LONDON (AP) — Britain upcoming general elections It is widely expected that this will result in the first change of government in fourteen years, with many analysts believing it will be one of the most consequential elections in the country since the end of World War II.
Ahead of the July 4 elections, The Associated Press looks back at other important elections since the war.
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The last time a national election took place in the United Kingdom in July was in 1945, when Winston Churchill’s Conservative Party suffered one of its worst defeats ever, shortly after the Allies’ victory over Nazi Germany.
This outcome may be surprising to many in 2024, given the reverence with which Churchill is still held, both in the UK and abroad.
During the war years, however, Churchill governed in a coalition with other parties, most notably Labour, whose leader Clement Attlee served as his deputy and others held important portfolios. The war effort required a high degree of state-driven planning and egalitarian—even socialist—sentiments flourished.
The elections of July 5, 1945 were the first in ten years to be held because of the Second World War. They showed how much Britain had changed since the Great Depression in the early 1930s.
With Churchill still largely in a wartime state, as Japan had not yet been defeated and lukewarm in his support for a broader social safety net, Labor fought the election on domestic issuescampaigning for housing for all, full employment and state intervention in the economy.
The election results were announced three weeks later, on July 26. The foreign troops had then been given time to vote. Labour had won a landslide victorysecuring 48% of the vote and the largest ever majority in the House of Commons.
Attlee’s government, which lasted until 1951, is one of the most transformative in Britain’s history and remains the standard by which all subsequent Labour governments are judged.
From the establishment of the National Health Service in 1948 to the massive expansion of the welfare state and the nationalization of a range of industries, Attlee’s government left its mark for decades. Many of his achievements still stand today. Despite its many problems, the NHS remains the most revered institution in British life.
