Clement Attlee was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955, making him the longest-serving Labour leader. His government created the National Health Service in 1948, established the welfare state through the National Insurance Act 1946 and National Assistance Act 1948, nationalised major industries, and oversaw Indian independence in 1947. He is regularly ranked among the greatest British Prime Ministers.
When and where was Clement Attlee born?
Clement Richard Attlee was born on the 3rd of January 1883 in Putney, Surrey, then outside London but now part of the city. He was the seventh of eight children in an upper-middle-class family; his father Henry Attlee was a solicitor and senior partner at the law firm Druces.
What caused Clement Attlee to become a socialist?
Attlee's conversion to socialism began in 1906 when he volunteered at Haileybury House, a charitable club for working-class boys in Stepney in London's East End. The poverty he witnessed there convinced him that private charity could never be sufficient to alleviate poverty and that only direct state action and income redistribution would have any serious effect. He joined the Independent Labour Party in 1908.
What was the result of the 1945 general election under Attlee?
Labour won a landslide victory, taking 49.7 per cent of the vote against the Conservatives' 36.2 per cent, resulting in 393 seats and a working majority of 146 in the House of Commons. It was the first time in history that the Labour Party had won a parliamentary majority. The result was announced on the 26th of July 1945.
How did Attlee's government create the National Health Service?
Health Minister Aneurin Bevan created the NHS in 1948 against strong opposition from the British Medical Association and the broader medical establishment. The service offered treatment free of charge at the point of use, regardless of income. In its first year it treated some 8.5 million dental patients and dispensed more than 5 million pairs of spectacles.
What role did Clement Attlee play in Indian independence?
Attlee orchestrated the granting of independence to India and Pakistan in 1947. His engagement with Indian affairs stretched back to his appointment to the Simon Commission in 1927, and by 1934 he was committed to granting India dominion status. With British finances too depleted to sustain military involvement and violence escalating, partition and independence became the only viable path.