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² Addison, P., The road to 1945 British politics and the second world war (London, 1975), esp. p. 14 and p. 236Google Scholar. This view of the Labour influence on coalition policy is endorsed in Harris, K., Attlee (London, 1982), p. 180Google Scholar.

³ Addison, , Road to 1945, p. 14Google Scholar.

⁴ Ibid. pp. 275–8.

⁵ Dalton, H., The fateful years. Memoirs 1931–1945 (London, 1957), p. 410Google Scholar.

⁶ Lee, J. M., The Churchill coalition 1940–1945 (London, 1980), pp. 112–41Google Scholar; Hall, P. et al. , Change, choice and conflict in social policy (London, 1975), pp. 157–230Google Scholar; MacNicol, J., The movement for family allowances 1918–1945 (London, 1980), esp. pp. 214–19Google Scholar.

⁷ Kingsley Wood to R. A. Butler, 27 Aug. 1942, Butler papers, Trinity College, Cambridge, H64, fo. 5, illustrates the Chancellor's desire to avoid new domestic commitments. Equally, the Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden, ‘struck sensitive poses in domestic policy but knew very little of the world outside the Foreign Office’ – Addison, , Road to 1945, p. 20Google Scholar.

⁸ Butler, R. A., The art of the possible (London, 1971), p. 90Google Scholar.

⁹ Earl, of Woolton, , The memoirs of the Rt. Hon. the Earl of Woolton (London, 1959), p. 276Google Scholar.

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¹¹ At the outbreak of war the Chamberlain government held 418 seats, compared to 167 held by the Labour party – a majority of over 200 which was only partially eroded by wartime by-election results.

¹² Chuter Ede diary, 26 Oct. 1942, British Library, Add. MS 59695, p. 181, for the comments by Butler. ‘The party’, he added, ‘did not know what they wanted. They had elected that fat slob, Erskine Hill, as Chairman of the 1922 Committee. He was too stupid to do anything but intrigue.’

¹³ Pimlott, B., Hugh Dalton (London, 1985), pp. 350–9Google Scholar.

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¹⁶ See below, pp. 132, 135–6, 139.

¹⁷ J. Stuart to Churchill, 14 Jan. 1944, Whips' Papers, Conservative Party Archive (C.P.A.), Bodleian Library, Oxford: this memorandum sent by the Chief Whip made it clear that Central Office believed Conservative candidates were being handicapped by ‘the lack of a positive policy on home affairs’.

¹⁸ Hoffman, J. D., The Conservative party in opposition, 1945–51 (London, 1964), pp. 40–2Google Scholar, for the background to the committee.

¹⁹ Butler, , Art of the possible, p. 127Google Scholar. The solicitor-general, David Maxwell-Fyfe, who took over Butler's role as chairman during 1943–4, also conceded that ‘our work was merely a by-product, produced in the time that could be spared from Ministerial activity. Our colleagues in the War Cabinet – Winston par excellence – could give no time at all.’ Maxwell-Fyfe, D., Political adventure. The memoirs of the Earl of Kilmuir (London, 1964), p. 76Google Scholar.

²⁰ Cassius, (Michael Foot), Brendan and Beverley. An extravaganza (London, 1944), pp. 47–56Google Scholar.

²¹ The committee was appointed when Bevin grew tired of Beveridge, who was working at the Ministry of Labour. Bevin telephoned Greenwood: ‘You remember this 'ere social security business? I've got just the man for you. I'm sending Beveridge round in the morning’ – notes by Butler, Butler papers, G16, fo. 100.

²² Harris, J., 'Social planning in war-time: some aspects of the Beveridge Report’, in Winter, J. (ed.), War and economic development (Cambridge, 1975), esp. pp. 252–3Google Scholar; William Beveridge (Oxford, 1977)Google Scholar; and ‘Some aspects of social policy in Britain during the Second World War”, in Mommsen, W. J. (ed.), The emergence of the Welfare State in Britain and Germany (London, 1981)Google Scholar.

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²⁴ Taylor, I. H., ‘War and the development of Labour's domestic programme, 1939–45’, unpublished University of London Ph.D. thesis, 1978, pp. 70–6Google Scholar.

