ABSTRACT

This chapter looks at the post-war period concentrating upon those aspects that help illuminate the nature of Thatcherism. It provides enough background to understand the degree of change that Thatcherism has brought to the planning system. The question that is addressed concerns the nature of this post-war consensus and the role adopted by the state in the period up to 1979. The main features affecting both attitudes to the state and to planning were: the changing socio-economic situation; the need for a morale boosting vision of society; and the resultant all-party and elitist approach to a solution. Patrick McAuslan identifies that in the 1970s some planners were propounding views on the purpose of planning that fell within this ideology. Government's major preoccupation was to maintain economic growth as the basis of the Keynsian/Welfare State approach and it pursued a corporatist means to achieve this. The idea of a 'shifting consensus' is adopted from Reade.