The ministerial career of Anthony Crosland 1964-1977

Abstract

Existing studies of the career of Anthony Crosland have been biographical in emphasis or have concentrated on Crosland as a theoretician. This thesis will endeavour to examine his record as a minister and relate his conduct of ministerial office to his political principles and the wider political circumstance of the time. Crosland’s attempts to frame and successfully deliver departmental policy based on his socialist agenda will be evaluated at the conclusion of the study of each ministry. This thesis will be structured around Crosland’s progression through the five ministerial posts that he held in the Labour administrations of Harold Wilson (1964-70 and 1974-76) and of James Callaghan (1976-77). In so doing more attention will be paid to policy areas which have not attracted much scrutiny even in the two major biographical studies. In particular, I have made greater use of archive material at the National Archives to shed more light on the following areas under Crosland’s administration: the diversity of the Board of Trade activities; regional impact of policies at the Board and the Department of Environment; environmental concerns in the 1970s; and foreign policy decisions in central and southern Africa.