II.

Early Career

Attlee joined the Fabian Society and the Independent Labour Party in 1907, soon becoming secretary of the Stepney branch. In World War I he volunteered for the army, returning as “Major Attlee”. In 1919 he was selected as prospective Labour parliamentary candidate for Stepney and also became its mayor. He won the seat in 1922 and was promptly made a Parliamentary Private Secretary to Ramsay MacDonald. With MacDonald's first Labour government in 1924, Attlee became Under-Secretary at the War Office. In 1927, MacDonald recommended Attlee as a member of the Simon Commission that investigated the constitutional future of India and published its report in June 1930. In May 1930, Attlee joined MacDonald's second Labour government as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and became Postmaster-General in March 1931. Attlee was outraged by MacDonald's formation of the National Government. He was one of only 52 Labour MPs elected in 1931 and became deputy leader of the Parliamentary Labour Party. He was willing to devote long hours to the House of Commons and for eight months deputized for George Lansbury, the leader, when he had a broken hip. After Lansbury resigned, Attlee was elected leader in 1935.

Attlee and the Labour Party backed the wartime government led by Winston Churchill. Attlee entered Churchill's war cabinet of five, with the posts of Lord Privy Seal (1940-1942), Dominions Secretary (1942-1943), and Lord President of the Council (1943-1945). He was also appointed Deputy Prime Minister and served on all the most important wartime committees. Attlee was an effective and efficient deputy. Churchill generally respected Attlee, commenting on him as “a faithful colleague who served his country well”.