Alec Douglas-Home

Alec Douglas-Home as Foreign Secretary

Though Douglas-Home’s most notable role was as Prime Minister, he was arguably at his best as Foreign Secretary.

He occupied the position for two periods from 1960 to 1963. Then-Prime Minister Harold Macmillan appointed Douglas-Home and supported his plan for Britain's accession into the European Economic Community (EEC).

Fig. 1 - Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home (left)

How did Alec Douglas-Home handle the Cold War as Foreign Secretary?

Douglas-Home took a pragmatic anti-communist approach to the Cold War. Douglas-Home approached the Cuban Missile Crisis with composure, encouraging Macmillan to support US President John F. Kennedy’s plan to resist Soviet threats of nuclear attack.

Negotiating the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

The US and USSR Ministers of Foreign Affairs acknowledged Douglas-Home's skill with foreign policy. He also praised his civility and astuteness in the negotiations leading up to the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

The Treaty sought to ban nuclear weapons testing in the atmosphere, outer space, and underwater. The purpose was to ease public anxiety over the danger of nuclear weapons testing and slow down the race between world powers for nuclear supremacy.

Douglas-Home and US and USSR representatives signed the Treaty in Moscow on 5 August 1963. Douglas-Home played an essential role in negotiating the Treaty, a step toward the end of the Cold War.

Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home

Alec Douglas-Home replaced Harold Macmillan when he was forced to resign due to health problems. Douglas-Home was elected informally by the ‘customary processes’ and would be the last prime minister elected without a formal election.

Fig. 2 - Harold Macmillan

Harold Macmillan supported and essentially selected Douglas-Home. Macmillan believed Douglas-Home would appeal to swing voters, the undecided voters in the upcoming 1964 general election. He was more moderate than another candidate for office, Lord Hailsham, who was strongly right-wing.

Alec Douglas-Home’s policies

Alec Douglas-Home was not actively involved in political processes, which made his tenure a largely unremarkable period. However, Douglas-Home did oversee the introduction of the Resale Price Act.

The Resale Prices Bill of 1964 was introduced to end resale price maintenance, also known as ‘price-fixing’.

The concern with resale price maintenance was that it was no longer beneficial to the economy. Chancellor Dilhorne, a member of Douglas-Home's Cabinet, argued in a speech to Parliament that:

The bill would benefit the economy, enabling competition between companies to set their prices. The bill's introduction resulted from a successful campaign by then-President of the Board of Trade and future Prime Minister Edward Heath. Thus, the ministry of Douglas-Home introduced the bill that would come into effect in 1965.

Fig. 3 - Edward Heath

However, we could argue that Douglas-Home should not have much merit in the passage of this bill due to his lack of economic expertise.

Why did Alec Douglas-Home lose the general election of 1964?

Alec Douglas-Home lost the 1964 general election to Labour Party leader Harold Wilson by a narrow margin. Therefore, the Conservatives' loss was due to the loss of votes to the Liberal Party, which received 11.2% of the electoral vote.

Growing disillusionment with the Conservative establishment

As we mentioned before, like Churchill and Macmillan before him, Douglas-Home was a product of Eton. Douglas-Home was also an aristocrat, formerly the Fourteenth Earl of Home, like Macmillan.

But the public had grown tired of the Conservative establishment, which had proved incapable of meeting the demands of modernity. He was as out of touch as the prime minister he replaced, Harold Macmillan.

The scandals of Macmillan’s ministry damaged the reputation of the Conservative Party

John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War, had an affair with Christine Keeler, who had an affair with the Soviet spy Yevgeny Ivanov. Profumo had lied to Parliament and was forced to resign.

The Profumo affair scandal did lasting damage to the image of the Conservative Party. The Conservatives were considered decadent and corrupt and thus unfit to lead the country.

Alec Douglas-Home’s successor

Labour Party leader Harold Wilson was Douglas-Home’s successor. He proved to be the better man for the job. On his part, Douglas-Home had two main disadvantages:

• Unpleasant personality: Douglas-Home could not perform well in front of an audience. He was visibly inept at dealing with a hostile audience at hustings in the run-up to the general election. Unlike the likeable Wilson, he was uncomfortable on television.
• Outplayed by Wilson: Douglas-Home was often outplayed in the House of Commons by the astute Harold Wilson.

Fig. 4 - Harold Wilson

Alec Douglas-Home’s reputation and legacy

Douglas-Home didn’t have a very good reputation as Prime Minister and he certainly didn’t help the already in trouble Conservative Party. He was:

• Incompetent and emblematic of the decadence of aristocracy: Douglas-Home was strategically selected by Harold Macmillan, who believed he could appeal to swing voters. But Douglas-Home was the wrong candidate at the wrong time: he would not fare well with a public growing tired of aristocratic Conservatives in power, especially not an aristocrat as evidently incompetent and unfit as Douglas-Home.

• Undeserving of credit: it can be argued that it would be unfair to credit Douglas-Home with the accomplishments of his ministry, when his Chancellor, Reginald Maudling was in charge of financial matters. Douglas-Home can also not be credited for the successful campaign to pass the Resale Prices Bill, as it was the work of the President of the Board of Trade, Edward Heath.

We could argue that Alec Douglas-Home was better suited for the role of Foreign Secretary. He was praised for his insight and composure in negotiating for the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and his support of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. It was in this role that Douglas-Home was perhaps at his best. The Times argued that his legacy lies not in his premiership but his role as Foreign Secretary: