ABSTRACT
The late-Victorian era into which Attlee was born at Putney left an enduring mark of service and sensibility on his character and outlook. Politically, this was not a comfortable position for Attlee, as Labour was very critical of the Commission, but he threw himself into its deliberations, gaining an education in an issue which demonstrated his greatest personal contribution to post-war Britain. It failed primarily because of Bevin's refusal to join the cabal and unseat whom he called his 'little man'. After some months of negotiation, Attlee's impatience began to show; he told the cabinet in 1946 that 'it was impossible to be confident that the main political Parties in India had any real will to reach agreement between themselves'. The period as Leader of the Opposition between 1951 and his retirement in December 1955 was not a happy one for Attlee.
