Rab's Revolution

After reading "The Prime Ministers Who Never Were" I am starting a new thread based on two of the chapters surrounding Rab Butler as PM

The thread starts in 1957 after Eden resigned as PM following the Suez Crisis. BUT Macmillan does not take over...

Rab Butler 1957-1960

Butler becomes PM in a shock victory after allegations about Macmillan's private life become apparent.

In an incredible sequence of events Butler sacks half the cabinet and in his first speech as PM apologises to the British people for the illegal act of invading Egypt.

The move has the dual effects of altering Butler's status in the country and taking the sting out Labour and Hugh Gaitskell.

But his more centrist-liberal polices angers the old "squires from the shires"
 
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