Conclusion — the Legacy of the 1930s

Abstract

From May 1940 Attlee and the Labour ministers were intimately involved with all aspects of Britain’s war effort, and they certainly made a major impact on government policy. The Home Front especially was seen by many as a Labour preserve, but Labour ministers were intimately involved in all of the great questions of the war, and worked hard to drive the government to address post-war problems of reconstruction. Indeed Churchill at one point is reported as likening Attlee ‘to a terrier who, when he gets hold of an idea, will not let it go.’¹ The Labour leader was able to make such an impression partly because the interests Labour represented were deemed to be vital to the war effort, and partly because he led a party which was united – even if some sections were not particularly enthusiastic – behind a relatively clearly defined set of policies. He also had a justified confidence in his own abilities to address the great problems of the day. Admittedly the war was unquestionably responsible for persuading the electorate that Labour was worthy of office, but the party, its leadership, and its policies were largely in place and ready for that task before they entered Churchill’s coalition. During the 1930s, indeed, the development of Attlee’s style of leadership, the extent to which Labour’s policy debates had been concluded, the effectiveness of Labour in Parliament, and the growth of Attlee as a political figure with a clear understanding of national and international affairs, and realistic ideas on how to address them – in short his development as a statesman – were all essential factors in the Party’s ability to influence the wartime coalition so decisively.