ABSTRACT
Britain is very different from the country that emerged, badly bruised though unbeaten, from World War II. The 1945 general election resulted in a landslide victory for the Labour Party, led by Clement Attlee. The result was seen as a judgement on the record of inter-war governments, most of which had been dominated by the Conservatives. The Attlee government is associated above all with nationalisation and the welfare state. In United Kingdom (UK) politics, the term ‘consensus’ has been used to indicate a broad agreement between the major parties on the main elements of policy, even if the parties continue to disagree about the precise way in which such policies should be implemented. Realities were obscured by the fact that Britain still enjoyed some of the external trappings of great power status; in a phrase used rather too easily and too often in this context, it was allowed to punch above its newly reduced weight.
