Clement Attlee, 1951–5

Abstract

Clement Attlee is considered to be the most successful Prime Minister in post-war Britain to date (Theakston and Gill, 2006: 198; 2011: 70). He had become leader of the Labour Party in 1935, just four short years after the collapse of the second Labour Government and the betrayal of Ramsay MacDonald, an event that loomed large in Labour’s history. While Attlee did not directly succeed MacDonald, he really can be considered the calm after the storm, remaining leader for twenty years, and providing much-needed stability and consistency. When MacDonald was expelled from the Labour Party following the creation of the National Government in 1931, he was initially succeeded by Arthur Henderson. Henderson was certainly a competent politician and a leading figure in the party, but his leadership was to be extremely brief. The 1931 General Election reduced the number of Labour MPs to 52, a bitter blow for a party that had been in power only a matter of months before, and most of the leading members of the party lost their seats, including Henderson ( Thomas-Symonds, 2010: 62). Of the 52 remaining members (46 Labour Party MPs and 6 Independent Labour Party MPs), the only member who seemed to have the necessary standing and support to lead the party was George Lansbury, the former First Commissioner of Works. Lansbury was a very popular figure, and he led the party as part of a trio: Lansbury was leader, Attlee was his deputy and Stafford Cripps acted as an unofficial deputy to them both ( Thomas-Symonds, 2010: 62).