Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T05:42:57.307Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Labour, the Left, and the British General Election of 1945

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2014

Gary McCulloch
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The victory of the Labour party in the British general election of July 1945 was preeminently a triumph of Left over Right. Labour won 393 seats, while the Conservatives, despite the prestige associated with their wartime leader Winston Churchill, won only 213. As the election results came in over the radio on July 26, the veteran Labour M.P. James Chuter Ede “began to wonder if I should wake up to find it all a dream.” By the end of the day, he was moved to record that the outcome of the election was “as great as 1906 … one of the unique occasions in British history—a Red Letter day in the best sense of that word.” At the same time, however, the election was of crucial importance in the development of the Left itself, especially with regard to the relationship between the Labour party and the Left as a whole.

I Labour's decisive election victory has commonly been interpreted as the climax of a long and gradual rise to power. The historian Charles Mowat was quick to point out that its success was “the culmination of a political movement now more than sixty years old.” The historic mission of the Labour party, its “fifty years' march” from tiny pressure group to majority government, was the subject of several Whiggish treatises in the following few years. Over the last decade, moreover, the increasing recent difficulties of the Labour party have tended to highlight the comparative steadiness of its earlier growth, although they have also stimulated greater attention to the early causes of later conflicts.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of British Studies , Volume 24 , Issue 4 , October 1985 , pp. 465 - 489
Copyright
Copyright © North American Conference of British Studies 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 For useful accounts of the election, see McCallum, R. B. and Readman, A., The British General Election of 1945 (London, 1947)Google Scholar; Harrington, W. and Young, P., The 1945 Revolution (London, 1978)Google Scholar; and Pelling, H., “The 1945 General Election Reconsidered,” Historical Journal 23, no. 2 (1980): 399–414CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

2 J. Chuter Ede, diary, July 26, 1945, British Library (BL), Additional (Add.) MS 79701.

3 Mowat, C. L., “Some Recent Books on the British Labor Movement,” Journal of Modern History 17 (1945): 356CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

4 For example, Williams, F., Fifty Years' March: The Rise of the Labour Party (London, 1950)Google Scholar.

5 For example, Obelkevich, J., “New Perspectives on the History of the Labour Party, 1918–45,” Bulletin of the Society for the Study of Labour History 47 (Autumn 1983): 11–12Google Scholar.

6 Hobsbawm, E., “The Forward March of Labour Halted,” in The Forward March of Labour Halted? ed. Jacques, M. and Mulhern, F. (London, 1981), pp. 1–19Google Scholar; Zentner, P., Social Democracy in Britain: Must Labour Lose? (London, 1982), p. 191Google Scholar.

7 Keynes, J. M., “Liberalism and Labour” (1926), in Essays in Persuasion (London, 1931), p. 339Google Scholar.

8 D. N. Pritt, draft autobiography, 2:262, British Library of Political and Economic Science (BLPES), Pritt Papers.

9 Labour Party Conference Report (LPCR) (London: Labour party, 1932), pp. 157–58Google Scholar.

10 “Labour's Big Vote,” Daily Herald (November 16, 1935) (editorial).

11 Stannage, C. T., Baldwin Thwarts the Opposition: The British General Election of 1935 (Cambridge, 1980), esp. pp. 233–34Google Scholar. See also Stevenson, J. and Cook, C., The Slump: Society and Politics during the Depression (London, 1977), chap. 13, pp. 245–64Google Scholar.

12 Labour party, National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, December 20, 1942, minute 211, joint meeting of the Organisation and International Sub-Committees, January 26, 1943, and NEC meeting, January 27, 1943, minute 236, Labour party, Walworth Road, London, Labour Party Papers (the Labour Party Papers are also available on microfiche from the Harvester Press).

13 A. L. Scott on behalf of the party secretary J. Middleton to T. Muirhead, August 7, 1942, Labour party, Walworth Road, London, Labour Party Papers, JSM/CP/261.

14 Labour party, Organisation Sub-Committee, March 3, 1943, Labour party, Walworth Road, London, Labour Party Papers, minute 102.

15 Labour party, NEC meeting, March 24, 1943, Labour party, Walworth Road, London, Labour Party Papers, minute 282. Common Wealth's leader, Sir Richard Acland, reacted scornfully: “Nobody asked you, Sir she said” (Sir Richard Acland, diary, April 7, 1943, Sussex University Library [UL], Acland Papers, 8/138). But eighteen months later his party did apply to affiliate to Labour, without success.

16 Labour party, NEC, “Labour Reaffirms Opposition to Communist Affiliation” (June 1943) (leaflet)Google Scholar, Labour party, Walworth Road, London, Labour Party Papers.

