Past Prime Ministers
NicknameClem
Born 3 January 1883, London
Died 8 October 1967, London
Dates in office 26 July 1945 - 26 October 1951
Political party Labour
Major acts
National Health Service Created - first time, anywhere in the world, that completely free healthcare was made available on the basis of citizenship and need rather than the payment of fees or insurance premiums.
National Insurance Act 1946 - all persons of working age had to pay a weekly contribution and in return were entitled to a wide range of benefits, including Guardian’s (or Orphans) Allowances, Death Grants, Unemployment Benefit, Widow’s Benefits, Sickness Benefit, and Retirement Pension
Interesting facts
Nationalised one fifth of the British economy.
Clement Attlee
1945 - 1951
“Often the experts make the worst possible ministers in their own fields. In this country we prefer rule by amateurs.”
Clement Attlee was leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955, and served as Britain’s Prime Minister from 1945 to 1951. As Prime Minister, Attlee oversaw the rebuilding of post-war Britain, and the birth of the nation’s Welfare State. More than one survey of academics has voted Attlee the most successful British Prime Minister of all time.
Born to a middle-class family in London, Clement Richard Attlee studied at Oxford University, and then trained as a lawyer. He went on to manage Haileybury House, a charitable youth organisation in Limehouse, east London. This experience clearly had a profound impact on Attlee, whose political views were shaped by the poverty he witnessed in London’s east end, and he joined the Independent Labour Party in 1908. Upon the advent of the First World War, Attlee applied for a Commission and served as a Captain. His reputation as an effective, efficient leader gained him promotion to the rank of Major, a title that would stay with him beyond his military life.
On returning from the war, Attlee moved into politics, becoming Mayor of Stepney in 1919, and MP for Limehouse in 1922. Attlee continued to rise within the Labour Party, and was elected its leader in 1935, following the resignation of George Lansbury. During the Second World War, he was called into Winston Churchill’s coalition government, notably holding the title of Deputy Prime Minister from 1942-45. When a General Election was called upon the climax of the war in Europe, Attlee led the Labour Party to a surprising landslide victory, winning 393 seats to the Conservative’s 213, and 48% of the public vote.
Attlee’s period as Prime Minister was one of intense activity. The notoriously blunt, relatively quiet man was nevertheless adept at quick, decisive action. Attlee’s leadership style was apparently collective, but once the Prime Minister had let his Cabinet voice their opinions, he would rapidly make decisions with military precision. As a result, practically all of Labour’s Manifesto pledges were implemented under Attlee. Despite the Second World War leaving Britain effectively bankrupt, Attlee managed the creation of the National Health Service, part of the Welfare State that sought to provide ‘cradle to the grave’ care for British citizens. On top of this, many of Britain’s largest industries – such as coal mining, electricity and the railways – were brought under state control; all this despite recurring currency crises and shortages of food and resources so acute that rationing had to be maintained long after the war.
Attlee’s time as Prime Minister also saw intense foreign policy activity. Attlee placed great faith in Ernest Bevin, his Foreign Secretary, and together they oversaw Indian independence; American loans and ‘Marshall Aid’ for the rebuilding of Britain and Western Europe; the Berlin airlift; and Britain’s commitment to the United Nations. In the 1950 General Election, however, Labour lost their majority, and by the time of their defeat in the general election of 1951, the Labour Government had worked itself to near exhaustion. Attlee, however, continued to lead the Labour party until 1955, and died in 1967, aged 84.
Jak Brown, Mile End Group