ABSTRACT
During the War unemployment throughout Britain fell to an extremely low level. Fears of unemployment in the post-war period were, however, very much alive. There seemed every possibility that the pre-war situation could recur; but the War had converted all major political parties to Keynesian economics and they determined to prevent it. The result was the White Paper on Employment Policy published by the Coalition Government in 1944. The foundation of British regional policy from 1945 to 1960 was the Distribution of Industry Act of 1945. The period from 1945 to 1960 demonstrates that the emphasis a government puts on its regional policy is at least as important to securing success as the measures themselves. In fact, however, though policy measures immediately after the War had achieved considerable success, the economies of the Scottish, Welsh and Northern regions were still heavily dependent on their traditional industries.
