, 2013 p.170"/> Selwyn Lloyd described Macmillan as treating most of his ministers like "junior officers in a unit he commanded".<ref name="Goodlad & Pearce, 2013 p.170"/> Lloyd recalled that Macmillan: "regarded the Cabinet as an instrument to play upon, a body to be molded to his will...very rarely did he fail to get his way"<ref name="Goodlad & Pearce, 2013 p.170"/> Macmillan generally allowed his ministers much leeway in managing their portfolios, and only intervened if he felt something had gone wrong.<ref name="Goodlad & Pearce, 2013 p.169"/> Macmillan was especially close to his three private secretaries, [[Timothy Bligh|Tom Bligh]], Freddie Bishop and [[Philip de Zulueta]], who were his favourite advisers.<ref name="Goodlad & Pearce, 2013 p.170"/> Many cabinet ministers often complained that Macmillan took the advice of his private secretaries more seriously than he did their own.<ref name="Goodlad & Pearce, 2013 p.170"/>

He was nicknamed "[[Supermac (cartoon)|Supermac]]" in 1958 by the cartoonist [[Victor Weisz]], who intended to suggest that Macmillan was trying set himself up as a "Superman" figure.<ref name="Goodlad & Pearce, 2013 p.170"/> It was intended as mockery but backfired, coming to be used in a neutral or friendly fashion. Weisz tried to label him with other names, including "Mac the Knife" at the time of widespread [[Night of the Long Knives (1962)|cabinet changes in 1962]], but none caught on.<ref>[[Colin Seymour-Ure]], ''Prime Ministers and the Media: issues of power and control'' (2003) p. 261</ref>

====Economy====
Besides foreign affairs, the economy was Macmillan's other prime concern.<ref>Edmund Dell, ''The Chancellors: A History of the Chancellors of the Exchequer, 1945–90'' (1997) pp. 223–303.</ref> His [[One Nation Conservatism|One Nation]] approach to the economy was to seek high or full employment, especially with a general election looming. This contrasted with the Treasury ministers who argued that support of sterling required spending cuts and, probably, a rise in unemployment. Their advice was rejected and in January 1958 the three Treasury ministers — [[Peter Thorneycroft]], the Chancellor of the Exchequer, [[Nigel Birch]], [[Economic Secretary to the Treasury]], and Enoch Powell, the [[Financial Secretary to the Treasury]] and seen as their intellectual ringleader — resigned. D. R. Thorpe argues that this, coming after the resignations of Labour ministers [[Aneurin Bevan]], [[John Freeman (British politician)|John Freeman]] and Harold Wilson in April 1951 (who had wanted ''higher'' expenditure), and the cuts made by Butler and Macmillan as Chancellors in 1955–56, was another step in the development of "stop-go" economics, as opposed to prudent medium-term management.{{sfn|Thorpe|2010|pp=401–407}} Macmillan, away on a tour of the Commonwealth, brushed aside this incident as "a little local difficulty". He bore no grudge against Thorneycroft and brought him and Powell, of whom he was more wary, back into the government in 1960.{{sfn|Thorpe|2010|p=407}}

This period also saw the first stirrings of more active [[monetary policy]]. [[Official bank rate]], which had been kept low since the 1930s, was hiked in September 1958.{{sfn|Thorpe|2010|pp=401–407}} The change in bank rate prompted rumours in the [[City of London|City]] that some financiers – who were [[Bank of England]] directors with senior positions in private firms – took advantage of advance knowledge of the rate change in what resembled [[insider trading]]. Political pressure mounted on the Government, and Macmillan agreed to the [[1957 Bank Rate Tribunal]]. Hearing evidence in the winter of 1957 and reporting in January 1958, this inquiry exonerated all involved in what some journalists perceived to be a [[whitewashing (censorship)|whitewash]].<ref>[[David Kynaston]], ''Till Time's Last Stand: A History of The Bank of England, 1694–2013'', Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017, pp. 434–435.</ref>

