In 1945, in the glow of Churchill's great war victory, Attlee won the election by a landslide. After serving at Gallipoli during the First Word War he rose through the ranks of the Labour Party and during the Second World War became Britain's first Deputy Prime Minister. Growing up in the comfortable coda of the Victorian era, he foresaw an epoch of change - one that he was pivotal to bring about in the post-war years. His political awakening volunteering in the East End of London was instrumental in redrawing his map of Britain's class and economic system. Yet Attlee was often underestimated: he won over those who compared him unfavourably to his rival, Churchill and undercut their doubt with dry wit and proof of his steady and ethical leadership. His cocooned suburban childhood and standing at university as 'the man who couldn't quite' were unlikely preparations for such a figure. Clement Attlee was a slightly-built, bald, pipe-smoking and unassuming man who presided over the radical administration of 1945-51 and is sometimes referred to as Britain's greatest peace-time Prime Minster.
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