Attlee ministry

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Attlee ministries
Cabinet of the United Kingdom
1945–1950 1950–1951
Attlee (1950)
Date formed	First: 26 July 1945 (1945-07-26) Second: 23 February 1950 (1950-02-23)
Date dissolved	First: 23 February 1950 (1950-02-23) Second: 26 October 1951 (1951-10-26)
People and organisations
Monarch	George VI
Prime Minister	Clement Attlee
Prime Minister's history	1945–1951
Deputy Prime Minister	Herbert Morrison
Total no. of members	243 appointments
Member party	Labour Party
Status in legislature	Majority 393 / 640 (61%) (1945) 315 / 625 (50%) (1950)
Opposition party	Conservative Party
Opposition leader	Winston Churchill
History
Election(s)	1945 general election 1950 general election
Outgoing election	1951 general election
Legislature term(s)	38th UK Parliament 39th UK Parliament
Predecessor	Churchill caretaker ministry
Successor	Third Churchill ministry

This article is part of a series about Clement Attlee
Labour Party MP for Limehouse Labour Leader 1935 general election 1935 leadership election Norway Debate Churchill war ministry War cabinet crisis 1945 general election Prime Minister Cabinet Potsdam Conference National Insurance National Coal Board Anglo-American loan Winter of 1946-47 Partition of India Partition of Palestine National Health Service British Rail 1950 general election Korean War 1951 general election Post-Prime Minister 1955 general election
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Clement Attlee was invited by King George VI to form the Attlee ministry in the United Kingdom in July 1945,^[1] succeeding Winston Churchill as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The Labour Party had won a landslide victory at the 1945 general election, and went on to enact policies of what became known as the post-war consensus, including the establishment of the welfare state and the nationalisation of some industries.^[2] The government's spell in office was marked by post-war austerity measures, the violent crushing of pro-independence and communist movements in Malaya, the grant of independence to India, the engagement in the Cold War against Soviet Communism as well as the creation of the country's National Health Service (NHS).

Attlee went on to win a narrow majority of five seats at the 1950 general election, forming the second Attlee ministry.^[3] Just twenty months after that election, Attlee called a new election for 25 October 1951 in an attempt to gain a larger majority, but was narrowly defeated by the Conservative Party, sending Labour into a 13-year spell in opposition.