Clement Attlee

Frank Field, the rebel Labour MP, has just published an edited collection of essays written by the former Labour Prime Minister, Clement Attlee. These essays were written in the 1950s and give us Attlee's impressions of many of his contemporaries. This collection is of interest not just in a historical context but also as a reference for comparison of the men who ran the country in those post-war years with today's politicians. Attlee was an essentially modest man who possessed qualities of leadership that allowed him to hold together a cabinet that contained powerful characters like Ernest Bevin, Herbert Morrison, Stafford Cripps and Aneurin Bevan. In the circumstances after WWII when the country was flat on its back, he rebuilt our society laying the foundations for the economic growth of the 1950s and 1960s. He established the National Health Service, took major industries into public ownership - coal, electricity, gas and railways - and introduced reforms intended to achieve a more equitable society. To him principles were more important than presentation [spin]; intellect more important than celebrity. But he was a true lover of his country and its institutions. His landslide election win in 1945 came as a surprise to almost everyone, not least King George VI. Apparently, when Attlee went to Buckingham Palace to present his credentials, the King and the leader of the victorious Labour Party said little to each other for some minutes. Attlee thought he should try to move things along a bit so he told George VI that he had won the election. "I know", said the King, "I heard it on the News." The King asked him to form a government. The two then got down to details and it is recorded that the two men worked very well together for the next six years.

Clement Attlee and his ministers could never have contemplated the corruption and expenses fiddles that have come to the surface in Parliament in recent months. For them being Members of Parliament was a matter of honour and service to the country; any impropriety was a matter for resignation. To examine Attlee's government and the list of MPs elected in 1945 is a revelation and a stark comparison with the anonymous, ineffective and self-serving, limited-ability party men who inhabit the House of Commons in these early years of the 21st Century.