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Clement Richard Attlee, first Earl Attlee, was a lawyer, British Labour politician and prime minister of Great Britain (1945-51). He was elected leader of the Labour Party and leader of the opposition 1935. During World War II, Attlee served in Churchill’s coalition government as Lord Privy Seal (1940-42), Secretary for the Dominions (1942-43) and Lord President of the Council (1943-45). From 1942 to 1945 he was deputy prime minister. Attlee’s government implemented a programme of nationalisation, which included the Bank of England, the coal industry, transport, gas and electricity, communications and the iron and steel industries. He introduced a new social security programme, implemented the National Insurance Act (1946) and introduced the National Health Service. Attlee’s government oversaw the granting of independence to India, Burma and Ceylon, the establishment of the state of Pakistan and the withdrawal of Britain from Palestine (1948). He left the House of Commons after Labour’s defeat in the 1955 general election. Attlee served in the House of Lords from 1955.

Source

Whiting, R.C. ‘Attlee, Clement Richard, first Earl Attlee (1883-1967).’ In Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, edited by H.C.G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Online edition, edited by Lawrence Goldman, 2011. Accessed 2 October 2012. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/30498.