====Domestic policies====
During his time as prime minister, average living standards steadily rose<ref>OCR A Level History B: The End of Consensus: Britain 1945–90 by Pearson Education</ref> while numerous social reforms were carried out. The [[Clean Air Act 1956]] was passed during his time as Chancellor; his premiership saw the passage of the [[Housing Act 1957]], the [[Offices Act 1960]], the [[Noise Abatement Act 1960]],<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OMciK2dbAI8C&q=poverty+in+britain+offices+act+1961&pg=PR80 |title=Poverty, Inequality and Health in Britain, 1800–2000: A Reader |date=11 July 2001 |access-date=18 October 2013 |isbn=9781861342119 |last1=Davey Smith |first1=George |last2=Dorling |first2=Daniel |last3=Shaw |first3=Mary |publisher=Policy Press |archive-date=8 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108140006/https://books.google.com/books?id=OMciK2dbAI8C&q=poverty+in+britain+offices+act+1961&pg=PR80 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the [[Factories Act 1961]]; the introduction of a graduated pension scheme to provide an additional income to retirees,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lf3a4dOjy0kC&q=harold+macmillan+graduated+pension+scheme&pg=PA221 |title=The Many Concepts of Social Justice in European Private Law |date= 1 November 2011|access-date=18 October 2013|isbn=9780857935892 |last1=Micklitz |first1=H. W. |publisher=Edward Elgar }}</ref> the establishment of a [[Child's Special Allowance]] for the orphaned children of divorced parents,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CiE7TEwJtsAC&q=UK+Child+Special+Allowance+1959&pg=PA26 |title=How Social Security Works: An Introduction to Benefits in Britain |access-date=18 October 2013 |isbn=9781847428103 |year=2011 |last1=Spicker |first1=Paul |publisher=Policy Press |archive-date=8 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108140146/https://books.google.com/books?id=CiE7TEwJtsAC&q=UK+Child+Special+Allowance+1959&pg=PA26 |url-status=live }}</ref> and a reduction in the standard [[work week]] from 48 to 42 hours.<ref>''Mastering Modern World History'' by Norman Lowe</ref>{{pn|date=October 2022}}

====Foreign policy====
[[File:senandmacmillan.JPG|left|thumb| Macmillan with Indian Minister and head of Indian delegation [[Ashoke Kumar Sen]] and wife Anjana, daughter of [[Sudhi Ranjan Das]]]]
[[File:International Diplomacy.jpg|thumb|Macmillan meeting Eisenhower in Bermuda]]
Macmillan took close control of foreign policy. He worked to narrow the post-[[Suez Crisis|Suez Crisis (1956)]] rift with the United States, where his wartime friendship with Eisenhower was key; the two had a productive conference in [[Bermuda]] as early as March 1957.

In February 1959, Macmillan visited the Soviet Union. Talks with [[Nikita Khrushchev]] eased tensions in east–west relations over [[West Berlin]] and led to an agreement in principle to stop nuclear tests and to hold a further summit meeting of [[NATO|Allied]] and Soviet heads of government.{{sfn|Fisher|1982|p=214}}

In the Middle East, faced by the 1958 collapse of the [[Baghdad Pact]] and the spread of Soviet influence, Macmillan acted decisively to restore the confidence of [[Persian Gulf]] allies, using the Royal Air Force and [[Special Air Service|special forces]] to defeat a revolt backed by [[Saudi Arabia]] and Egypt against the Sultan of Oman, [[Said bin Taimur]], in July 1957;{{sfn|Fisher|1982|p=193}} deploying airborne battalions to defend [[Jordan]] against [[United Arab Republic|United Arab Republican]] subversion in July 1958;<ref>Horne, ''Macmillan'', Volume II, pp. 94–95.</ref> and deterring Iraqi demands  of [[Kuwait]] by landing a brigade group in June 1961 during the [[Operation Vantage|Iraq–Kuwait crisis of 1961]] .<ref>Horne, ''Macmillan'', Volume II, p. 419.</ref>

