It has been a victory for brute force. [152], The crisis led to an unsuccessful plot by Hugh Dalton to replace Attlee as Prime Minister with Ernest Bevin. Attlee then trained as a barrister at the Inner Temple and was called to the bar in March 1906. Although re-elected, the result was seen by Attlee as very disappointing, and was widely attributed to the effects of post-war austerity denting Labour's appeal to middle-class voters. To this end, it undertook the nationalisation of public utilities and major industries, and implemented wide-ranging social reforms, including the passing of the National Insurance Act 1946 and National Assistance Act, the formation of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948, and the enlargement of public subsidies for council house building. [39], During 1932–33 Attlee flirted with, and then drew back from radicalism, influenced by Stafford Cripps who was then on the radical wing of the party, he was briefly a member of the Socialist League, which had been formed by former Independent Labour Party (ILP) members, who opposed the ILP's disaffiliation from the main Labour Party in 1932. His party was narrowly defeated by the Conservatives in the 1951 general election, despite winning the most votes. [172], The Labour government gave independence to India and Pakistan in an unexpectedly quick move in 1947. The government encouraged farmers via subsidies for modernisation, while the National Agricultural Advisory Service provided expertise and price guarantees. At every stage of the proceedings there have been time limits laid down by the owner and ruler of armed force. The peace freed Attlee to pursue … Often rated as one of the greatest British prime ministers, Attlee's reputation among scholars has grown, thanks to his creation of the modern welfare state and involvement in building the coalition against Joseph Stalin in the Cold War. [140] In addition, spending on technical education rose, and the number of nursery schools was increased. He was a serious man and a patriot. After the end of World War II in Europe, the coalition was dissolved and Attlee led Labour to a landslide victory at the 1945 general election,[note 2] forming the first Labour majority government. [160][161], In August 1948, the Chinese Communists' victories caused Attlee to begin preparing for a Communist takeover of China. Peter Clarke, "Attlee: The Making of the Postwar Consensus" in Peter Clarke, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for War, Keynesian approach to economic management, Martin Richard, Viscount Prestwood, later 2nd Earl Attlee, the granting of independence to India and Pakistan, Cultural depictions of British prime ministers § Clement Attlee, Housing (Financial and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1946, National Insurance (Industrial Injuries) Act 1946, Education (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1948, Nurseries and Child-Minders Regulation Act 1948, House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949, Landlord and Tenant (Rent Control) Act 1949, National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, Workmen's Compensation (Supplementation) Act 1951, "Why football can be a dangerous game for politicians", "Janet Helen Attlee Shipton – Obituaries – Standard Examiner", "J. Keith Harwood, 62; Ex-Macy's Executive", "DAVIS – Deaths Announcements – Telegraph Announcements", "Mr. Attlee's Daughter Weds – Alison Attlee… 1952", "Lansbury v Morrison, the battle over Poplarism", Contains excerpt from Attlee's biography towards the bottom of the page, "Tribute from Labor's Attlee to George and the monarchy", "Clement Attlee took in Jewish child refugee who fled Nazis", "Clement Attlee: enigmatic, out of time – and formidable", "British Labour Party election manifesto, 1945 [archived]", "VOTE2001 – THE ELECTION BATTLES 1945–1997", "HC S Budget Resolution and Economic Situation", "Who, What, Why: Why do the rich get child benefit? [78], The London dock strike of July 1949, led by Communists, was suppressed when the Attlee government sent in 13,000 Army troops and passed special legislation to promptly end the strike. [111] Legislation was also passed in 1947 and 1948 which established a permanent Agricultural Wages Board to fix minimum wages for agricultural workers. Clement Attlee 1883-1967 Prime Minister 1945-1951 for twenty years leader of the Labour Party He was born on 3rd January 1883 in London, a son of Henry and his wife Ellen (Watson). [210], Thatcher herself wrote in her 1995 memoirs, which charted her beginnings in Grantham to her victory at the 1979 general election, that she admired Attlee, writing: "Of Clement Attlee, however, I was an admirer. [107] This scheme gave registered dockers the legal right to minimum work and decent conditions. When this was introduced in July 1947, it led to a currency crisis and convertibility had to be suspended after just five weeks. [111] Attlee himself sought warm relations with Stalin. [223], Limehouse Library was closed in 2003, after which the statue was vandalised. Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee (1883-1967), was prime minister of England from 1945 to 1951. [144] In 1947, Regional Advisory Councils were set up to bring together industry and education to find out the needs of young workers "and advise on the provision required, and to secure reasonable economy of provision". Using the Dominions of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand as a model, he continued the transformation of the empire into the modern-day British Commonwealth. He remains the longest-serving Labour leader in British history. [89], The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act of 1950 amended an Act of 1885 to bring prostitutes within the law and safeguard them from abduction and abuse. [28], When the results of the election were announced on 26 July, they came as a surprise to most, including Attlee himself. Crowcroft, Robert, and Kevin Theakston. Golant, W. "The Emergence of CR Attlee as Leader of the Parliamentary Labour Party in 1935. Attlee’s social and welfare policy continues to form a major part of the political landscape of the twenty-first century. Through the National Dock Labour Board (on which trade unions and employers had equal representation) the unions acquired control over recruitment and dismissal. Ernest Bevin was a passionate anti-communist, based largely on his experience of fighting communist influence in the trade union movement. FIFTY years ago tomorrow, on October 8, 1967, Britain’s first post-Second World War prime minister, Clement Attlee, died of pneumonia in Westminster Hospital. Irial Glynn, "'An Untouchable in the Presence of Brahmins' Lord Wavell's Disastrous Relationship with Whitehall During His Time as Viceroy to India, 1943–7". In 1919, he became mayor of Stepney and in 1922 was elected Member of Parliament for Limehouse. Attlee served in the first Labour minority government led by Ramsay MacDonald in 1924, and then joined the Cabinet during MacDonald's second minority (1929–1931). [93], The Fire Services Act 1947 introduced a new pension scheme for fire-fighters,[102] while the Electricity Act 1947 introduced better retirement benefits for workers in that industry. [215], His greatest achievement, surpassing many of these, was perhaps the establishment of a political and economic consensus about the governance of Britain that all three major parties subscribed to for three decades, fixing the arena of political discourse until the late-1970s. [48], Attlee played little part in the events that would lead up to the abdication of Edward VIII, as despite Baldwin's threat to step down if Edward attempted to remain on the throne after marrying Wallis Simpson, Labour were widely accepted not to be a viable alternative government due to the National Government's overwhelming majority in the Commons. [136] In addition, the number of motor cars on the roads rose from 3 million to 5 million from 1945 to 1951, and seaside holidays were taken by far more people than ever before. From 1945 to 1948, over 200 public Acts of Parliament were passed, with eight major pieces of legislation placed on the statute book in 1946 alone. : the meaning of the 1945 general election". [33], In May 1930, Labour MP Oswald Mosley left the party after its rejection of his proposals for solving the unemployment problem, and Attlee was given Mosley's post of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The court found against Attlee and his fellow councillors and they were ordered to pay £300 damages. Extreme violence ensued when Punjab and Bengal provinces were split. [157] In a crucial contribution to the economic stability of post-war Europe, Attlee's Cabinet was instrumental in promoting the American Marshall Plan for the economic recovery of Europe. He became the Labour Party expert on India and by 1934 was committed to granting India the same independent dominion status that Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa had recently been given. Legendary former British leaders Winston Churchill (L) and Clement Attlee Getty Images. When he woke up he wanted to get back to action as soon as possible, and asked to be let off the ship in Malta where he stayed in hospital to recover. [134] A rapid increase in the number of trained teachers took place, and the number of new school places was increased. We’ll send you a link to a feedback form. It would come to be a devoted marriage, with Attlee providing protection and Violet providing a home that was an escape for Attlee from political turmoil. British atomic bomb research was kept secret even from some members of Attlee's own cabinet, whose loyalty or discretion seemed uncertain. [9], The Gallipoli Campaign had been engineered by the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill. There was hardly any increase allowed for the services which went to build up the life of the people, education and health. The terms have not been