Clement Attlee
| Clement Attlee | |
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| Name | Clement Richard Attlee (3 January, 1883- 8 October, 1967) |
| Nicknames | Clem (friends), Mr Attlee (everyone else), Little Clem (Bevin)
Politics |
| Politics | |
| Party | Labour |
| Constituency | Limehouse(1922 - 1950) Walthamstow West (1950 - 1956) |
| Positions | • Leader of the Opposition (1951 - 1956) • Prime Minister (1945 - 1951) • Deputy Prime Minister (1943 - 1945) • Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs (1942 - 1943) • Lord Privy Seal (1940 - 1942) • Leader of the Opposition (1935 - 1940) |
| Likes | Pipe-smoking, Socialism |
| Dislikes | Loquaciousness |
| Friends | Ernest Bevin, Winston Churchill, Nye Bevan |
| Enemies | Herbert Morrison, Stafford Cripps, Ramsay MacDonald |
| Relationships | |
| Partners | Violet Millar (1922-1964 (until her death)) |
| Children | Janet Helen (1923), Felicity Ann (1925), Martin Richard (1925), Alison Elizabeth (1930) |
| Personal Attributes | |
| Nationality | English |
| Religion | Agnostic |
| Sexuality | Straight |
| Height | 5' 7.5" |
| Eye Colour | Brown |
| Handedness | Right |
| Accent | Received pronunciation |
| Languages | ? |
There were few who thought him a starter,
Many who thought themselves smarter.
But he ended PM,
CH and OM,
an Earl and a Knight of the Garter.
~ Clement Attlee on himself
A modest man with much to be modest about. ~ Winston Churchill
Clement Attlee was the second Labour Prime Minister, who served between 1945 and 1951. Under his premiership, an efficient Socialist manifesto was put into action with the foundation of the NHS, expansion of social housing and nationalisation of the coal and steel industries. He is generally considered to be one of the greatest Prime Ministers of modern Britain.
Life and Career[edit | edit source]
Early Life[edit | edit source]
Clem was born in Putney, and was one of eight children. He was well educated, unlike many of his contemporaries in the Labour Party, going to Oxford University and becoming a barrister. He was initially Conservative-leaning, but was swayed towards Socialism by reading Ruskin and Morris, and joined the Independent Labour Party in 1908 at the age of 25. In 1911, he became an 'official explainer', a job which required him to travel up and down the country spreading awareness of Lloyd George's National Insurance Act. He lectured for a while at the LSE, and joined the army in 1914.
In World War I, he was made a captain and suffered injuries that saved him from fighting in the Battle of Sari Bair. During the war, he developed an admiration for Churchill, who had organised the Gallipoli Campaign. He served in Iraq and in France, on the Western Front. By the end of the war, he had risen to the rank of Major. After the war, he returned to the LSE and joined the Labour Party. He was elected Mayor of Stepney in 1919.
MP and Leader of the Opposition[edit | edit source]
Clem became MP for Limehouse in 1922, and was selected as Parliament secretary to Ramsay MacDonald, leader of the Labour Party. He was given a minor position in 1924, opposed the strikes of 1926, and gradually became disillusioned with MacDonald, refusing to join his National Government in 1931. Opposing National Labour, Clem became deputy leader of the Labour Party, and in 1935, he became leader, beating Herbert Morrison, a favourite to win, but distrusted by the left, and Arthur Greenwood, an alcoholic.
In 1936, Clem took a strong position against non-intervention, a policy being followed by the Government. He was Leader of the Opposition during the Norwegian Campaign of 1939, and it became clear that a coalition government would be required to take the country through the war, but that Clem couldn't string his Party into a union with Chamberlain's. Churchill replaced Chamberlain and in 1940, Clem became Deputy Prime Minister in the wartime Cabinet.
World War II[edit | edit source]
It was claimed that Clem was a moderating influence on some of Churchill's wilder ideas for military action. He was put charge of the more civil side of the war, while Churchill worked on military strategy - an arrangement that suited both men. He supported Churchill loyally through the war and pressed for continued military involvement in the war after the 1940 capitulation of France.
He took questions in Parliament when Churchill was absent, and several members of his Party were given key jobs in Cabinet, including Ernest Bevin as Secretary of State for Labour and Herbert Morrison as Home Secretary.
As Prime Minister[edit | edit source]
Despite Churchill's popularity, Clem won the 1945 general election with a landslide. Allegedly, when he was driven to Buckingham Palace to kiss hands with King George VI, the shy Prime Minister and tongue-tied King sat in silence for several minutes before Clem said "I've won the election", and the King responded a few moments later with, "Yes, I heard it on the six o'clock news".
