• Login
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    ‘Governing in hard times’: the Heath government and civil emergencies – the 1972 and the 1974 miners’ strikes. 
    •   QMRO Home
    • Queen Mary University of London Theses
    • Theses
    • ‘Governing in hard times’: the Heath government and civil emergencies – the 1972 and the 1974 miners’ strikes.
    •   QMRO Home
    • Queen Mary University of London Theses
    • Theses
    • ‘Governing in hard times’: the Heath government and civil emergencies – the 1972 and the 1974 miners’ strikes.
    ‌
    ‌

    Browse

    All of QMROCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects
    ‌
    ‌

    Administrators only

    Login
    ‌
    ‌

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    ‘Governing in hard times’: the Heath government and civil emergencies – the 1972 and the 1974 miners’ strikes.

    View/Open
    HUGHESGoverningIn2012.pdf (1.339Mb)
    Publisher
    Queen Mary University of London
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    This thesis examines how the government of Edward Heath (Prime Minister 1970-74) managed the two most significant domestic political and economic crises which determined both its fate and its long term reputation; first, the 1972 miners’ strike and secondly, the 1973-4 miners’ dispute and the three-day week. Its defeat by the miners in 1972 was an enormous humiliation from which the Heath government never fully recovered. The violent mass picketing which accompanied the strike shook both the government’s and the public’s confidence in the ability of the state to maintain law and order. Their victory boosted the miners’ confidence to take industrial action again in the autumn of 1973 when their position was strengthened by the oil price rise in the wake of the Yom Kippur war. This led to the imposition of a three-day week on industry which ended in the general election of February 1974 and the fall of the Heath Government. This thesis uses the new material in the National Archives to examine the interplay between these events and the government machinery for handling civil emergencies. It reveals the manner in which Heath’s first attempt to reform the system was defeated by Whitehall resistance. The incompetent handling of the 1972 miners strike then strengthened the case for reform and led to the thorough overhaul of contingency planning which laid the foundations for the system which exists to the present day. It examines the factors which influenced the handling of the crises, including the relationship between the Prime Minister and his colleagues, between ministers and officials, the problems posed by external events and the cumulative exhaustion which placed ministers and officials as well as the machinery of government under increasing strain.
    Authors
    Hughes, Rosaleen Anne
    URI
    http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/2967
    Collections
    • Theses [3824]
    Copyright statements
    The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author
    Twitter iconFollow QMUL on Twitter
    Twitter iconFollow QM Research
    Online on twitter
    Facebook iconLike us on Facebook
    • Site Map
    • Privacy and cookies
    • Disclaimer
    • Accessibility
    • Contacts
    • Intranet
    • Current students

    Modern Slavery Statement

    Queen Mary University of London
    Mile End Road
    London E1 4NS
    Tel: +44 (0)20 7882 5555

    © Queen Mary University of London.