Why was Churchill voted out in 1945?

[Melissa, the best kisser!]

I'm just curious. You'd think he would've been extremely popular at that point in time. Was there a change in the mood of the public at that time?

[Richard]

Because he was a war-minister. People did not think he was as good a Peace-minister. Even so, he did have much support from his countrymen, just not enough.

[the wiz]

The mood after the war was for a welfare state, based on the Beveridge Report. Although the conservatives supported many of the report's ideas, they didn't think it would be affordable to actually do them. Labour thought they could pay for it and ran on the platform.

[ammianus]

Churchill was leader of the Conservative Party,and people blamed the Conservative Party and its prewar policy of appeasement for WW2 starting.

Which was ironic,as Churchill,even though he was only a backbencher at the time,always spoke out strongly and publicly against appeasement policies.

[Jay]

There were lots of reasons.

When Churchill became PM in 1941 he headed a coalition government which included figures from all the political parties. While Churchill was off having meetings with Stalin and FDR it was left to several Labour ministers to "win the war at home" they produced via the Beveridge Report which was a blueprint for the modern welfare state. Although people talk of Churchill winning the war in reality it was the soldiers and they and the British people saw a new Britain emerging based on equality and where they would and should get something back. After WWI there had been vague promises made that would reward the sacrifices made - but few of these promises became reality. The Labour ministers in government had acquitted themselves well and had proven to be hard working and successful.

Churchill and the Conservatives were also a bit complacent, they thiught that with the war won and Churchill a national and international hero that the election was in the bag. Just about the only campaigning that Churchill did was to attack the Beveridge Report claiming that it would bring socialism, this antagonised many voters and it should be noted that Labour spent a lot of time selling their vision.

Another factor was that the Conservatives, via Chamberlain and many others had participated in the appeasement of Hitler and also lastly, many people were tired of war and wanted to rebuild the nation and get on with their lives. They saw Labour as the best party to achieve that.

[Lomax]

The slogan at the time was "Cheer Churchill, Vote Labour."

He was an extremely popular war-time leader; but the nation was tired of war. They were also tired of a lot of other things. There was a prevailing national mood that the post-war era (by the way, Churchill was voted out before WW2 actually ended) would be a time to build something new, and better than what had gone before. Better housing, better education, better health provision...

This process had actually started during the war. Whilst Churchill ran the war, to a great extent Attlee ran the country, and did a lot of the groundwork while he was deputy PM. See the Beveridge report, for example.

A significant consideration is that the Khaki Vote - votes cast by troops serving overseas - was Labour almost to a man.

[Moriarty]

You must remember that, technically, Churchill was never voted IN to office. After Neville Chamberlain resigned as Prime Minister after only narrowly surviving a vote of "No Confidence" in his conservative government and the Labour party leaders refusing to work in a coalition war cabinet with Chamberlain at it's head, there were only two contenders. Lord Halifax and Winston Churchill. Halifax refused the job, so on the 10th May 1940 Churchill was invited to form a coalition government.

When the war in Europe came to an end exactly five years later, Churchill was indeed extremely popular. At no point had his polling figures dropped below 78% and at that point stood at 84%. But one of the reasons why Churchill lost the general election in 1945 was because he had succeeded in completing the almost superhuman task he had taken on in 1940, and in a way this made him redundant. He had formed an outstanding coalition government that were able to use each members skill to to mobilise the British for total war, leaving Churchill free to become the epitome of national wartime leader and military victory was by far the most important of his goals - thus everything else, including party politics, was secondary. As a result, when the war came to an end and party politics resumed, Churchill suddenly found himself without a clear sense of purpose or direction.

Meanwhile, the Labour party had already set themselves up as the party of social reform with the Beveridge Report published in 1942. This report amounted to a comprehensive manifesto of social reform, including social security, a National Health Service, a full employment policy and other advances. Then during the election Labour and its allies in the media ran an effective propaganda war. They vilified members of the pre-war Conservative party as having been appeasers of Hitler, and of having been responsible for the failure to re-arm Britain. And they painted the 1930s in dismal colours as an era of poverty and mass unemployment. At the same time, they held out the prospect of a new social order that would ensure better housing, free medical services and employment for all.

Of course, the Conservatives built their campaign around the personality of Churchill and he still remained hugely popular, but the Conservative party, of which he was the de facto head, was not. Churchill's fame as a war leader was now a very mixed blessing. The repeated emphasis he gave to the need to finish the war against Japan suggested once more that war was his only real interest. The East End of London was flooded with rumours that he was planning a war against Russia. Also, Churchill's concern for Britain's imperial holdings put him at odds with the war weariness of the British public, who really didn't care about British colonies but were more concerned with housing (especially after the destruction caused by the Blitz) and the rebuilding of their country in all forms. Clement Attlee and the Labour party were the ones gearing up for that and consequently won in a landslide victory.

[GIO C]

Because the opposition Labour Party campaign was appealing to the majority working class people who fought in the war to make the land fit for heroes with a socialist manifesto.

[Athena]

People get tired of war.
The war hero is given a parade, then the public wants to forget him/her.

Look at George Bush in 1992 after winning the Gulf war.

[Petrusclavus]

The British are a pragmatic people. He was a good war leader, but the Brits knew he was a two faced jackal who would not deliver on the post war promises. We did not then want a crusade - we wanted social reform - so we voted him out and Labour in.
We do not vote for clapped out militants when the war is over.