The waiting room of power: 1950–51

Abstract

The effect of the general election in February 1950 upon Conservative attitudes was paradoxical: the changing of the political guard in this ‘new Model Parliament’¹ altered the balance within the Conservative party on Europe. These younger MPs were more inclined to look favourably on Britain taking the lead in Europe. Some saw a united Europe principally as a defence against the Soviet Union; others appreciated the economic advantages the concept offered — the chance to combine the Empire and sterling area with Europe to create a formidable trading bloc; and there were those Tories, such as Henry Hopkinson² and Hamilton Kerr, who viewed the moves towards European unity as desirable in their own right.