²⁵ Secret Conservative committee, ‘Report on the Beveridge proposals’, 19 Jan. 1943, C.P.A. Box 600/01. For a detailed study of this report, see Kopsch, H., ‘The approach of the Conservative party to social policy during world war two’, unpublished University of London Ph.D. thesis, pp. 109–23Google Scholar.

²⁶ House of Commons debates, 5th series, vol. 386 (18 02 1943), col. 2016Google Scholar; Cassius, , Brendan and Beverley, p. 51Google Scholar.

²⁷ E.g. Gridley, Arnold (M.P. Stockport) – H.C. deb., 5th ser., 386 (16 02 1943), cols. 1628–38Google Scholar. A group of Conservative industrialists did in fact put down an amendment calling on the government to postpone legislation, but this was not pressed after it became clear that early action was unlikely – ibid. c. 1614.

²⁸ A total of 121 M.P.s, mostly from the Labour party, voted against the government, an action justified on the grounds that Labour was only responding to Tory pressure on the Catering Wages Bill. On this and the party repercussions see Ede diary, 18–22 Feb. 1943, Add. MS 59696, pp. 38–47.

²⁹ Williams, F., A prime minister remembers (London, 1961), p. 57Google Scholar.

³⁰ Nicolson, N. (ed.), Harold Nicolson. Diaries and letters 1939–1943 (London, 1967), p. 264Google Scholar; ‘They will say that it is all very splendid and Utopian, but we can only begin to know whether we can afford it once we have some idea what our foreign trade will be like after the war. They also suggest that in many ways it is an incentive to idleness…’

³¹ The Times, 21 May 1943.

³² ‘Diary’, notes by Butler, , 9 09 1943Google Scholar, Butler papers, cited in Jefferys, , ‘Butler’, p. 426Google Scholar. I should like to thank the Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, for permission to quote from the Butler papers.

³³ Brown, W. J., So far… (London, 1943), p. 276Google Scholar; 'British Labour saw in it an endorsement of the things Labour had been striving for for decades. The Conservative party saw in its proposals a first-rate opportunity of performing the manoeuvre known as “dishing the Whigs”.

³⁴ Social Insurance, Cmd. 6550 (1944).

³⁵ National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations (N.U.C.U.A.), Notes on current politics (1944)Google Scholar.

³⁶ E.g. Gridley, Arnold – H.C. deb., 5th ser., 404 (3 11. 1944), col. 1155Google Scholar. Kopsch, . ‘Conservative party’, pp. 164–71Google Scholar, notes that this did not really reflect his private views, and outlines the shift of position by Tory Reformers on the Beveridge issue.

³⁷ See especially the speech by Griffiths, Jim – H.C. deb., 5th ser., 404 (3 11. 1944), col. 1195Google Scholar; and The Labour Party Annual Conference Report 1944, p. 151.

³⁸ Speech by Oliver Lyttleton at a meeting of Birmingham Unionist Association, 6 Nov. 1944, Chandos papers, Churchill College, Cambridge, CHAN II 4/17. I am grateful to the Masters, Fellows and Scholars of Churchill College in the University of Cambridge for permission to use this material.

³⁹ Hess, J., ‘The social policy of the Attlee government’, in Mommsen, W. J. (ed.), Emergence of the welfare state, pp. 300–6Google Scholar.

⁴⁰ For a general discussion of medical reform during the war see Pater, J. E., The making of the national Health Service (London, 1981)Google Scholar.

⁴¹ Addison, , Road to 1945, pp. 239–40Google Scholar.

⁴² Morgan, K. O., Labour in power 1945–1951 (Oxford, 1984), p. 22Google Scholar.

⁴³ Addison, , Road to 1945, p. 241Google Scholar.

⁴⁴ Woolton to Eden, 10 Feb. 1944, Woolton papers, Bodleian Library, Oxford, 15, fo. 118.

⁴⁵ A national health service, Cmd. 6502 (1944); Woolton, , Memoirs, pp. 278–81Google Scholar.

⁴⁶ H.C. deb., 5th ser., 398 (16 03 1944), cols. 427–32Google Scholar.

