Politics and 'Black Tuesday': Shifting Power in the Cabinet and the Decision to Withdraw from East of Suez, November 1967-January 1968

Abstract

On 16 January 1968, the Wilson government announced that the British would swiftly depart from what had long been considered one of the country's most vital strategic assets—the east of Suez network. Traditional scholarship maintains that the decision was driven by economic scarcity and the jolts that repeated financial crises gave to the body politic. Whilst economic pressures were real, this essay utilizes newly released government records to argue that political concerns played an even more important role. The rising political power of reformers such as Chancellor Roy Jenkins and their coalition‐building efforts in the Cabinet must be included in any compelling explanation of the east of Suez decision.