Macmillan was a major proponent and architect of [[decolonisation]]. The [[Gold Coast (British colony)|Gold Coast]] was granted independence as [[Ghana]], and the [[Federation of Malaya]] achieved independence within the Commonwealth of Nations in 1957. "The material strength of the Old Commonwealth members, if joined with the moral influence of the Asiatic members, meant that a united Commonwealth would always have a very powerful voice in world affairs," said Macmillan in a 1957 speech during a tour of the former British Empire.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Onslow |first=Sue |date=13 July 2015 |title=The Commonwealth and the Cold War, Neutralism, and Non-Alignment |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07075332.2015.1053965 |journal=[[The International History Review]] |volume=37 |issue=5 |pages=1059–1082 |doi=10.1080/07075332.2015.1053965 |s2cid=154044321 |access-date=14 March 2023}}</ref>

====Nuclear weapons====
[[File:OperationGrappleXmasIslandHbomb.jpg|upright|thumb|First successful British [[Teller–Ulam design|H-bomb]] test—Operation Grapple X Round C1, which took place over [[Kiritimati]]]]
In April 1957, Macmillan reaffirmed his strong support for the [[Nuclear weapons and the United Kingdom|British nuclear weapons programme]]. A succession of prime ministers since the [[Second World War]] had been determined to persuade the United States to revive [[Special Relationship (US-UK)#Nuclear weapons development|wartime co-operation]] in the area of nuclear weapons research. Macmillan believed that one way to encourage such co-operation would be for the United Kingdom to speed up the development of its own [[hydrogen bomb]], which was [[Grapple X|successfully tested]] on 8 November 1957.

Macmillan's decision led to increased demands on the [[Windscale Piles|Windscale]] and (subsequently) [[Calder Hall]] nuclear plants to produce [[Plutonium#Explosives|plutonium]] for military purposes.<ref>Nick Rufford, 'A-bomb links kept secret from Queen', ''Sunday Times'' (3 January 1988).</ref> As a result, safety margins for radioactive materials inside the Windscale reactor were eroded. This contributed to the [[Windscale fire]] on the night of 10 October 1957, which broke out in the plutonium plant of Pile No. 1, and nuclear contaminants travelled up a chimney where the filters blocked some, but not all, of the contaminated material. The radioactive cloud spread to south-east England and fallout reached mainland Europe. Although scientists had warned of the dangers of such an accident for some time, the government blamed the workers who had put out the fire for 'an error of judgement', rather than the political pressure for fast-tracking the megaton bomb.<ref>'Windscale: Britain's Biggest Nuclear Disaster', broadcast on Monday, 8 October 2007, at 2100 BST on BBC Two.</ref><ref>Paddy Shennan, 'Britain's Biggest Nuclear Disaster', ''Liverpool Echo'' (13 October 2007), p. 26.</ref>

Concerned that public confidence in the nuclear programme might be shaken and that technical information might be misused by opponents of defence co-operation in the [[US Congress]], Macmillan withheld all but the summary of a report into the fire prepared for the [[Atomic Energy Authority]] by [[William Penney, Baron Penney|Sir William Penney]], director of the [[Atomic Weapons Research Establishment]].<ref>John Hunt. 'Cabinet Papers For 1957: Windscale Fire Danger Disclosed', ''Financial Times'' (2 January 1988).</ref> Subsequently released files show that 'Macmillan's cuts were few and covered up few technical details',<ref>David Walker, 'Focus on 1957: Macmillan ordered Windscale censorship', ''The Times'' (1 January 1988).</ref> and that even the full report found no danger to public health, but later official estimates acknowledged that the release of [[polonium-210]] may have led directly to 25 to 50 deaths, and anti-nuclear groups linked it to 1,000 fatal cancers.<ref>Jean McSorley, 'Contaminated evidence: The secrecy and political cover-ups that followed the fire in a British nuclear reactor 50 years ago still resonate in public concerns', ''The Guardian'' (10 October 2007), p. 8.</ref><ref>John Gray, 'Accident disclosures bring calls for review of U.K. secrecy laws', ''Globe and Mail'' (Toronto, 4 January 1988).</ref>

