Attlee

The 20 Prime Ministers of the 20th Century
By David Howell

Clement Attlee was a Labour politician and prime minister from 1945-51. He was the first Labour prime minister with an absolute Common's majority. Attlee's post-war government enacted a broad program of socialist legislation in spite of conditions of austerity in which rationing was actually extended. By the end of 1946 acts had been passed nationalizing the Bank of England and creating the National Health Service. The railways, the mines and supply of gas and electricity soon followed into public ownership. Meanwhile he had been closely involved in the process of dismantling the British Empire, with independence given to India, Pakistan, Ceylon and Burma. Yet he believed in Britain playing a strong role in world affairs, accepting British participation in the Korean War. His majority was reduced to six in the 1950 election and he lost the election of the following year.