⁴⁷ Report on the Beveridge proposals', Jan. 1943: Florence Horsbrugh, at the time parliamentary secretary to the Ministry of Health, was one of only two members of the committee who argued for a more comprehensive health scheme.

⁴⁸ See especially the speech of Storey, Samuel, , P.P.S. to Horsbrugh, between 1939 and 1942, as well as chairman of the Social Services Committee – H.C. deb., 5th ser., 398 (16 03 1944), cols. 504–10Google Scholar.

⁴⁹ Taylor, , ‘Labour, domestic programmes’, 84–94Google Scholar. A notable exception was the Socialist Medical Association member DrSummerskill, Edith, who attacked the white paper as a compromise measure – H.C. deb., 5th ser., 398 (17 03 1944), cols. 581–5Google Scholar.

⁵⁰ Willink, H., ‘As I remember’ (unpublished autobiography, 1968), p. 78Google Scholar, Willink papers, Churchill College, Cambridge, box 2. For permission to cite from these papers, I should like to thank Sir Charles Willink and the Master, Fellows and Scholars of Churchill College.

⁵¹ Eckstein, H., The English health service (Massachusetts, 1964), pp. 155–6Google Scholar.

⁵² Willink, , ‘As I remember’, pp. 81–2Google Scholar.

⁵³ Cabinet minutes, 6 June 1945, P R.O. CAB 65/66.

⁵⁴ H.C. deb., 5th ser., 411 (12 06 1945), cols. 1511–36Google Scholar; The Labour Party Annual Conference Report 1945, P. 139.

⁵⁵ N.U.C.U.A., Notes on current politics (04 1945)Google Scholar.

⁵⁶ McCallum, R. B. and Readman, A., The British general election of 1945 (London, 1947), pp. 96–7Google Scholar; Conservative party, Mr. Churchill's declaration of policy to the electors (1945). Hugh Linstead, M.P. for Putney and a member of the Tory Reform Committee, was one of many candidates who professed support for the health scheme ‘now that it secures that efficient voluntary hospitals can continue and develop and ensures that doctors will not become full-time civil servants’ – election addresses, Nuffield College, Oxford, boxes 1–2.

⁵⁷ Woolton, op. cit p. 282.

⁵⁸ Earwicker, R. J., ‘The labour movement and the creation of the National Health Service 1906–1948’, unpublished Birmingham University Ph.D. thesis, 1984, esp. 298–9Google Scholar.

⁵⁹ Election speech in Reading, 12 Apr. 1945, Willink papers, box 2.

⁶⁰ Thane, P., The foundations of the welfare state (London, 1982), pp. 255–6Google Scholar, for the background to this question.

⁶¹ Booth, A., ‘The “Keynesian Revolution” in economic policy-making’, Economic History Review, 2nd series, XXXVI, I (1983), 103–23CrossRefGoogle Scholar; G. C. Peden, ‘Sir Richard Hopkins and the “Keynesian Revolution” in employment policy’ 1929–45, ibid. II (1983), 281–96.

⁶² Addison, , Road to 1945, pp. 243–4Google Scholar; Butler, , Art of the possible, p. 125Google Scholar.

⁶³ Employment Policy, Cmd. 6527 (1944). See also Harris, J., William Beveridge, pp. 424–48Google Scholar.

⁶⁴ Lyttelton, O., Seven points of Conservative policy (London, 1944)Google Scholar.

⁶⁵ Molson, H., ‘The Tory Reform Committee’ New English Review (07, 1945), 247–8Google Scholar, notes the moves made to influence the party towards a new employment policy in 1943. The Post-War Problems Committee urged that it was the duty of the state to intervene in industrial affairs when national interest required, but was careful to add that ‘when it intervenes it must be watchful not to impair initiative’ – N.U.C.U.A., Central Committee on Post-War Reconstruction, Work: the future of industry, interim report by the sub-committee on industry (1944)Google Scholar.

⁶⁶ Williams, – H. C. deb., 5th ser., 401 (23 06 1944)Google Scholar, col. 533; Gridley – ibid. cols. 435–43, 22 June 1944.

⁶⁷ Ibid. c. 411.

⁶⁸ Taylor, , ‘Labour's domestic programme’, pp. 121–55Google Scholar; Bevan, – H.C. deb., 5th ser., 401 (23 06 1944)Google Scholar, cols. 526–32.

