The most important post-war elections in Great Britain: When Labour defeated war hero Churchill in 1945

LONDON – Britain’s upcoming general election is widely expected to bring a change of government for the first time in 14 years, and many analysts believe it will be one of the most consequential elections for the country since the end of World War II.

Ahead of the July 4 vote, the Associated Press looks back at other landmark elections since the war.

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The last British general election in July was in 1945, when Winston Churchill’s Conservative Party suffered one of its greatest defeats shortly after the Allied victory over Nazi Germany.

Given the reverence that Churchill still enjoys in the UK and abroad, this result may seem surprising to many in 2024.

During the war years, however, Churchill governed in coalition with other parties, most notably the Labour Party, whose leader Clement Attlee served as his deputy and held other important offices. The war effort required a great deal of state planning, and egalitarian – even socialist – sentiments flourished.

The election on 5 July 1945 was the first in a decade to be the subject of litigation because of the Second World War, and it demonstrated how much Britain had changed since the Great Depression of the early 1930s.

Churchill was still in war mode, as Japan had not yet been defeated, and his support for a wider social safety net was more cautious. Labour campaigned on domestic issues, advocating for housing for all, full employment and government intervention in the economy.

The election result was announced three weeks later, on 26 July, after foreign troops had been given time to cast their votes. Labour had won a landslide victory, securing 48% of the vote, its largest-ever majority in the House of Commons.

Attlee’s government, which remained in office until 1951, was one of the most influential governments in British history and is still used as a benchmark for all subsequent Labour governments.

From the creation of the National Health Service in 1948 to the massive expansion of the welfare state and the nationalisation of a number of industries, Attlee’s government left its mark for decades to come. Many of its achievements remain valid today. Despite its numerous problems, the NHS remains the most revered institution in Britain.