During the long period of Tory government, 1951 to 1964, the Conservatives tried to establish an industrial partnership with the unions, assisted by rising living standards. Harold MacMillan, prime minister from 1956 to 1963, even asserted at the 1959 general election: "You've never had it so good". What word was used to describe this wealth?

The world of employment and industrial relations was a volatile one between 1951 and 1979. Britain was heavily unionised during the period, and trade unions accordingly wielded considerable power. By the 1960s, however, relations between unions and governments deteriorated - even between the unions and their traditional allies, the Labour party. When a new Tory administration emerged in 1979, this tension was likely to come to a head.