How did Labour win the 1945 General Election?

We are now fairly used to the failings of polling in predicting the outcomes of elections and referendums, but the election of Labour under Clement Attlee was a very early example of a 'shock' victory. From the outset it seemed clear, Winston Churchill, the leader of the Conservative Party, was the unquestionable hero of WW2 and many expected the public vote to reflect this. Yet, the war had greatly turned the tides of public opinion and their perceptions of themselves. The Conservatives and Labour worked in grand coalition during the war, with the former controlling the war effort and the latter manning the home front. Labour was a great success in holding the home front together and some of their policies, such as rationing, actually increased the amount of food for some in society. Moreover, in 1942, Liberal William Beveridge produced his report which argued that in a modern society 'Five Giants' must be tackled; Want, Ignorance, Squalor, Idleness, and Disease. The report was a best seller and many began to believe that the state must be focused on the welfare of its citizenry rather than just its safety. Finally, the war effort fostered a 'Spirit of the Blitz,' which was a sentiment of collectivity that spawned from the indiscriminate bombing of the Luftwaffe, with even King George VI refusing to abandon London. A quote from Churchill is useful for understanding the general post-war sentiment, he called for a 'safety net, below which no one can fall, above which all are free to fly,' it just so happened that the people believed the best hopes of achieving this was in the quasi-socialist Labour government that had managed the home-front so well.

Answered by Seb C. History tutor

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