terms negotiated; they have been terms laid down as ultimata. [88] Conservatives would later criticise Labour for having been "too hasty" in introducing family allowances. "British Labour and the cold war: the foreign policy of the Labour governments, 1945–1951. [131], The school leaving age was raised to 15 in 1947, an accomplishment helped brought into fruition by initiatives such as the H.O.R.S.A. [121], Within a few years of nationalisation, a number of progressive measures had been carried out which did much to improve conditions in the mines, including better pay, a five-day working week, a national safety scheme (with proper standards at all the collieries), a ban on boys under the age of 16 going underground, the introduction of training for newcomers before going down to the coalface, and the making of pithead baths into a standard facility.[122]. At one point he agreed with the proposition put forward by Cripps that gradual reform was inadequate and that a socialist government would have to pass an emergency powers act, allowing it to rule by decree to overcome any opposition by vested interests until it was safe to restore democracy. Registered dockers laid off by employers within the Scheme had the right either to be taken on by another, or to generous compensation. In 1909, he stood unsuccessfully at his first election, as an ILP candidate for Stepney Borough Council. [162], In 1954, a Labour Party delegation including Attlee visited China at the invitation of then Foreign Minister Zhou Enlai. [199], He attended Winston Churchill's funeral in January 1965. This gave him an admiration for Churchill as a military strategist, which would make their working relationship in later years productive. When the victorious Chinese Communists government declared on 1 October 1949 that it would exchange diplomats with any country that ended relations with the Chinese Nationalists, Britain became the first western country to formally recognise the People's Republic of China in January 1950. Both joined the Commonwealth. Quite contrary to the general tendency of politicians in the 1990s, he was all substance and no show". This put Attlee at sword's point with his foreign minister, the Foreign Office, and the military who all saw the Soviets as a growing threat to Britain's role in the Middle East. [194][195], He subsequently retired from the House of Commons and was elevated to the peerage to take his seat in the House of Lords as Earl Attlee and Viscount Prestwood on 16 December 1955. [203], Attlee's estate was sworn for probate purposes at a value of £7,295,[204] (equivalent to £133,383 in 2019[205]) a relatively modest sum for so prominent a figure, and only a fraction of the £75,394 in his father's estate when he died in 1908. He presided over the establishment of the welfare state in Great Britain and the granting of … [111], When the Attlee government was voted out of office in 1951, the economy had been improved compared to 1945. Due to the time he needed to devote to the commission, and contrary to a promise MacDonald made to Attlee to induce him to serve on the commission, he was not initially offered a ministerial post in the Second Labour Government, which entered office after the 1929 general election. [77], The government set about implementing the wartime plans of Liberal William Beveridge for the creation of a "cradle to grave" welfare state. [81], A Married Women (Restraint Upon Anticipation) Act was passed in 1949 "to equalise, to render inoperative any restrictions upon anticipation or alienation attached to the enjoyment of property by a woman", while the Married Women (Maintenance) Act of 1949 was enacted with the intention of improving the adequacy and duration of financial benefits for married women. Attlee, however, continued to lead the Labour party until 1955, and died in 1967, aged 84. The Chancellor expressed great regret that he should have to spend so much on armaments, but said that it was absolutely necessary and was due only to the actions of other nations. Attlee, however, narrowly retained his Limehouse seat, with his majority being slashed from 7,288 to just 551. [...] This is a War Budget. He continued to rise within the Labour Party, and was elected its leader in 1935, following the resignation of George Lansbury. Clement Attlee died of pneumonia at the age of 84 at Westminster Hospital on 8 October 1967. Altogether, these policies provided public-sector housing with its biggest-ever boost up until that point, while low-wage earners particularly benefited from these developments. It also appointed health visitors and sanitary inspectors, reducing the infant mortality rate, and took action to find work for returning unemployed ex-servicemen.