Exeter

1945 Election

This section explores the 1945 General Election, which is viewed as one of the most pivotal events in modern British political history.

To follow is an overview of the key events that occurred around the election. On the menu bar to the right of this page you will find links to pupil and teacher resources, including themed information pages, questions sheets, lesson plans and audioclips of oral history recordings that relate to the learning material on these pages.

 

1945 Election: An overview

A ‘national coalition’, led by the Conservatives but including Liberals had been in power since 1935. In 1940, Conservative Winston Churchill became Prime Minister and brought Labour MPs into his government, including Deputy Prime Minister Clement Attlee. Throughout the war there were no elections.

In 1945 the Labour party won a landslide victory and Churchill, the ‘man who won the war’ was forced to step down. Historians argue about why this was, but they believe one of the main reasons was the Labour party’s promise to introduce changes suggested in the 1942 Beveridge Report. This argued that the state should provide a safety net for its citizens from ‘cradle to grave’, including a free health service, unemployment and sickness insurance, and better housing.

In Devon, the Conservative party still won six of the ten parliamentary seats in the election. However, both the Conservative and Liberal parties received fewer votes than they had done in 1935. The Labour party increased their share of the vote from 18% to 29% and in Plymouth, one of the areas of the county most affected by the blitz, it won all three parliamentary seats.

The people who you are about to listen to remember the 1945 election as one of their earliest political experiences. For many, both national and local issues were important.  To hear their stories click on the audio links on the menu bar to the right of this page.

You can find out more about some of the people behind these stories here:

Chester Long

David Morrish

Joan Morrish

David Verney

 

You can now find out more about the 1945 general election by exploring the 'pupil information sheets', starting with A: Hore-Belisha

Winston Churchill visiting Devonport, Plymouth in 1950 © Plymouth Arts and Heritage Service

  • Listen to Labour activist Alfred Boom talk about his memories of the 1945 Election and how the introduction of the NHS influenced his political identity
  • Listen to Labour Party activist Chester Long recall his memories of the 1945 Election in Exeter
  • Hear David Verney talk about his memories of the 1945 Election and Liberal Party activism in North Devon
  • Hear former Liberal councillor David Morrish recall his memories of the 1945 election in Plymouth's Devonport constituency
  • Listen to David Morrish talk about his memories of his first experiences of canvassing for the Liberals in Plymouth Sutton
  • Hear former Liberal councillor Joan Morrish recall her memories of canvassing for the Party in 1945

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