Clement Attlee
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, leader of the Labour Party, and architect of the post-war welfare state.
Clement Richard Attlee, later made the 1st Earl Attlee, was a British political leader who served as Prime Minister from 1945 to 1951 and headed the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. He acted as deputy prime minister in Winston Churchill’s wartime coalition, and was the opposition leader three times: from 1935 to 1940, briefly in 1945, and again from 1951 to 1955. No other Labour leader has held the post for as long.
Born in 1883 into an upper-middle-class home in Putney, Attlee was the seventh of eight children. His father was a wealthy London solicitor, and his mother came from a family involved in the arts. The family were devout Anglicans, saying prayers and reading psalms each morning. He grew up in a comfortable villa with a large garden, tennis court, and several servants. His father, a Liberal, inherited interests in milling and brewing, ran a law firm, and once headed the Law Society. When Attlee was nine, he was sent to a preparatory school in Hertfordshire, then followed his brothers to Haileybury College, where he was an average student. Influenced by a Darwinist housemaster, he wrote a school magazine piece attacking striking London cab-drivers. At Oxford, he studied modern history, enjoyed rowing and socialising, and was described as steady and dependable but not brilliant. He had little interest in politics at the time.
After university, Attlee became a barrister. But volunteer work in London’s East End showed him poverty firsthand, shifting his views left. He joined the Independent Labour Party, quit law, and started teaching at the London School of Economics. His work paused when he served as an officer in the First World War. In 1919, he became mayor of Stepney, and in 1922 he entered Parliament as the member for Limehouse.
Attlee served in Ramsay MacDonald’s first minority Labour government in 1924, and later joined the cabinet during MacDonald’s second minority government from 1929 to 1931. After Labour’s heavy defeat in 1931, he kept his seat and became the party’s deputy leader. He was elected Labour leader in 1935. Initially a pacifist who opposed rearmament, he later turned against Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement policy as World War II approached. In 1940, he brought Labour into Churchill’s coalition, first as Lord Privy Seal and then as deputy prime minister from 1942.
Labour won a landslide in the 1945 general election on a platform of post-war recovery. The country was nearly bankrupt, with severe shortages of food, housing, and resources. Attlee’s government built the first majority Labour administration, aiming for full employment, a mixed economy, and expanded state social services. It nationalised major industries and public utilities, passed the National Insurance Act of 1946 and the National Assistance Act of 1948, created the National Health Service in 1948, and increased public subsidies for council housing. It also reformed trade union laws, working conditions, and children’s services, set up the National Parks system, passed the New Towns Act of 1946, and established town and country planning.
Abroad, Attlee focused on decolonisation: India was partitioned in 1947, Burma and Ceylon became independent, the British mandate in Palestine ended, and Transjordan gained independence. With foreign secretary Ernest Bevin, he pushed the United States to take an active role in the Cold War, backed the Marshall Plan for Western Europe, and helped create the NATO military alliance in 1949. After a narrow win in the 1950 election, he sent British troops to fight in the Korean War.
Despite these reforms, wartime shortages of food, housing, and resources continued through his premiership, along with currency crises and reliance on US aid. Labour lost the 1951 election to the Conservatives, even though it won more votes. Attlee stayed on as Labour leader until after the 1955 defeat, then retired to the House of Lords, where he remained until his death in 1967. In public, he was modest and unassuming, but privately his deep knowledge, quiet manner, objectivity, and pragmatism were key to his effectiveness. He is often ranked among Britain’s greatest prime ministers, praised especially for the welfare state, the NHS, the “Special Relationship” with the US, and NATO involvement.
- born
- 3 January 1883
- died
- 8 October 1967
- field
- Politics
- nationality
- British
- known_for
- Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1945–1951), Leader of the Labour Party, architect of the welfare state and NHS
Lore & Background
Attlee was born into an upper middle class family, the son of a wealthy London solicitor. After attending Haileybury College and the University of Oxford, he practised as a barrister. The volunteer work he carried out in London's East End exposed him to poverty, and his political views shifted leftwards thereafter. He joined the Independent Labour Party, gave up his legal career, and began lecturing at the London School of Economics; with his work briefly interrupted by service as an officer in the First World War. In 1919, he became mayor of Stepney and in 1922 was elected to Parliament as the Member 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). After retaining his seat in Labour's landslide defeat of 1931, he became the party's deputy leader. Elected Leader of the Labour Party in 1935, and at first advocating pacificism and opposing re-armament, he became a critic of Neville Chamberlain's policy of appeasement in the lead-up to the Second World War. Attlee took Labour into the wartime coalition government in 1940 and served under Winston Churchill, initially as Lord Privy Seal and then as deputy prime minister from 1942.
Reader's Guide
The Labour Party, led by Attlee, won a landslide victory in the 1945 general election, on their post-war recovery platform. They inherited a country close to bankruptcy following the Second World War and beset by food, housing and resource shortages. Attlee led the construction of the first Labour majority government, which aimed to maintain full employment, a mixed economy and a greatly enlarged system of social services provided by the state. 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 1948, the formation of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948, and the enlargement of public subsidies for council house building. Attlee's government also reformed trade union legislation, working practices and children's services; it created the National Parks system, passed the New Towns Act 1946 and established the town and country planning system. His foreign policy focused on decolonisation efforts, including the partition of India (1947), the independence of Burma and Ceylon, and the dissolution of the British mandates of Palestine and independence of Transjordan. Attlee and Ernest Bevin encouraged the United States to take a vigorous role in the Cold War. He supported the Marshall Plan to rebuild Western Europe with American money and, in 1949, promoted the NATO military alliance against the Soviet bloc. After leading Labour to a narrow victory at the 1950 general election, he sent British troops to fight alongside South Korea in the Korean War. Despite Attlee's social reforms and economic programme, the pre-existing wartime shortages of food, housing and resources persisted throughout his premiership, alongside recurrent currency crises and dependence on US aid. His party was narrowly defeated by the Conservatives in the 1951 general election, despite winning the most votes. He continued as Labour leader but retired after losing the 1955 general election and was elevated to the House of Lords, where he served until his death in 1967.
Did You Know?
- Attlee was born into an upper middle class family, the son of a wealthy London solicitor.
- He served as an officer in the First World War.
- He remains the longest-serving Labour leader.
- His government created the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948.
- He is often ranked as one of the greatest British prime ministers.
Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)
"… the Peace Treaties must be scrapped … I stand for no more war and no more secret diplomacy." — Clement Attlee "Speech in the House of Commons (13 July 1934). His remarks about dictatorships gradually falling down was a reference to the Night of the Long Knives in Nazi Germany a fortnight before." — Clement Attlee "We have absolutely abandoned any idea of nationalist loyalty. We are deliberately putting a world order before our loyalty to our own country." — Clement Attlee "Speech to the Labour Party Conference in Southport (2 October 1934) , quoted in Talus, Your Alternative Government (1945), p. 17 and D. M. Touche, Britain's Lost Victory (1941)." — Clement Attlee
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