[24]. [74] On 5 July 1948, Clement Attlee replied to a letter dated 22 June from James Murray and ten other MPs who raised concerns about West Indians who arrived on board the HMT Empire Windrush. Christopher Soames, the British Ambassador to France during the Conservative government of Edward Heath and cabinet minister under Margaret Thatcher, remarked that "Mrs Thatcher was not really running a team. [75] As for the prime minister himself, he was not much focused on economic policy, letting others handle the issues. [93], By late 1946, agreed standards of training were established, which was followed by the opening of a training headquarters and the opening of an additional nine (9) training centres in Wales, Scotland, and then throughout Great Britain. Find out interesting Facts about Clement Attlee if you want to know the former British prime minister. [45] At the 1934 Labour Party Conference, Attlee declared that, "We have absolutely abandoned any idea of nationalist loyalty. As one of the most capable and experienced of the remaining Labour MPs, Attlee therefore shouldered a lot of the burden of providing an opposition to the National Government in the years 1931–35, during this time he had to extend his knowledge of subjects which he had not studied in any depth before, such as finance and foreign affairs in order to provide an effective opposition to the government. You can change your cookie settings at any time. [146], Attlee's government, however, failed to introduce the comprehensive education for which many socialists had hoped. [10], He later served in the Mesopotamian Campaign in what is now Iraq, where in April 1916 he was badly wounded, being hit in the leg by shrapnel while storming an enemy trench during the Battle of Hanna. The ensuing disastrous Norwegian Campaign would result in a motion of no confidence in Neville Chamberlain. [78] Labour shortages proved a more frequent problem. This resulted in strict rationing of food and other essential goods continuing in the post war period to force a reduction in consumption in an effort to limit imports, boost exports, and stabilise the Pound Sterling so that Britain could trade its way out of its financial state. The Attlee government then became instrumental in the creation of the successful NATO defence alliance to protect Western Europe against any Soviet expansion. [132], Many thousands of ex-servicemen were assisted to go through college who could never have contemplated it before the war. Attlee was initially the Lord Privy Seal, before becoming Britain's first ever Deputy Prime Minister in 1942, as well as becoming the Dominions Secretary and the Lord President of the Council. [116], In 1946, the National Agricultural Advisory Service was set up to supply agricultural advice and information. [65][66], Labour campaigned on the theme of "Let Us Face the Future", positioning themselves as the party best placed to rebuild Britain after the war,[67] and were widely viewed as having run a strong and positive campaign, while the Conservative campaign centred entirely around Churchill. The economic legacy of the Attlee government endured in its essentials until the election of Mrs. Thatcher in 1979. Congress, led by Nehru and Gandhi, demanded immediate independence and full control by Congress of all of India. We are deliberately putting a world order before our loyalty to our own country. [6], Following the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, Attlee applied to join the British Army. This was the most significant reforming administration of … Attlee had inherited a country close to bankruptcy after the Second World War and beset by food, housing and resource shortages; despite his social reforms and economic programme, these problems persisted throughout his premiership, alongside recurrent currency crises and dependence on US aid. [76], Attlee's Health Minister, Aneurin Bevan, fought hard against the general disapproval of the medical establishment, including the British Medical Association, by creating the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948. [169] By contrast, the Muslim League led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and also the Sikh community, strongly supported the war effort. [66] Before polling day, The Manchester Guardian surmised that "the chances of Labour sweeping the country and obtaining a clear majority ... are pretty remote". Another balance of payments crisis in 1949 forced Chancellor of the Exchequer, Stafford Cripps, into devaluation of the pound. [105] The government also strengthened a Fair Wages Resolution, with a clause that required all employers getting government contracts to recognise the rights of their workers to join trade unions. This "new colonialism" worked slowly and had failures such as the Tanganyika groundnut scheme. [85], A large house-building programme was carried out with the intention of providing millions of people with high-quality homes. Duration 11 mins First shown 9:30am 7 … The ensuing disastrous Norwegian Campaign would result in a motion of no confidence in Neville Chamberlain. Spending on technical education rose, and Labour and the number of trained teachers took place and... 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