⁶⁹ The Times, 22 June 1945, noted that Anderson skirted around the controversial issues in his final major speech of the war period, delivered to the Institute of Municipal Treasurers and Accountants.

⁷⁰ Labour party, Let us face the future (1945): the measures advocated here included a wide field for public expenditure, the maintenance of purchasing power and a National Investment Board to establish priorities in the use of capital goods, as well as the nationalization of key industries.

⁷¹ N.U.C.U.A., General Election 1945: notes for speakers and workers (1945), p. 13Google Scholar. These notes stressed that the aim of high levels of employment would only be achieved by the restoration of export trade, fair conditions for industry and agriculture – instead of the retention of controls and the imposition of nationalization – sound financial methods, and the progressive reduction of the all-too-onerous level of war-time taxation.

⁷² Attlee to Churchill, 21 May 1945, cited in Attlee, C. R., As it happened (London, 1954), P. 137Google Scholar.

⁷³ Note by Butler, 25 May 1943, Butler papers, G 15, fo. 37.

⁷⁴ Jefferys, , ‘Butler’, pp. 423–31Google Scholar, for a fuller analysis of the party reactions to educational reform and the place of the Act within the context of wartime social policy.

⁷⁵ Diary, notes by Butler, 9 Sep. 1943, Butler papers, G 15, fo. 90: ‘whereas, on religious questions, there is a feeling that it is out-of-date to wrangle’.

⁷⁶ Addison, , Road to 1945, pp. 174–8Google Scholar; Ashworth, W., The genesis of modem British town planning (London, 1954), pp. 224–37Google Scholar.

⁷⁷ The Minister of Reconstruction told the prime minister that legislation was only possible after much sacrifice by both parties – Woolton to Churchill, 15 June 1944, Woolton papers, 15, fo. 182. Conservative ministers, however, refused to be moved on the question of development rights. At an informal meeting, Fyfe, Maxwell (Political Adventure, p. 75)Google Scholar noted that the duke of Devonshire ‘(who had not my privilege of friendship with Augustus Uthwatt) referred to him throughout as “this fellow Youthat”. We Conservatives got as far as coming to the conclusion – rightly, I think – that the Uthwatt proposal was a bad one.’

⁷⁸ Kopsch, , ‘Conservative party’, pp. 341–61Google Scholar, notes the persistent Labour complaints that the government was giving way to the views of Conservative back-benchers. Certainly Churchill's decision to involve himself personally stemmed from the belief that at least one Conservative minister, Selborne, was threatening to resign on the issue – Cranborne to Selborne, 18 June 1944, Selborne papers, Bodleian Library, Oxford, MS Eng. Hist. c. 981, fos. 6–8.

⁷⁹ The Times, an ardent supporter of the coalition's reconstruction policies, did much to stress this point of view, subsequently endorsed by historians of the election campaign.

⁸⁰ Let us face the future: Mr Churchill's declaration of policy.

⁸¹ McCallum, and Readman, , Election of 1945, P. 48Google Scholar; ‘Mr Churchill was thinking in terms of the dangers that still lay ahead both in the Japanese War and in post-war Europe. The Labour Party was thinking in terms of victory won and the deserts of those who had won it.’ In May 1945 Attlee in fact added one condition to Churchill's offer of continuing the coalition which had not occurred to the prime minister – the importance of carrying into effect coalition plans for social reform. See Pelling, H., ‘The 1945 general election reconsidered’. The Historical Journal, XXIII, 2 (1980), 401Google Scholar; Macmillan, H., War diaries: politics and war in the Mediterranean (London, 1984), p. 761Google Scholar.

⁸² E.g. Chief Whip James Stuart: ‘Without a healthy export trade national prosperity is unattainable…and without national prosperity any form of what is known as “social security” is impracticable’ – election addresses. Nuffield College, box 1.

⁸³ Cited in McCallum, and Readman, , Election of 1945, P. 115Google Scholar.

⁸⁴ Butler, , Art of the possible, p. 128Google Scholar.

⁸⁵ Butler to Woolton, 13 Sep. 1944, Woolton papers, 16, fo. 9.