UK 1945 General Election Infographic

1945 was really a big turning point in modern British history. With the election of a Labour government in a 1945 landslide under the leadership of Clement Atlee, the party started implementing important social programs which would alter life in Britain until this day. He founded the NHS, greatly expanded the welfare state and nationalised key industries such as coal mining and the railway network. The Conservative party, led by Winston Churchill was expecting an easy victory in 1945 because of the successes in the war, however, the policies proposed by Labour were very popular and the Conservatives' opposition to them put them out of step with popular opinion. Labour also attacked the Conservatives for the failure of their pre-war appeasement of Hitler and the harsh economic conditions definitely hurt the Conservative. Although Winston Churchill had a stunning 83% approval rating, people had separated him from his party. This was the first time Labour was elected with a parliamentary majority. Previously, Labour had run Britain in 1924 and between 1929 and 1931, however, that was under a minority government in which Labour could not implement its policies very well.