He began a vigorous series of reforms - he nationalised the Bank of England, the coal mines, civil aviation, cable and wireless services, gas, electricity, railways, road transport and steel. He founded a planned economy, based on full employment, which saw a recovery in an age of austerity after the exhausting war. A push for social housing was set out to repair the country, which had been savaged by air raids during the war. Under Attlee, more than a million houses were built - particularly notable was the 'prefab', a small, clean, comfortable house with two bedrooms for poor families and young couples.
The Government set about implementing the Beveridge plan, beginning to create a welfare state that would support every Briton "from the cradle to the grave". Under Bevan, the National Health Service was founded, despite fury from the medical establishment, and the public health improved by every measure. Pensions were increased, allowing the elderly to live in dignity. The National Insurance Act of 1946 ensured that everybody paid a flat rate of national insurance, and in return, the state gave them unemployment benefits, sick leave and funeral benefits. The number of state subsidies to sent youths to university was massively increased, and children were given free milk in schools. Unemployment never rose above 3% during the Attlee years.
Attlee and Bevin, his foreign secretary, took a firm stance against the Communist threat and kept a close relationship with the Americans; political as well as economic. The Anglo-American loan was negotiated by Keynes in 1945 and bound the pound to the dollar. The anti-Soviet sentiment was criticised by the 'Keep Left' group in the Labour Party, which argued that Britain should not side with the Americans or the Russians. Under Bevin, independence was granted in a decolonisation programme - to Burma, Ceylon and India in 1947. A serious problem that was not satisfactorily concluded was that of the Palestinian Mandate; as British involvement was crticised by both Jewish and Arab groups. He made the decision that Britain should have its own nuclear arms, a decision which remains in place today.
During his premiership, Attlee survived several attempts on his leadership - from Hugh Dalton, who wanted Bevin to replace him, and a number of times from Herbert Morrison, his greatest rival. However, Attlee was resolute, kept Bevin as a close ally, and stopped Herb ever becoming leader of the Party.
Post-1951[edit | edit source]
Though popular, the Labour Party lost the 1951 election. Attlee continued to serve as leader of the Party until 1955, when he was sure that Morrison would not be able to launch a leadership campaign to take over the Party after him. He retired in 1955 at the age of 72, and was raised to the House of Lords, where he campaigned for the decriminilisation of homosexual sex. He was present at the funeral of Winston Churchill, and died in 1967.
| Full List of Appointments |
|---|
| • Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (23 May, 1930 - 13 March, 1931) |
| • Deputy Leader of the Labour Party (25 October, 1932 - 25 October, 1935) |
| • Leader of the Labour Party (25 October, 1935 - 25 November, 1955) |
| • Leader of the Opposition (25 October, 1935 - 11 May, 1940) |
| • Lord Privy Seal (11 May, 1940 - 15 February, 1942) |
| • Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs (15 February, 1942 - 24 September, 1943) |
| • Lord President of the Council (24 September, 1943 - 23 May, 1945) |
| • Deputy Prime Minister (19 February, 1942 - 23 May, 1945) |
| • Prime Minister (26 July, 1945 - 26 October, 1951) |
| • Minister of Defence (27 July, 1945 - 20 December, 1946) |
| • Leader of the Opposition (26 October, 1951 - 25 November, 1955) |
Personal Life[edit | edit source]
Legacy[edit | edit source]
Attlee is considered among the best Prime Ministers of Britain in history, and often said to be the greatest of the post-war Prime Ministers. He is widely respected by those across the entire political spectrum, including by Margaret Thatcher, who described him as being "no show, but all substance" and a figure that she admired. He is credited with doing more for the poor in six years than had been done in the centuries before, for being a radical, honest, compassionate politician. Analyses of his time in government generally conclude that he was a modest man who knew how to make the best of the ambitious, clever, charismatic figures around him.
Portrayal[edit | edit source]
In the Media[edit | edit source]
Clem was not media-savvy, and rarely gave interviews to the press, normally giving very short (often one-word answers). He allowed his showier subordinates - Bevin, Dalton, Cripps and Morrison to speak for him. He was known to the public and press as 'Mr Attlee'. Because he rarely ventured out or exposed himself, there were many who felt that they didn't know their Prime Minister, especially in comparison with the bombastic and morale-boosting Churchill who had come before. Pannure Gordon's (the stockbrokers) senior partner, Richard Hart-Dain insisted that Clement Attlee was Chinese and invariably referred to him as A.T. Lee.
In Culture[edit | edit source]
He was played by Patrick Troughton in the film Mr & Mrs Simpson, by Alan David in Goodnight Sweetheart, a sitcom, and by Bill Paterson in the film Into the Storm. The play Tom and Clem by Stephen Churchett is a narrative about the relationship between him and Tom Driberg, the exotic (Communist) chairman of the Labour Party.
In Fanon[edit | edit source]
Meme[edit | edit source]
Clem has been portrayed in fanon as a quiet, reserved figure. He has been paired with Herbert Morrison (Attison), Winston Churchill (Athill) and, for cracky purposes, John Prescott.
