Clement Attlee
Clement Attlee was a Labour politician, member of the Parliament, and prime minister of the United Kingdom.
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History
Attlee was a barrister in London, but gradually became involved in the administration of the IPL. Between activism and running unsuccessfully for the Parliament beginning in 1909, he traded the legal career for lecturing at the London School of Economics.
He served as a commissioned officer throughout World War 1. He rose to the rank of major.
Returning from the war, he was elected mayor of the borough of Stepney in 1919.
In 1922 he was elected to the House of Commons. He was appointed undersecretary of state for war in the short 1924 MacDonald government.
He returned to government in 1930, but declined to serve in MacDonald's coalition government that began the next year. He retained his seat in the disastrous October 1931 elections, and became deputy leader of the parliamentary party. Furthermore he served as acting leader for the larger part of 1933, owing to the health of George Lansbury.
The party conference in 1935 voted in favor of sanctioning Mussolini for the invasion of Abyssinia; Lansbury resigned leadership in protest. Baldwin promptly announced snap elections to take advantage of this. With no viable alternative, Attlee was announced as interim leader. Following the elections, he won the permanent leadership contest as well.
In the context of World War 2 and the failed Norwegian campaign, Chamberlain narrowly survived a vote of confidence in May 1940. He was still forced to resign and leave power in the hands of a coalition government under Churchill. Attlee was appointed lord privy seal and sat in the War Cabinet. Labour more generally supported Churchill in continuing the war at a time when pressure mounted within the Conservatives to instead negotiate peace.
In 1942, Attlee became the first deputy prime minister.
Shortly after the German unconditional surrender, Churchill was forced to call elections. Attlee led Labour to win an overwhelming majority in July 1945. This was the first majority Labour government.
The general elections held in February 1950 greatly reduced Labour's majority.
Cracks emerged in Labour, with Hugh Gaitskell and Aneurin Bevan emerging as powerful factional leaders. Bevan led a mass resignation from government in 1951 over an austerity budget introduced by Gaitskell; NHS cuts were proposed to finance the Korean War. Attlee hoped to consolidate control through snap election in October, but instead lost the majority.
He continued to lead Labour in opposition, but the factional divisions continued to grow for the next 4 years. The May 1955 elections saw Labour further reduced.
Attlee resigned from the Parliament in December. He was created earl of Attlee and viscount of Prestwood and joined the House of Lords the next month.