The Swinging Sixties

Harold Wilson: Labour wins the 1964 general election

Harold Wilson was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1964 to June 1970. In many ways, he was elected because of the changing cultural climate. Whereas in the 1951 general election Labour lost to the Conservatives as they had accomplished all they had originally set out to do, by 1964 it was the Conservative Party’s leader, Alec Douglas-Home, who was seen as having nothing new to bring to the table.

That being said, it should be noted that the loss was by a narrow margin. Labour secured 44.1% of the popular vote in comparison to 43.4% of the popular vote going to the Conservatives.

Harold Wilson was in tune with the changing times: he appealed to electors with the rhetoric of technological and scientific development, stating that developments in technology would bring about progress.

With his ‘white heat of technology’, Wilson promised to ignite the progressive Britain that elected him.

The economy under the Wilson government

In many ways, we could argue that the 1960s were set ‘a-swinging’ by the economic Golden Age out of which they arose. The increased social mobility afforded to the British people allowed for this period of cultural and social change.

The Age of affluence, born of the Age of austerity (1945–51) and uplifted by the Conservative government (1951–64) continued during Wilson’s premiership in a new fashion. The Labour government of 1964-70 wanted to focus less on wealth and affluence and more on meeting the communal needs of the public. Therefore, they shifted the focus away from the private sector to the public sector; from capitalist consumerism to socialist inclusivity and change.

The Labour Party was wary of the loose economic foundation upon which the Golden Age arose. Keynesian economic policies could only hold up the country’s economy for so long and Wilson was desperate for a long-term solution for Britain. Yet, though the Labour government was critical of the Golden Age and its pro-consumerist spirit, it endured until 1970.

With more widespread financial freedom and social mobility, it was time to tackle the other social ills of British society. Under the Labour government, the greater social mobility afforded by the Golden Age of affluence was a driving force for social change.

Social and cultural change in the swinging sixties

The Swinging Sixties was a time of interconnected social and cultural change and social reform. First, let’s look at how social values and norms changed during the period and the ways these affected 1960s culture. Finally, we can see how Labour’s reforming legislation responded to the Swinging Sixties’ demands for progress.

The rise of the teenager

Through the 1950s and 1960s, the social position of teenagers had changed, and by the Swinging Sixties, youth subcultures were in full swing.

The youth of the 1960s did not live through the depression-ravaged Britain of the 30s and 40s. The Golden Age period, which began in 1951 and lasted through the 1960s, replaced economic depression and austerity with wealth and prosperity. Teens were, thus, allowed to be teens.

Fig. 1 - Young people in Carnaby street in London.

Teenagers had a lot more time to think about who they wanted to be and the country they wanted the United Kingdom to become. They now had the time and money to experiment with identity and to reject the traditional categories perpetuated by the older, out-of-touch generations. Especially when members of the establishment were caught up in scandals like the Profumo Affair, which shook the nation.

In the broader youth culture of rebellion against traditional institutions and values, youth subcultures such as the Mods and Rockers were born. For example, the Mods dressed up in stylish, smart attire to ride scooters, and the Rockers were all about leather and motorbikes.

Youth subcultures, particularly the Mods and Rockers expressed their anger at the establishment through anti-social behaviour. They deliberately acted against the norms of society and were known for their hooliganism.

Above all else, the affluent and carefree teens of the 1960s wanted to engage in hedonistic pursuits, and what’s more fun than spending your parents’ cash?

1960s culture

The mass media are media forms (tv, magazines, radio, etc.) geared toward mass audiences, which in turn create popular, pop, culture. Popular culture refers to the attitudes and customs which are popular at a certain time and place.

Fig. 2 - The Beatles, a prime example of a popular 1960s (pop) culture.

Mass media played an important role in shaping the swinging sixties, particularly the youth. Companies were eager to profit from the youth’s newfound obsession with identity when they realized the purchasing power they now held. They

took advantage of the widespread wealth in Britain by selling identity to the youth through commodities.

Ads were everywhere: in magazines, on television, on the big screen, on the radio, and on shop-fronts. Britain’s youths filled their leisure time with tunes from pop bands like the Beatles and stylish new clothes.

Permissiveness and reduced censorship

The Swinging Sixties was characterised by its culture of permissiveness because people were freer to act and speak as they wished. As government censorship eased in the Swinging Sixties, the people of the United Kingdom were more emboldened to speak out against injustice.

Censorship and the R v. Penguin Books Ltd. obscenity trial of 1960

This was the obscenity trial against Penguin Books publishers for its publication of DH Lawrence’s 1928 novel, Lady Chatterley’s Lover. The novel was deemed obscene due to its descriptions of sex and crude language.

Penguin won the case, and the ‘unexpurgated’ version of the book was published for the first time in the country (Expurgation was a way of censoring books by cutting out their obscene elements). Historians see the trial as the beginning of the Permissive Age.

Censorship and the Theatres Act of 1968

This legislation ended the censorship of plays. It got rid of the system of having every play go through the Lord Chamberlain for approval before they could be brought to the stage.

Social movements and protest

Though wealth made people freer with increased social mobility, it did not eliminate the deep-rooted systemic issues affecting minorities and women in the 1960s. So, the people took to the streets to protest against different injustices.