17 Labour party, joint meeting of Elections and Organisation Sub-Committees, July 5, 1944, and NEC meeting, July 26, 1944, Labour party, Walworth Road, London, Labour Party Papers, minute 342.

18 “Labour's Prospects,” Economist (June 16, 1945).

19 H. Dalton, diary, April 25, 1945, BLPES, Dalton Papers, I/32.

20 Common Wealth party, National Committee meeting, September 16, 1945, minute 480, Sussex UL, Common Wealth Papers, 1/13–14.

21 Labour party, NEC meeting, January 23, 1946, Labour party, Walworth Road, London, Labour Party Papers, minute 128.

22 M. Phillips to H. Pollitt, January 23, 1946, Labour party, Walworth Road, London, NEC Papers (the NEC Papers are also available on microfiche from the Harvester Press as the Labour Party NEC series).

23 See Gilbert, B. B., “Third Parties and Voters' Decisions: The Liberals and the General Election of 1945,” Journal of British Studies 11, no. 2 (1972): 131–41CrossRefGoogle Scholar, for an interesting analysis of the Liberals' role in this election.

24 Thwaites, P. J., “The Independent Labour Party, 1938–1950” (Ph.D. thesis, University of London, 1976)Google Scholar, is a useful account of the Independent Labour party in these years.

25 LPCR, 1946, pp. 14, 174.

26 H. Dalton, diary, July 27, 1945, BLPES, Dalton Papers, I/33.

27 The failure of Herbert Morrison's bid to oust Attlee from the party leadership was indicative of the new situation (see Donoughue, B. and Jones, G., Herbert Morrison: Portrait of a Politician [London, 1973], pp. 339–44)Google Scholar.

28 Jones, G. Stedman, “Marching into History?” New Socialist 3 (January–February 1982): 10–15Google Scholar.

29 See Marquand, D., Ramsay MacDonald (London, 1977)Google Scholar; and Barker, R., “Political Myth: Ramsay MacDonald and the Labour Party,” History 61, no. 1 (1976): 46–56CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Macintyre, S., A Proletarian Science: Marxism in Britain, 1917–1933 (Cambridge, 1980), pp. 174–77Google Scholar.

30 Morrison, H., “Socialism and the Middle Classes,” Forward (March 23, 1935)Google Scholar.

31 See Addison, P., The Road to 1945: British Politics and the Second World War (London, 1975), esp. chaps. 4–6Google Scholar; and Calder, A., The People's War: Britain, 1939–1945 (London, 1969)Google Scholar.

32 Carr, E. H., “The New Europe,” The Times (July 1, 1940)Google Scholar. See McCulloch, G., “The Politics of the Popular Front in Britain, 1935–1945” (Ph.D. thesis, Cambridge University, 1981)Google Scholar, esp. chaps. 5–6, for further details of this line of thinking.

33 LPCR, 1940, p. 188.

34 Ibid., p. 134.

35 Morrison, H., speech at Leeds (April 3, 1942), in Looking Ahead: War-Time Speeches (London, 1943), pp. 142–43Google Scholar.

36 Labour party, NEC meeting, January 10, 1945, minute 16, and Campaign Sub-Committee, February 19, 1945, Labour party, Walworth Road, London, Labour Party Papers.

37 Donoughue and Jones (n. 27 above), p. 335.

38 Labour party, Policy Sub-Committee, March 27, 1945, Labour party, Walworth Road, London, Labour Party Papers, minute 5.

39 LPCR, 1945, p. 92. See further Labour party, Let Us Face the Future (London, 1945)Google Scholar.

40 C. Attlee, election broadcast, Tuesday, June 5, 1945, 9:15 P.M. (the text of the broadcast appeared in the Listener [June 14, 1945]).

41 H. Tracey to T. Williamson, June 8, 1945, Congress House, London, Trades Union Congress files, 715.45. The “Election Special“ was published by the Labour party in 1945 as the British Elector (London), a newspaper.

42 Cole, M., The General Election 1945 and After, Fabian Research Series, no. 102 (London, 1945), p. 8Google Scholar.

41 Bonham, J., The Middle-Class Vote (London, 1954), p. 163Google Scholar.

44 Howard, A., “We Are the Masters Now,” in Age of Austerity, ed. Sissons, M. and French, P. (London, 1963), p. 18Google Scholar.

45 Pimlott, B., Labour and the Left in the 1930s (Cambridge, 1977)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Eatwell, R., “The Labour Party and the Popular Front Movement in the 1930s” (D.Phil, thesis. Oxford University, 1976)Google Scholar, and “Munich, Public Opinion and Popular Front,” Journal of Contemporary History 6, no. 4 (1971): 122–39CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Jupp, J., The Radical Left in Britain, 1931–1941 (London, 1982)Google Scholar.

