1. Labour controlled the London County Council for thirty years – one reason for its abolition by the Conservatives’ London Government Act of 1963. This Act extended the metropolitan area to the suburbs under the Greater London Council (which Labour still won more often than not). The LEAs were formed from the borough councils in the outer ring of suburbs; but the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) inherited these functions within the inner-city boroughs. Since the ILEA was controlled by whichever party was stronger within the old LCC boundaries, it is not surprising that it continued under Labour control.
1. The supposed experience of Gordon Walker, a dowdy Gaitskellite, actually counted for little, since he had lost his seat at the general election – in a racialist campaign at Smethwick which made it a debt of honour to go through with his appointment – and he went on to lose the by-election which was engineered as an attempt to get him back into the Commons in February 1965. Michael Stewart, with equal lack of charisma, became the obvious man to take over the Foreign Office at short notice after this false start.
1. Such statistics need particularly careful interpretation. Crosland cited a growth of public expenditure from 41 per cent to 48 per cent of GNP, which was in line with current Treasury definitions. In 1977, however, the basis on which the British figures were calculated was brought into line with international conventions, producing an apparent fall in public expenditure by about 7 per cent of GDP.