LONDON (AP) — The upcoming British election is widely expected to lead to a change of government for the first time in 14 years. Many analysts believe it will be one of the most consequential elections in the country since the end of World War II.
In preparation for 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 was held in July in the UK was in 1945, when Winston Churchill’s Conservative Party suffered one of its worst ever defeats, shortly after the Allied victory over Nazi Germany.
That result may seem surprising to many in 2024, given the reverence with which Churchill is still viewed, both in the UK and abroad.
During the war years, however, Churchill governed in a coalition with other parties, notably Labour, whose leader Clement Attlee acted as his deputy and others had important portfolios. The war effort required a high degree of state planning, and egalitarian – even socialist – sentiments flourished.
The election of July 5, 1945, was the first in a decade to be contested due to the Second World War and showed how much Britain had changed since the Great Depression of the early 1930s.
While Churchill was still largely in war mode, as Japan was still defeated and lukewarm in its support for a wider social safety net, Labor fought the election on domestic issues and campaigned for housing for all, full employment and state intervention in the economy.
The election results were announced three weeks later, on July 26, after troops abroad had been given time to vote. Labor had won a landslide victory, with 48% of the vote and its largest ever majority in the House of Commons.
Attlee’s government, which lasted until 1951, was one of the most transformative in Britain’s history and remains the benchmark by which all subsequent Labour governments are measured.
From the creation of the National Health Service in 1948 to the vast expansion of the welfare state and the nationalisation of a range of industries, Attlee’s government left its mark on the nation for decades. Many of his achievements still resonate today. Despite its many problems, the NHS remains the most revered institution in British life.
