David Runciman tells the story of the 1945 election and the dawn of a new age.
The 1945 general election was one of the biggest shocks in British parliamentary history: a decisive rejection of Winston Churchill and his leadership. The election of Clement Attlee's Labour government in a landslide marked a break with the past and signalled a strong desire on the part of the British people for something new. But it was also a product of Britain's wartime experiences and revealed the many ways in which the country had already changed.
The years that followed -- the postwar years -- would bring about bold and radical reform, the building of a new nation, a 'New Jerusalem'. The Britain of the National Health Service and the welfare state, of nationalised industry and the so-called 'postwar consensus' -- all were ushered into place with this election. This is the Britain that most have us have grown up in and which still shapes an idea of who we think we are.
Up to this point, manifestos had traditionally been the election address of the party leader. The Conservative leader in 1945 was the towering figure in the nation and it made sense to stick to that formula. In contrast, the Labour manifesto made no mention of the party leader Clement Attlee. It was a completely different kind of document. Largely the work of a young researcher named Michael Young, it moved far beyond the traditional election address towards offering a real prospectus for government. And, uniquely in modern British history, it was a best-seller.
Featuring historians David Kynaston and Robert Saunders.