If this is your course, you are studying how Britain changed from the post-war settlement of the 1950s through affluence, social reform, economic crisis, Thatcherism, New Labour and the premiership of Tony Blair.

This is not only a sequence of governments. It connects political choices to work, class, gender, race, migration, national identity, popular culture, Northern Ireland, Europe and Britain’s changing place in the world.

This Tier 1 guide gives you the foundation across all six AQA sections. Tier 2 pages can later add precise evidence, contemporary-source practice and deeper debate.

First, check that this is your course

• AQA A-level History 7042;
• Component 2, option 2S;
• The Making of Modern Britain, 1951–2007.

This is not AQA 2M, which begins in 1906 and ends in 1957, or AQA 1G, which begins in 1851 and uses Component 1 interpretations assessment.

Your course in one view

1. The Affluent Society, 1951–1964.
2. The Sixties, 1964–1970.
3. The end of post-war consensus, 1970–1979.
4. The impact of Thatcherism, 1979–1987.
5. Towards a new consensus, 1987–1997.
6. The era of New Labour, 1997–2007.

The main connection is the changing relationship between government, markets and society. The idea of a simple post-war consensus is useful but contested: parties shared some assumptions while continuing to disagree over ownership, taxation, unions, welfare and Britain’s international role.

The starting world: Britain in 1951

Britain emerged from the Second World War victorious but indebted. Rationing continued, housing remained scarce and industrial equipment needed renewal. The Labour governments of 1945–51 had created the National Health Service, expanded social insurance and nationalised major industries.

Most employment was industrial, and trade unions represented millions of workers. Social class strongly influenced housing, education and opportunity. Women had made major wartime contributions but faced unequal pay and expectations centred on marriage and domestic life.

Britain still possessed an empire, although Indian independence in 1947 signalled rapid change. The country was committed to NATO and close relations with the United States. Migration from the Caribbean, South Asia and elsewhere was reshaping British society, while migrants encountered discrimination as well as building communities and institutions.

Starting-world check

1. Why was victory in 1945 followed by austerity?
2. What had Labour changed by 1951?
3. How did class and gender shape opportunity?
4. Why was Britain’s world role already changing?

Essential vocabulary

• Welfare state: public systems protecting people against illness, unemployment, poverty and old age.
• Mixed economy: an economy combining private enterprise with state ownership and intervention.
• Consensus: broad agreement across parties; historians dispute its extent.
• Affluence: rising material living standards and consumption.
• Deindustrialisation: the contraction of industrial employment and production.
• Stagflation: high inflation combined with weak growth and unemployment.
• Monetarism: policy emphasising control of money and inflation.
• Thatcherism: ideas associated with markets, privatisation, restricted union power and individual responsibility.
• Devolution: transfer of powers from Westminster to national institutions.
• New Labour: Labour’s modernised political project under Tony Blair.

1. Conservative dominance and affluence, 1951–1964

Churchill, Eden, Macmillan and Home led Conservative governments. They accepted much of the welfare state and mixed economy while encouraging private enterprise and home ownership. Rising wages, near-full employment and consumer goods supported the claim that people had “never had it so good.”

Affluence was uneven. Poverty persisted among some elderly people, low-paid workers and families in poor housing. Regional differences remained, and industrial productivity often lagged behind competitors.

The Suez Crisis of 1956 exposed limits on independent British power when US financial pressure helped force withdrawal. Decolonisation accelerated. Britain applied to join the European Economic Community, but Charles de Gaulle vetoed entry.

Migration enriched British life, but racial prejudice affected work and housing. The 1958 Nottingham and Notting Hill violence helped produce debate over race relations and immigration controls.

Knowledge check

1. Why did Conservative acceptance of welfare matter?
2. Who did not share equally in affluence?
3. What did Suez reveal?
4. How did migration and racism both shape the period?

2. Labour and the Sixties, 1964–1970

Harold Wilson promised technological modernisation. His governments created new institutions and pursued economic planning, but balance-of-payments pressure contributed to devaluation in 1967.

Social legislation changed the legal environment for abortion, homosexuality, divorce and capital punishment. These reforms reflected campaigning and changing attitudes as well as parliamentary action. Women’s activism, youth culture and media challenged established authority, though social change was uneven.

The government passed Race Relations Acts but also tightened immigration controls. This combination shows the tension between formal opposition to discrimination and political anxiety about migration.

Britain withdrew from commitments east of Suez and again sought EEC membership. Wilson resisted sending combat troops to Vietnam while maintaining the US alliance.

Knowledge check

1. Why did Wilson emphasise technology?
2. What caused economic difficulty?
3. Why should social reform not be credited to ministers alone?
4. How was race policy contradictory?

3. Crisis and the end of consensus, 1970–1979

Edward Heath entered office promising market reform, but unemployment and industrial conflict encouraged intervention. Britain joined the EEC in 1973. The oil shock intensified inflation and economic weakness.

