Churchill falls from power

26th July 1945: In the British General Election the Labour Party win an overwhelming majority and Churchill is out of office

The Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, accompanied by Air Marshal the Hon. Sir Ralph Cochrane, Air Officer Commanding in Chief, Transport Command, walks from his Douglas Skymaster Mark I, EW999, at Northolt, Middlesex, on his return from the Three Power Conference at Potsdam.

On the 25th July Winston Churchill had returned to Britain midway through the Potsdam conference to be present for the results of the General Election. Throughout the war, he had led a government of National coalition, containing members of the opposition parties. He had not enjoyed unanimous support throughout the war - in 1942 he had faced two votes of no confidence in his leadership.

His wartime achievement was no longer in any doubt. But he, and the greater part of the Conservative Party, had been focusing almost exclusively on the war, and had neglected the mood of the ordinary man and woman in the country. The ‘Socialists’ - the Labour Party - had developed some innovative policies that were directly aimed at improving the lot of the average citizen. They promised the introduction of a true 'Welfare State', a 'National Health Service', as well as the nationalisation of key industries. These policies appealed to people who wanted not just to win the war but to build a better world for themselves after it.

In an age without opinion polls Churchill and many other Conservatives had failed to see that the mood of the country had dramatically turned against them. There must have been subtle signs present, because they finally crystallised in Churchill's mind as he slept¹:

The latest view of the Conservative Central Office was that we should retain a substantial majority. I had not burdened myself unduly with the subject while occupied with the grave business of the Conference. On the whole I accepted the view of the party managers, and went to bed in the belief that the British people would wish me to continue my work.

My hope was that it would be possible to reconstitute the National Coalition Government in the proportions of the new House of Commons. Thus slumber.

However, 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.