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Tories, Television and Professionalization 1962–64

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The Tories and Television, 1951-1964

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in the History of the Media ((PSHM))

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Abstract

Chapter 7 explores the impact of transformation on the Conservative Party. It argues the party changed from being characterized by its mass party culture to a centralized structure in which an elite and professionalized party centre developed a television centric operation. Firstly, it analyses the Selwyn Lloyd report, which offers insider perspectives about how ordinary members were feeling disenfranchised by the early 1960s. The chapter also provides a snapshot of the more centralized image of the party under the leadership of Douglas-Home, 1963–64. It concludes that Douglas-Home’s Conservatives’ relationship with television is characterized by the marked change in, firstly, the tightened control that a newly strengthened Central Office team of experts held over the party’s television operations and facilities, and, secondly, the relatively diminished role and place of the ordinary membership at the grassroots.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    CPA CCO 120/4/25 Letter from Lewis Rudd, Assistant Editor of Associated Rediffusion’s ‘This Week’ programme apologizing to Lloyd for dropping his interview due to ‘the Profumo case’, 7 June 1963.

  2. 2.

    Tim Bale, The Conservatives since 1945: The Drivers of Party Change (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), p. 54 (Bale 2012).

  3. 3.

    David Butler and Gareth Butler, Twentieth Century Political Facts (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2000), p. 26 (Butler and Butler 2000).

  4. 4.

    Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher, British Electoral Facts (London: Biteback Publishing, 2006), p. 59 (Rallings and Thrasher 2006).

  5. 5.

    CPA CCO 120/4/1 Personal and Confidential letter from Iain MacLeod to Selwyn Lloyd, 28 September 1962.

  6. 6.

    CPA CCO 120/4/1 Personal and Confidential letter from Selwyn Lloyd to Iain MacLeod, 23 November 1962.

  7. 7.

    CPA CCO 120/4/1 Personal letter from Iain MacLeod to Selwyn Lloyd, 30 November 1963, MacLeod describes how Lloyd’s revelation about the disconnect between party workers and ministers set off a chain of correspondence between the prime minister’s office, the Chief Whip and himself.

  8. 8.

    CPA CCO 120/4/24 ‘The Selwyn Lloyd Report 1963’, released 6 June 1963.

  9. 9.

    Ibid., p. 30.

  10. 10.

    Ibid., p. 31.

  11. 11.

    CPA CCO 120/4/25 Personal & Confidential letter from Lloyd to Lord Poole, 28 May 1963.

  12. 12.

    CPA CCO 120/4/24 Confidential document for ‘The Selwyn Lloyd Enquiry into the Party Organization: Press and Television’, ND c. 1962–63.

  13. 13.

    Ibid.

  14. 14.

    CPA CCO 120/4/24 Confidential document for ‘The Selwyn Lloyd Enquiry into the Party Organization: General Communications’, ND c. 1962–63.

  15. 15.

    CPA CCO 4/9/380 TV and Radio Newsgram, 15 March 1963.

  16. 16.

    Ibid.

  17. 17.

    CPA CCO 4/9/387 Letter from Paul Bryman to MPs and candidates, 30 July 1964.

  18. 18.

    See, television training file, CPA CCO 4/9/387—Propaganda—television, general—1961–62.

  19. 19.

    CPA CCO 4/9/387 Memorandum from John Lindsey, Head of Radio and Television Section, to MPs and candidates, 30 July 1964.

  20. 20.

    CPA CCO 20/17/4 Confidential letter from Lord Poole to the Chairman, 30 December 1963, p. 3.

References

  • CCO 120/4/1 Selwyn Lloyd Enquiry into Party Organization — correspondence with Party Chairman (1962–63).

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  • CCO 120/4/24 Selwyn Lloyd Enquiry into Party Organization — Draft, Final Report (1962–63).

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  • CCO 4/9/387 Propaganda — Television, General (1961–66).

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  • Bale, Tim. 2012. The Conservatives since 1945, the Drivers of Party Change. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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  • Butler, David, and Gareth Butler. 2000. Twentieth-Century British Political Facts 1900–2000. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rallings, Colin, and Michael Thrasher. 2006. British Electoral Facts. London: Biteback Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom

    Anthony Ridge-Newman

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  1. Anthony Ridge-Newman
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Ridge-Newman, A. (2017). Tories, Television and Professionalization 1962–64. In: The Tories and Television, 1951-1964. Palgrave Studies in the History of the Media. Palgrave Pivot, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56254-8_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56254-8_7

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-56253-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-56254-8

  • eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)

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