The 1945 United Kingdom general election took place on 5 July, but with British armed forces still serving overseas, it took until 26 July to declare the result and for Labour to form the first post second world war government. Of the 393 Labour MPs elected, 18 were members of Usdaw’s predecessor unions, one of whom was ‘Red’ Ellen Wilkinson who joined Prime Minister Clement Attlee’s cabinet as minister for education.
Joanne Thomas – Usdaw general secretary says: “On the anniversary of VE Day we rightly remembered the millions of people who laid down their lives to defeat a fascist ideology that has no place in our political world. We’ll never forget the sacrifices of those who fought for peace. Among them, at one time, there were over 100,000 retail workers serving in the armed forces.
“Today is the 80th anniversary of Labour’s landslide general election victory and the formation of a truly historic government, that set about rebuilding Britain after the horrors of the second world war. A truly lasting legacy of that government is our NHS, vehemently opposed by the Tories at the time, but cherished by the people and rebuilt by every Labour government since, including the current one after 14 years of Tory austerity.
“Usdaw’s predecessor unions were proud to play a role in the 1945 election victory and to see 18 of our members elected. Not least a hero of our union ‘Red Ellen’, a fiery trade union organiser who led the Jarrow hunger march and went on to serve as education minister. She played a pivotal role in delivering the 1944 Education Act, which for the first time delivered universal free education for all under-15s. Ellen was the second woman to serve in the cabinet, the first being Margaret Bondfield, also an Usdaw organiser.
“World War Two was a victory for good against hatred, tyranny and evil. After the war, people looked to Labour to win the peace and rebuild Britain. In doing so, they left a lasting legacy, not least the National Health Service, among many other gains like creating the welfare state, nationalising key industries and starting decolonisation. We will always be grateful to these giants of the labour and trade union movement for everything they achieved.”
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is one of the fastest growing unions in the TUC and the UK's fifth biggest trade union with around 360,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades www.usdaw.org.uk
For Usdaw press releases visit: www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Bluesky @usdawunion.bsky.social and Twitter/X @UsdawUnion