(7 of 9)
This week, as M.P.s flocked back to Westminster from the Christmas recess, unemployment threatened to be an even more explosive issue than the collapse of the Common Market negotiations. The government's best asset in time of crisis has always been the Prime Minister, a political MacHoudini who can slither out of almost any trap by sheer sleight-of-hand. Undisturbed by the country's mounting frustration over unemployment and housing, Macmillan did not swing into action until last summer, after the Tories had suffered the worst series of by-election reverses inflicted on a British government in 40 years. In his third and most drastic Cabinet reshuffle since he took office, Macmillan purged half his Ministers, handed key posts to some of the brightest young politicians east of the New Frontier.
To ginger up the faltering economy, new Chancellor of the Exchequer Reginald Maudling cut interest rates, gave generous new tax concessions to industry, slashed purchase taxes on autos and a wide range of consumer goods. To speed homebuilding and slum clearance—a task that Macmillan himself discharged with distinction in his first Cabinet post in 1951—the Prime Minister brought in Sir Keith Joseph, 45, an astute politician and onetime construction company executive, and gave him the go-ahead for a major public-works program. Geoffrey Rippon, 38, the party's "backroom" housing expert, was assigned to streamline archaic building codes and techniques. Two weeks ago, as unemployment kept rising and support for the government slumped to an alltime low (36% v. 45% for Labor), Macmillan assigned Lord Hailsham, his Minister of Science and former party chairman, to make a crash effort to help the worst depressed areas as Cabinet Minister responsible for the northeast.
The government does not have to call an election for 21 months. It has recently seemed likely, however, that Macmillan would go to the people in the coming fall. By then, politicians figured, Britain would have made her triumphal entry into the Common Market, and the government's pump priming would have thinned the unemployment rolls and reinvigorated the economy. But after last week's dimming of hopes for a prompt entry into Europe, the government may feel it is necessary to seek a new mandate even earlier.
The Conservatives have been in power for eleven straight years, the longest unbroken innings that any party has enjoyed since the 23-year Tory reign that ended in 1830. Sixteen by-election setbacks for the Tories in the past year have badly dented Macmillan's prestige. Until Hugh Gaitskell's death last week, a Tory defeat in the next elections seemed at least a possibility. Against a demoralized, leaderless Opposition, the Conservative chances are far brighter for the fourth straight electoral victory. Some experts speculate that Harold Macmillan may decide to step down after the election. He has no clear heir, but Deputy Prime Minister R. A. ("Rab") Butler, an astute tactician who is distrusted by Tory right-wingers, would succeed him if Macmillan were removed tomorrow.