World War II left the United Kingdom with an appetite for a broader distribution of wealth and a strengthening of social security, while a natural conservatism held fast to a belief in individual initiative and private property. The practical resolution of this tension in politics by the two Chancellors was a mixed economy with moderate state intervention to promote social goals, particularly in education and health.

The consensus dominated British politics until 1979 when the administration of Margaret Thatcher radically challenged accepted wisdom and institutionalised a greater emphasis on a free market approach to government.