46 Dare, R., “The Socialist League, 1932–37” (D.Phil, thesis, Oxford University, 1972)Google Scholar; and Seyd, P., “Factionalism within the Labour Party: The Socialist League, 1932–37,“ in Essays in Labour History, vol. 3, ed. Briggs, A. and Saville, J. (London, 1977), pp. 204–31Google Scholar.

47 Samuels, S., “The Left Book Club,“ Journal of Contemporary History 1, no. 2 (1966): 85–86CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Lewis, J., The Left Book Club: An Historical Record (London, 1970)Google Scholar.

48 Kennedy, T. G., “The Next Five Years Group and the Failure of the Politics of Agreement in Britain,” Canadian Journal of History 11, no. 1 (1974): 45–68CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

49 Pimlott, p. 181. See also Eatwell, , “The Labour Party and the Popular Front Movement in the 1930s,” p. 377Google Scholar.

50 Howell, D., British Social Democracy: A Study in Development and Decay (London, 1976), p. 92Google Scholar.

51 Addison (n. 31 above), p. 14.

52 Calder, A., “The Common Wealth Party, 1942–45” (D.Phil, thesis, University of Sussex, 1968), esp. vol. 1, chap. 6Google Scholar.

53 Jupp, J., “The Left in Britain: 1931 to 1941” (M.Sc. thesis, University of London, 1956), p. 541Google Scholar.

54 Norman, E. R., Church and Society in England, 1770–1970: A Historical Study (Oxford, 1976), esp. pp. 280–370Google Scholar.

55 Koss, S., Nonconformity in Modern British Politics (London, 1975), chap. 9Google Scholar, outlines its role in Lloyd George's “Council of Action“ in 1935.

56 See, e.g., Symons, J., The Thirties: A Dream Revolved (London, 1960), p. 96Google Scholar.

57 Wilford, R. A., “The Political Involvements and Ideological Alignments of British Left-Wing Literary Intellectuals, 1930–1950” (D.Phil, thesis, University of Wales, 1975), p. 275Google Scholar.

58 Webb, S. and Webb, B., Soviet Communism—a New Civilisation (London, 1937)Google Scholar. See also Caute, D., The Fellow Travellers: A Postscript to the Enlightenment (London, 1973), p. 81Google Scholar.

59 See, e.g., Marwick, A., “Middle Opinion in the Thirties: Planning, Progress and Political ‘Agreement,’“ English Historical Review 79, no. 2 (1964): 285–98CrossRefGoogle Scholar. A notable statement of this view is in LordSalter, , Memoirs of a Public Servant (London, 1961), p. 243Google Scholar.

60 Samuels (n. 47 above), p. 75; Prynn, D. L., “Common Wealth—a British ‘Third Party’ of the 1940s,” Journal of Contemporary History 7, nos. 1–2 (1972): 169–79CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

61 “Labour's Real Hope,“ News Chronicle (June 7, 1937) (editorial).

62 “Party Prospects,” Economist (August 28, 1943).

63 Cole, G. D. H., Great Britain in the Post-War World (London, 1942), pp. 74, 134Google Scholar.

64 Middleton, J. S., “Condition of the Party,” March 1942, NEC Papers (memorandum)Google Scholar.

65 G. Ridley to G. Shepherd, March 10, 1943, Bodleian Library, Attlee Papers, box 8.

66 R. Acland to D. Lloyd George, May 17, 1940, House of Lords Records Office, Lloyd George Papers, G/1/3/4. See also Acland, R., Unser Kampf (London, 1940)Google Scholar.

67 Williams, F., Nothing So Strange: An Autobiography (London, 1970), p. 160Google Scholar.

68 For example, Laski, H., “The Party and the Future,” April 1942, NEC papers (memorandum)Google Scholar. R. H. Tawney to B. Webb, December 6, 1942, BLPES, Passfield Papers, II.4.m.141.

69 Pelling, H., Britain and the Second World War (London, 1970), p. 314Google Scholar; the quotation is from “The Portent of Skipton,“ New Statesman (January 15, 1944).

70 “Fabian Frontiersmen,“ Fabian News (February 1941). See also Cole, G. D. H., The Fabian Society, Past and Present, Fabian Tract, no. 258 (London, 1942)Google Scholar.

71 “London Diary,“ New Statesman (January 10, 1942).

