Explore the view that Labour's manifesto was the reason for their victory in 1945 .
Labour fought the 1945 election on the premise of ‘Let us Face the Future’ which was centered around
the post-war reconstruction of the country. However it can be argued that rather than the electorate being
‘for’ the Labour party, they were merely opposed to the re-election of the Conservatives.
Perhaps the most key aspect of Labour’s campaign was the extremely influential Beveridge Report 1942
which aimed to dispel the Five Giants of ‘want, disease, idleness, ignorance and squalor’. The report was
adopted by the party which then gave it a basis to promote their idea of a post-war welfare state Britain.
This included the establishment of a National Health Service which would provide free healthcare, a child
allowance of 5 shillings per week as well as ‘full employment’ which was to be achieved through the
nationalisation of industry. The report and consequent campaign promises by Labour to tackle some of
the issues that the public associated with the thirties, of illness and severe unemployment, did much to
endear the electorate to the party. The vision that was put forth by Labour and its manifesto could be used
to justify the victory of 1945.
Rather than the manifesto being the basis of Labour’s electoral victory, it could be suggested that there
was simply a shift towards the left and the party was able to capitalise on this in the election. The war was
referred to as ‘The People’s War’ due to the way in which it affected citizens from all tiers of society and
therefore, was a social leveller due to the communal experience that came from measures such as
rationing which even affected the Royal Family. Another way in which the war brought about a change in
attitudes was due to the policy of evacuation which saw children from the urban areas move to the
slightly more affluent rural areas and this made those of the more upper classes aware of the extent to the
destitution in the cities. One example of this was that the children were sewn into their undergarments for
the winter and that newspapers were used as insulation under their clothes in a bid to keep them warm as
this was otherwise difficult due to the quality of their housing. This suggests that the voting trend was
more responsible for Labour’s victory than their manifesto as it was somewhat inevitable for them to
come to power as there was an increased acceptance of government intervention due to the war.
On the other hand, one could argue that the 1945 election wasn’t even a Labour victory, but a
Conservative loss.
As a leader, Atlee lacked the dynamic presence of Churchill and was described as a ‘modest man with a
lot to be modest about.’ He didn’t command that significant an amount of popularity within his own
party, as there were attempts to oust him as leader as early as 1945. However as Atlee was not associated
with the failures of the ‘30s such as Appeasement (it is thought by Macmillan that it was the ‘ghost of
Chamberlain’ that lost the election rather than Churchill) and the Great Depression, this gave the public a
greater amount of faith in him as he was known primarily for his work on the Home Front as deputy
Prime Minister due to him being an extremely effective organiser. There was a real drive in society after
the war to move forward in rebuilding the country and a determination to not return to the memories of
squalor that they associated with the ‘30s. This meant that the electorate were less supportive of the
Conservative party, not because of any qualities of leadership they saw in Atlee, but because they were
still associated with the issues of the past.
Labour fought the 1945 election on the premise of ‘Let us Face the Future’ which was centered around
the post-war reconstruction of the country. However it can be argued that rather than the electorate being
‘for’ the Labour party, they were merely opposed to the re-election of the Conservatives.
Perhaps the most key aspect of Labour’s campaign was the extremely influential Beveridge Report 1942
which aimed to dispel the Five Giants of ‘want, disease, idleness, ignorance and squalor’. The report was
adopted by the party which then gave it a basis to promote their idea of a post-war welfare state Britain.
This included the establishment of a National Health Service which would provide free healthcare, a child
allowance of 5 shillings per week as well as ‘full employment’ which was to be achieved through the
nationalisation of industry. The report and consequent campaign promises by Labour to tackle some of
the issues that the public associated with the thirties, of illness and severe unemployment, did much to
endear the electorate to the party. The vision that was put forth by Labour and its manifesto could be used
to justify the victory of 1945.
Rather than the manifesto being the basis of Labour’s electoral victory, it could be suggested that there
was simply a shift towards the left and the party was able to capitalise on this in the election. The war was
referred to as ‘The People’s War’ due to the way in which it affected citizens from all tiers of society and
therefore, was a social leveller due to the communal experience that came from measures such as
rationing which even affected the Royal Family. Another way in which the war brought about a change in
attitudes was due to the policy of evacuation which saw children from the urban areas move to the
slightly more affluent rural areas and this made those of the more upper classes aware of the extent to the
destitution in the cities. One example of this was that the children were sewn into their undergarments for
the winter and that newspapers were used as insulation under their clothes in a bid to keep them warm as
this was otherwise difficult due to the quality of their housing. This suggests that the voting trend was
more responsible for Labour’s victory than their manifesto as it was somewhat inevitable for them to
come to power as there was an increased acceptance of government intervention due to the war.
On the other hand, one could argue that the 1945 election wasn’t even a Labour victory, but a
Conservative loss.
As a leader, Atlee lacked the dynamic presence of Churchill and was described as a ‘modest man with a
lot to be modest about.’ He didn’t command that significant an amount of popularity within his own
party, as there were attempts to oust him as leader as early as 1945. However as Atlee was not associated
with the failures of the ‘30s such as Appeasement (it is thought by Macmillan that it was the ‘ghost of
Chamberlain’ that lost the election rather than Churchill) and the Great Depression, this gave the public a
greater amount of faith in him as he was known primarily for his work on the Home Front as deputy
Prime Minister due to him being an extremely effective organiser. There was a real drive in society after
the war to move forward in rebuilding the country and a determination to not return to the memories of
squalor that they associated with the ‘30s. This meant that the electorate were less supportive of the
Conservative party, not because of any qualities of leadership they saw in Atlee, but because they were
still associated with the issues of the past.
