The Labour party election victory in 1945 was due to changes in social attitudes during the Second World War more than other factors. It produced different political views to that of those before WW2 such as equality and the level of state intervention. This benefitted the Labour party’s electoral victory greatly and outweighs the other reasons that contributed to the victory.

Firstly, the social attitudes changed in regard to the significant leftward shift in public opinion and the amount of state intervention that the public wanted. The success of total war showed the public that state involvement was a positive thing and could actually benefit the public. The massive extension of State control, regulation and planning seemed to have led to full employment and a sense of working together for a common goal. Many of the poor population was benefitting from the wartime rationing systems and demand for materials and soldiers as it gave them a substantial meal than what they were used to and they were also able to have a secure income in the household instead of scraping by. The rationing system, along with the conscription of both men and women and the raising of taxes created a feeling of equal involvement and fairness in society, which reflected Labour’s socialist characteristics. The public felt that if these methods were so successful and produced so much positivity in Britain at wartime then they should also be applied in times of peace. Labour’s nationalisation plan no longer seemed wild and the public was beginning to accept the socialist behavior of the Labour party and the party was finally able to proudly declare that they were a socialist party. Belief in state planning and government intervention suited Labour’s ideas and approach far more than that of the Conservatives. The Labour party’s ideas supported the idea of tackling poverty and other problems in the UK and they also supported the 1942 Beveridge report. This report set out to tackle the ‘Five Giants’; want, sickness, lack of education, unemployment and poor housing. The Labour party was very supportive of this report whereas the conservatives were a lot less enthusiastic. As the report greatly benefitted the public, they found that seen as Labour also strongly supported it then they should support Labour.

Also, Labour’s electoral victory also benefitted from the changes in social attitudes because of the effectiveness of leaders in wartime government. This got rid of the idea that Labour was ‘unfit to govern’. The work of Atlee as deputy prime minister, Bevin as the Minister of Labour, Morrison as Home Secretary and other individuals lower down in government kept Labour’s leaders in the forefront of voters’ minds throughout the war. They had all gained experience in government and a reputation for efficiency. The Labour party portrayed itself as being the progressive party. It appealed to all classes because of the beneficial ideas that it had for England. It made promises to construct a post-war Britain based on the principles of fairness and greater equality in the economy and welfare. Labour wished to see women continuing to play important roles in the economy and full time employment was something Labour wished to continue as it saw a period of increased pay of many workers. With all of these appealing ideas and the fact that they had shown themselves to be responsible to run the country and actually put their ideas into action, the electorate felt it right to vote for the party.

However, other factors may suggest that Labour’s electoral victory was due to other factors, the biggest being the ineffectiveness of the Conservative government and its leader, Winston Churchill. Firstly, the election campaign for the conservatives was weak compared to that of the Labour party’s. The Conservative campaign focused on the need to defeat Japan when the Labour’s ‘Let us Face the Future Together’ was based on the building up of the country after a time of war, and moving in to a time of peace. The Conservative’s campaign was a lot less popular because many voters’ wanted a time of peace instead of thinking about another conflict that Britain was entering into. Also, looking at the ineffectiveness of the Conservative party, it had little commitment to implementing the Beveridge proposals for social reform, regarding them as too ambition and expensive to introduce as a whole. The Beveridge reports proposals reflected the attitudes of the public at the time so the Conservatives were mistaken into not supporting them as much as Labour did. Churchill, the Conservative party leader at the time, was also a reason for Conservatives problems. Churchill’s infamous ‘Gestapo speech’ was a huge mistake and resulted in loss of faith in Churchill as an effective leader in a time of peace. In the opening broadcast of the campaign, on 4 June, he warned that the introduction of Socialism into Britain would require '... some form of Gestapo, no doubt very humanely directed in the first instance.' This preposterous allegation was likely to impress no one except the most loyal and unquestioning of Conservative supporters. Many voters’ also remembered the problems of the 1930s and blames the conservatives for this as they were in power at the time. Inevitably so, the Conservative government was blamed for the whole period which is another reason why people voted labour. However, ultimately, the reason that Conservative attitudes were not accepted by the public was because of their change in opinion which probably was the reason that they were not voted into power in the 1945 election.

In conclusion, the 1945 election went in favour of the Labour party because of the change in public opinion because in the end, the public are the voters’ and if their opinion is the same as the party’s then they’re going to vote for that party.