post war political consensus

The post-war political consensus

What was the nature of the post war political consensus?

A political consensus is when there is a general agreement between the main political parties over policy, for example in a political consensus when a government changes most policies will remain the same. During the period between 1945-1970’s there was said to be a political consensus in Britain, this is thus known as the post war political consensus.

The nature of the post war political consensus was based upon the policies of the 1945-51 Clement Atlee Labour government. Often referred to as the social democratic or welfare consensus, the political consensus was based on a general belief in social justice, this was reflected throughout government policy. The Atlee government followed the idea of Keynesian economics, this is where the government plays a key role in managing the economy by trying to ensure employment for everyone. The government attempted to create full employment thr...