"...just before dawn I woke suddenly with a sharp stab of almost physical pain. A hitherto subconscious conviction that we were beaten broke forth and dominated my mind." ("Triumph and Tragedy," Winston S. Churchill, pg. 674). The British general election, the first since 1935 pitted Prime Minister Winston Churchill, recently victor in World War II and leader of the Conservative Party, against Clement Atlee, leader of the Labour Party. Even now, historians are not quite sure if Labour just ran a great campaign, or the Conservatives ran a poor one, if the Conservatives were now being forced to pay for the sins of Neville Chamberlain, or if the British electorate were just a bunch of bloody ungrateful twits. Any way you look at it, it was probably the most stunning election result of the 20th Century, as Atlee and Labour gained 239 seats in Parliament and fell just short (49.7%) of receiving a majority of the vote. That very afternoon Churchill submitted his resignation as Prime Minister to King George VI, and advised the monarch to give the job to Mr. Atlee. July 26, 1945. Sixty-eight years ago today.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Jul 2013 09:00:02 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015