As someone who was not around at the time, I have often wondered how my country could show their gratitude to Winston Churchill for leading us to victory in WWII by voting him out of office only 2 months after VE Day. On the face of it, and with only the Falklands and Gulf Wars to use as in comparison, it has always seemed to me bizarre that Clement Attlee should be elected in such circumstances, particularly in a landslide victory.
I watched Into the Storm on TV last night and what an excellent BBC/HBO drama it was. The 90 minute film managed to chart the key moments of the war, from a UK perspective, without seeming rushed and the acting was first class. Brendan Gleeson’s portrayal of Churchill was mesmerising, confirming what an amazing actor he is.
The one weakness of the drama was it seemed to suggest that Churchill lost the 1945 election for the simple reason that he used the word “Gestapo” when describing a potential Labour Party victory. If the drama’s thesis is to be believed then the UK voting public must have been the most fickle bunch ever.
As a Conservative, Churchill opposed the creation of the welfare state but this was not explored. Clement Attlee was only given a peripheral role in the drama and yet history suggests he was a much more central figure in the hearts and minds of the people.
I guess the point I am making is that the 1945 election is probably the ultimate example of a concept much used in management theory; Situational Leadership. Churchill was the right man to lead Britatin during the war and exactly the wrong man to lead the re-building of peacetime society. Attlee successfully lead Britain through massive changes, arguably equivalent in impact to the War, including a nationalisation programme, expended social services and, of course, the creation of the National Health Service.
Situational leadership theory suggests Attlee may well have lost us the war whilst Churchill would probably not have been able to put in place the building bolcks on which many of are lives today are based. I still don’t fully understand how the voting public worked this out, but I guess I am happy that they did.
“This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”