ABSTRACT
Churchill wrote that by November 1941 Clement Attlee was 'now generally recognised as Deputy-Prime Minister'. This was specially appropriate for the exceptional conditions of the time, with Attlee as the Leader of the second party in the grand coalition, though not regarded as Churchill's potential successor. From 1945 Herbert Morrison was regarded as Deputy-Prime Minister under Attlee, and his definition may be regarded as authoritative: 'Including and since Churchill's War Government, the position of Deputy-Prime Minister has been publicly announced, though not constitutionally recognised. The common acceptance of Morrison's position as Deputy-Prime Minister in 1945-51 depended in part on his party position though a constitutional purist would be offended by such an assumption. In July 1969, when the Prime Minister raised the question of Brown's returning to the Government, Brown insisted that 'he could return only as Deputy-Prime Minister since he was still the Party's Deputy-Leader'.
