Iain Macleod and Decolonisation

Iain Macleod was, with Joseph Chamberlain, one of two great Colonial Secretaries of the 20^th century. In the early 1960s, he ensured the rapid ending of Britain’s African empire. This allowed Britain to avoid the imperial traumas which afflicted France and Portugal. If the African ex-colonies choose to remain in the multi-racial Commonwealth, that in large part is due to Iain Macleod.

This is a part of the lecture series, Making the Weather: Six politicians who shaped our age.
Winston Churchill wrote of Joseph Chamberlain, Colonial Secretary at the beginning of the 20^th century, that, even though he never became Prime Minister, he 'made the weather', meaning that he played a crucial role in shaping the political agenda of his day. These lectures discuss six postwar politicians, none of whom became Prime Minister, but who, like Joseph Chamberlain, also made the weather and so helped to shape the age in which we live.

The other lectures in this series are as follows:
    Aneurin Bevan and the Socialist Ideal
    Roy Jenkins, Europe and the Civilised Society
    Enoch Powell and the Sovereignty of Parliament
    Tony Benn and the Idea of Participation
    Sir Keith Joseph and the Market Economy