Government-finance relations in Britain 1964–7: a tale of three cities

The emphasis of this paper is on the differential impact of Labour Government policies on the City of London in the years 1964–7. Three different areas of Government policy are distinguished and it is shown that Government-City relations in each area had their own very distinct characteristics. Whether or not the policies in a particular area were framed in such a way as to satisfy the perceived interests of the financial institutions was closely related to respective Government-finance power resources and to their respective strategies and objectives. These conditions varied in each of the three policy areas. Controversially, it is argued that the Wilson Government’s strategy was informed throughout by Labour party ideals and that these were pursued with loyalty and great skill in the face of much hostility from the City. The final section draws on the analysis of the present paper to indicate just how misleading the standard accounts of City-Government relations have been.