Feminism and the Women’s Liberation movement

The Swinging Sixties saw the beginning of the Women’s Liberation movement, a grass-roots movement for women’s rights. In 1961, for example, the contraceptive pill was made available to married women. By 1967, abortion had been legalised in the United Kingdom.

Anti-Vietnam War riots

On 17 March 1968, 10,000 people took to the streets of London to protest against the Vietnam War and Britain’s support for the United States. Violence broke out outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square, turning the protests into riots. More than 200 protesters were arrested.

Immigration and increasing anti-immigrant sentiment

Not all protest was in the name of social progress. Racist, anti-immigration groups protested the entrance of Asian refugees into the country. The anti-immigrant sentiment was fueled by the divisive rhetoric of Conservative politician Enoch Powell which he espoused in his ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech. While British citizens were afforded more social mobility due to the Golden Age, the freedom of movement of Commonwealth citizens was restricted.

There were two acts in this decade which aimed to restrict immigration into the country:

• The 1962 Commonwealth Immigrations Act aimed to restrict Commonwealth citizens from migrating to Britain. However, this led those migrants already working in the UK to settle there permanently, as they were afraid if they returned to their home countries, they would not be allowed back. Ironically, this legislation increased the number of immigrants in the country.

• The 1968 Commonwealth Immigrations Act restricted access to only those with a father or grandfather born in the UK.

Anti-immigrant hate groups such as the National Front, founded in 1967, wanted to ban all non-white immigration into the country, but they were unsuccessful.

1960s Britain timeline

The 1960s were a time of reform and change. Below are some of the key dates of social reforms during this period.

Labour’s social reforms legislation

The social progress of the 1960s was matched by real action and change thanks to the reforming legislation passed by the Labour government. Home Secretary Roy Jenkins either introduced or supported the following reforms:

The 1967 Abortion Act

The Abortion Act of 1967 was originally introduced by David Steel as a Private Members’ Bill.

The Bill gave women the freedom to choose to have an abortion for up to week 24 of pregnancy under the following conditions:

• It must be performed by a registered doctor.

• It must be authorised by two doctors.

• The pregnancy must be of serious risk to the physical or mental health of the mother.

• The child would be seriously handicapped.

The legislation gave women more control over their own bodies. While abortion remains a highly divisive issue, the passage of the Bill illustrates the accomplishments of social progress during the 1960s.

The Murder Act of 1965 and the end of capital punishment in 1969

This Act abolished capital punishment, which is the lawful killing of a criminal by the state.

In 1969, capital punishment was officially abolished in the UK. After a heated debate between PM Harold Wilson, Conservative leader Edward Heath, and Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe, they all came out in support of abolishing capital punishment.

This serves as both evidence of the progress of the Swinging Sixties and of the continued period of post-war consensus between political parties.

The Sexual Offences Act of 1967

The Act legalised homosexual relations between men in England and Wales:

Although groundbreaking for the time, the act was only progressive to an extent. It relegated homosexual acts to the private sphere, reinforcing their cultural status as taboo and immoral.

The Race Relations Acts of 1965 and 1968

The acts made it a civil offence to discriminate based on race or ethnicity in public areas. For example, refusing to serve a black person in a café or overcharging them.

In 1968, the initial act was strengthened by prohibiting racial discrimination in employment and housing. However, it did not fully outlaw racial discrimination, for example, in the private sphere. Although this legislation was a step in the right direction, it did not end racial discrimination in the United Kingdom.

Divorce Reform Act of 1969

This act made the sole ground for divorce the ‘irretrievable breakdown of the marriage’, eliminating past restrictions to serious offences.

If only one partner wanted a divorce, they had to prove they had been living apart from each other for at least five years. Or, if both parties wanted a divorce, the period of separation had to be at least two years.

This legislation made the process of divorce much easier. However, similarly to the Sexual Offences Act, this legislation did not give people total autonomy over their relationships.

Tensions in the Swinging Sixties

By now it should be apparent that not all was perfect in the Swinging Sixties. This was certainly the case when it came to tensions with Britain’s industry and workers’ unions. PM Harold Wilson was not very progressive when it came to the unions.

Though this was a golden age of affluence in Britain, PM Harold Wilson was concerned about inflation and Britain’s balance of payments deficit (basically, too much money going out, and not enough coming in) would cause serious economic problems. He cracked down on worker unions’ ability to strike and believed their demands for higher pay needed to be kept in check as the government couldn’t afford wage increases.

Tensions between unions and the government escalated through the period. Concerned about Britain’s trade deficit, Wilson reduced the value of the pound with the aim of facilitating the export of British goods in a process known as devaluation.

By 1969, Wilson published the government paper ‘In place of strife’ with the purpose of restricting union strikes. This demonstrated the extent of the tension with the unions in the period.

The end of the Swinging Sixties

As the Golden Age was defined by the feeling of wealthiness rather than true economic prosperity, so, too, were the Swinging Sixties defined by the feeling of a hopeful, fun, progressive time rather than it being a truly free, progressive time. As demonstrated above, it was far from a perfect period: racial and anti-immigrant tensions were rife, the oppression of women and people of colour continued, and the economy was unstable.