British WI: Clem Attlee resigns after 1951 election defeat?

Hi all,

So as every fan of British politics knows, Labour lost the 1951 election to a resurgent Conservative party under Winston Churchill.

My question is, what if Clement Attlee had decided to resign after the election defeat, instead of remaining as Labour leader for another 4 years?

Who takes over? Is it still Gaitskell, all be it 4 years ahead of OTL? Morrison may be in a stronger position here, as might Beven. Would one of them succeed Attlee instead?

How does the 1951-1955 parliament differ to OTL's equivalent with a different leader? I imagine Eden still gets his mandate in 1955, but would TTL's Labour leader hang on after the election? and how do things develop from there?

Discuss.
 
Morrison had tried to oust Attlee back in 1945 and was thus unpopular in the party. I believe Attlee supported Gaitskell as a challenger to Morrision, as well as a challenger who could beat Bevan.

Russell
 
Morrison had tried to oust Attlee back in 1945 and was thus unpopular in the party. I believe Attlee supported Gaitskell as a challenger to Morrision, as well as a challenger who could beat Bevan.

Russell

In 1951 Morrison was viewed as a poor Foreign Secretary although I am not sure if many in the Party would have cared about that in a post election leadership contest. Gaitskell would be seen as the men who introduced prescription charges and as a man of the right. Bevan would be seen as a hero of the left but also as a man who had damaged Labour at an important time. An Election contest could have been bitter.

IMO Atlee would have backed Gaitskell and the left would have backed Bevan. Morrison may get squeezed out and his supporters would back Gaitskell. The result though would be a serious split in the Party that would have resulted in a bigger Tory victory in the 1955 Election.

I think that one of the reasons that Atlee stayed on until 1955 was because he wanted to keep the Party together while the Tories still had a slim majority and there was still a chance to get back into office.
 
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