72 J. B. Priestley to K. Martin, February 9, 1942, Sussex UL, Martin Papers, 14/5.

73 J. Strachey to S. Cripps, February 6, 1942, Strachey Papers (private).

74 Acland, R., Only One Battle (London, 1937), p. 92Google Scholar.

75 Acland to A. Sinclair, August 28, 1937, Churchill College, Cambridge University, Thurso Papers, 11/1937/1.

76 Acland to K. Wintringham, March 9, 1943, Sussex UL, Acland Papers, 8/118–19.

77 Acland, Unser Kampf (n. 66 above).

78 Acland to Priestley, October [November] 5, 1940, Sussex UL, Acland Papers, 8/65–66.

79 H. Lawson to Acland, February 23, 1940, Sussex UL, Lawson Papers, 9/1–2. Additional information from H. Lawson, interview with the author, May 31, 1979.

80 Acland to C. Trevelyan, January 25, 1942, Newcastle UL, Trevelyan Papers, file 207.

81 Gollancz, V., “Thoughts after Munich,” Left News (November 1938) (editorial)Google Scholar. For a detailed examination of the educational and social ideals of the Left Book Club, see McCulloch, G., “‘Teachers and Missionaries’: The Left Book Club as an Educational Agency,” History of Education 14, no. 2 (June 1985) (in press)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

82 V. Gollancz to Strachey, September 11, 1939, Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick, Gollancz Papers, 157/3/DOC/1/10.

83 “The Left Book Club in War Time,” Left News (September 1939) (editorial).

84 Gollancz to P. Gordon Walker, [October 1939], Albu Papers (private), SCG file G/2.

85 Gollancz, V., ed., The Betrayal of the Left (London, 1941)Google Scholar. Gollancz, V., Russia and Ourselves (London, 1941), p. 71Google Scholar.

86 Gollancz to Martin, [April 1942], Sussex UL, Martin Papers, 22/2.

87 Labour party, NEC, “Labour and the Popular Front” (May 1938) (statement), Labour party, Walworth Road, London, NEC Papers.

88 See McCulloch, G., “Victor Gollancz on the Crisis and Prospects of Labour and the Left, 1942,” Bulletin of the Society for the Study of Labour History 44 (Spring 1982): 18–22Google Scholar, on the political dilemma of the popular front toward the end of the war.

89 C. Attlee to Gollancz, November 9, 1937, Strachey Papers (private).

90 Attlee to Martin, May 9, 1937, Sussex UL, Martin Papers, 11/1.

91 Crossman, R., “The Lessons of 1945,“ in Towards Socialism, ed. Anderson, P. and Blackburn, R. (London, 1965), p. 146Google Scholar.

92 Gollancz to Acland, October 6, 1944, Sussex UL, Acland Papers, 8/430.

93 Laski, H., “The Labour Party, the War and the Future“ (pamphlet) (London: Labour party, 1939), p. 12Google Scholar.

94 B. Webb, diary, February 29, 1940, BLPES, Passfield Papers, I/54.

95 Laski, H., “Great Britain, Russia, and the Labour Party,“ unpublished pamphlet, 1941, Labour Party Papers, JSM/MISCGoogle Scholar.

96 Laski, “The Party and the Future“ (n. 68 above), and “London Diary,“ New Statesman (November 7, 1942).

97 H. Laski to B. Webb, July 5, 1942, BLPES, Passfield Papers, II.4.m.122.

98 Laski to B. Webb, September 13, 1942, BLPES, Passfield Papers, II.4.m.134.

99 These fears were reflected at the first wartime conference of the Left Book Club at the Royal Hotel, London, May 30–31, 1942, the proceedings of which were published in full in Left News (July 1942).

100 Laski, H., “Where Is the Labour Party Going?” New Statesman (July 10, 1943)Google Scholar.

101 LPCR, 1945, p. 143.

102 Ibid., p. 144.

103 Parkin, F., Middle Class Radicalism: The Social Bases of the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (Manchester, 1968), p. 2Google Scholar.

104 Eysenck, H. J., The Psychology of Politics (London, 1954), p. 137Google Scholar.

105 “Occasional Londoner's Diary,” New Statesman (August 16, 1941).

106 Ede, diary, July 28, 1945, vol. 12, BL, Add. MS 79701.

107 For example, Labour party, NEC, “Labour and the Popular Front,” May 1938, NEC Papers, Labour party, Walworth Road, London, Labour Party Papers.

108 Dalton, H., “Further Note on Short Programme,” January 1937Google Scholar, BLPES, Dalton Papers, II A/3/1/9.

109 “Notes of Policy Committee Discussion,” [November 15, 1938], BLPES, Dalton Papers, II A/4/3/60–63.

110 Dalton, H., “Our Financial Plan,” in Forward from Victory! Labour's Plan, ed. Fabian Society (London, 1946), p. 39Google Scholar.

111 Attlee, C., foreword to Williams, Fifty Years' March (n. 4 above), p. 5Google Scholar.