The genesis of the Suez Group and the Anti-Suez Group

Abstract

The Conservative Europeanists scored their greatest successes in opposition, yet proved surprisingly impotent once their party had been returned to power; the tide only began to turn in their favour after the defeat of imperial preference had ‘dragged the party into the 20th century’.¹ The Suez Group fared very differently. This faction’s formative experiences were in opposition: the debacles over Palestine in 1947–48 and Abadan in 1951. Although Conservative critics of the Labour Government’s handling of these crises were unable to pressure the Government either into imposing a settlement in Palestine or despatching troops to protect British lives and property at Abadan, both episodes served to identify those Tory MPs who held passionate views about Britain’s place in the Middle East2 and the best means to sustain her pre-eminent position.