Confrontation with miners contributed to the three-day week and the February 1974 election. Labour returned under Wilson and then Callaghan. A referendum in 1975 confirmed EEC membership.

Governments struggled with inflation, public spending and union relations. The 1976 IMF loan became a symbol of constraint. The Winter of Discontent in 1978–79 damaged Labour’s reputation, though later political storytelling sometimes simplified its causes and scale.

Conflict in Northern Ireland escalated after 1969. British troops, internment, Bloody Sunday, paramilitary violence and failed political initiatives created profound suffering. People and organisations in Northern Ireland were actors, not merely a problem managed from Westminster.

Knowledge check

1. Why did Heath change economic course?
2. How did energy and union conflict interact?
3. Why did the IMF crisis matter politically?
4. Why must Northern Ireland not be treated as background?

You can pause here. You now understand why the post-war settlement came under growing pressure by 1979.

4. Thatcherism, 1979–1987

Margaret Thatcher prioritised inflation control, market competition and reduced union power. Early monetarist policies coincided with recession, unemployment and industrial contraction. Supporters saw necessary restructuring; critics emphasised lost communities and widening inequality.

Council-house sales widened home ownership. Privatisation transferred state industries into private ownership. Legislation restricted union activity, and the miners’ strike of 1984–85 ended in union defeat after a bitter conflict involving policing, communities and internal divisions.

The Falklands War strengthened Thatcher’s political standing and asserted British resolve. Relations with the United States were close, while European policy became more contentious.

Race, policing and urban deprivation contributed to unrest in several cities. Women, Black British organisations, peace campaigners and LGBTQ+ activists challenged government and social discrimination.

Knowledge check

1. What distinguished Thatcherite economics?
2. Why was deindustrialisation contested?
3. How did the miners’ strike change power relations?
4. Which groups challenged the government?

5. Conservative change and New Labour, 1987–1997

Thatcher’s third term included further privatisation and conflict over Europe. The poll tax provoked mass opposition and contributed to her fall in 1990.

John Major replaced her and won the 1992 election. Britain entered recession, and Black Wednesday in 1992 damaged Conservative claims to economic competence. Divisions over Europe deepened.

Major supported the developing Northern Ireland peace process. Social attitudes continued to change, while the murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993 and the campaign led by his family exposed institutional racism.

Labour modernised under Neil Kinnock, John Smith and Tony Blair. New Labour accepted much of the market economy, revised Clause IV and presented itself as combining economic competence with social investment.

Knowledge check

1. Why did the poll tax damage Thatcher?
2. What was the importance of Black Wednesday?
3. How did campaigners influence debate about racism?
4. What made New Labour “new”?

6. New Labour, 1997–2007

Tony Blair won landslide elections in 1997, 2001 and 2005. Gordon Brown gave the Bank of England operational independence and followed fiscal rules before increasing spending on health and education.

Constitutional reform included devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Human Rights Act and reform of the House of Lords. The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 was built through negotiation involving British and Irish governments, Northern Irish parties and civil society.

Policies including the minimum wage and tax credits aimed to reduce poverty while retaining a market-oriented economy. Critics questioned inequality, public-private partnerships and centralised targets.

Britain intervened in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. The 2003 Iraq War became especially divisive because claims about weapons of mass destruction proved unfounded and planning for occupation failed.

Migration and cultural diversity increased. Debates over Britishness, Europe, security and multiculturalism intensified. By 2007 New Labour had reshaped institutions and public services, but trust had been damaged by Iraq and disputes over political style.

Knowledge check

1. How did New Labour combine continuity and change?
2. Why was devolution significant?
3. Who helped create the Good Friday Agreement?
4. Why did Iraq damage Blair?

The whole story in six anchor dates

• 1951: Conservatives return to government.
• 1964: Labour wins under Wilson.
• 1973: Britain joins the EEC.
• 1979: Thatcher becomes prime minister.
• 1997: New Labour wins and begins constitutional reform.
• 2003: Britain joins the invasion of Iraq.

What your AQA examination asks you to do

This is Component 2, assessed in 2 hours 30 minutes for 80 marks.

• Section A: one compulsory 30-mark question evaluating three contemporary primary sources.
• Section B: answer two 25-mark essays from three.

This is not the Component 1 interpretations paper. Evaluate each source for the precise enquiry using its content, contextual knowledge, authorship, purpose, audience and timing.

A small practice task

How far did Thatcherism transform Britain by 1987?

Consider economic policy, unions, ownership, social division, political language and continuities with earlier governments. Reach a judgement based on both scale and durability.

Your next layer of learning

Tier 2 can add detailed enquiries into consensus, affluence, migration, decolonisation, the Sixties, economic crisis, Northern Ireland, Thatcherism, deindustrialisation, Europe, New Labour, devolution and Iraq, alongside AQA-style source and essay practice.

You are allowed to stop here. If you can retell the six-stage story, place the anchor dates and distinguish contemporary sources from interpretations, this guide has done its Tier 1 job.