On 25 March 1957, Macmillan acceded to Eisenhower's request to base 60 [[Thor missile|Thor IRBMs]] in England under joint control to replace the [[nuclear bomber]]s of the [[Strategic Air Command]], which had been stationed under joint control since 1948 and were approaching obsolescence. Partly as a consequence of this favour, in late October 1957 the US [[McMahon Act]] was eased to facilitate nuclear co-operation between the two governments, initially with a view to producing cleaner weapons and reducing the need for duplicate testing.<ref>Richard Gott, 'The Evolution of the Independent British Deterrent', ''International Affairs'', 39/2 (April 1963), p. 246.</ref> The [[1958 US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement|Mutual Defence Agreement]] followed on 3 July 1958, speeding up British [[ballistic missile]] development,<ref>Gott, 'Independent British Deterrent', p. 247.</ref> notwithstanding unease expressed at the time about the impetus co-operation might give to [[atomic proliferation]] by arousing the jealousy of France and other allies.<ref>''The Times'' (4 July US Navy).</ref>

Macmillan saw an opportunity to increase British influence over the United States with the launching of the Soviet satellite [[Sputnik]], which caused [[Sputnik crisis|a severe crisis of confidence]] in the United States as Macmillan wrote in his diary: "The Russian success in launching the satellite has been something equivalent to [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbour]]. The American cockiness is shaken....President is under severe attack for the first time...The atmosphere is now such that almost anything might be decided, however revolutionary".{{sfn|Ashton|2005|p=699}} The "revolutionary" change that Macmillan sought was a more equal Anglo-American partnership as he used the Sputnik crisis to press Eisenhower to in turn press Congress to repeal the 1946 MacMahon Act, which forbade the United States to share nuclear technology with foreign governments, a goal accomplished by the end of 1957.{{sfn|Ashton|2005|pp=699–700}}

In addition, Macmillan succeeded in having Eisenhower to agree to set up Anglo-American "working groups" to examine foreign policy problems and for what he called the "Declaration of Interdependence" (a title not used by the Americans who called it the "Declaration of Common Purpose"), which he believed marked the beginning of a new era of Anglo-American partnership.{{sfn|Ashton|2005|p=700}} Subsequently, Macmillan was to learn that neither Eisenhower nor Kennedy shared the assumption that he applied to the "Declaration of Interdependence" that the American president and the British Prime Minister had equal power over the decisions of war and peace.{{sfn|Ashton|2005|p=702}} Macmillan believed that the American policies towards the Soviet Union were too rigid and confrontational, and favoured a policy of détente with the aim of relaxing Cold War tensions.{{sfn|Ashton|2005|p=703}}

====1959 general election====
Macmillan led the Conservatives to victory in the [[1959 United Kingdom general election|1959 general election]], increasing his party's majority from 60 to 100 seats. The campaign was based on the economic improvements achieved as well as the low unemployment and improving standard of living; the slogan "Life's Better Under the Conservatives" was matched by Macmillan's own 1957 remark, "indeed let us be frank about it—most of our people have never had it so good,"<ref>{{citation |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/20/newsid_3728000/3728225.stm |title=Harold Macmillan, Speech in Bedford, 20 July 1957 |publisher=BBC News |date=20 July 1974 |access-date=31 January 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101003131129/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/20/newsid_3728000/3728225.stm |archive-date=3 October 2010 }}</ref> usually paraphrased as "You've never had it so good." Such rhetoric reflected a new reality of working-class affluence; it has been argued that "the key factor in the Conservative victory was that average real pay for industrial workers had risen since Churchill's 1951 victory by over 20 per cent".{{sfn|Lamb|1995|p=62}} The scale of the victory meant that not only had the Conservatives won three successive general elections, but they had also increased their majority each time. It sparked debate as to whether Labour (now led by [[Hugh Gaitskell]]) could win a general election again. The standard of living had risen enough that workers could participate in a consumer economy, shifting the working class concerns away from traditional Labour Party views.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/basics/4393287.stm|title=1959: Macmillan wins Tory hat trick|date=5 April 2005|via=news.bbc.co.uk|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422144713/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/basics/4393287.stm|archive-date=22 April 2009}}</ref>