Chapter 3: A Long and Illustrious History

Britain Since 1945

Last checked: 15 July 2026

• 1In the 1945 general election, Labour won and Clement Attlee became Prime Minister, defeating Churchill's Conservatives.
• 2The post-war Labour government created the welfare state, following the 1942 Beveridge Report (Social Insurance and Allied Services) by William Beveridge.
• 3The National Health Service (NHS) was established in 1948, giving free healthcare to all citizens; the Minister of Health who led its creation was Aneurin (Nye) Bevan.
• 4A national system of social security benefits was introduced in 1948 to provide "from the cradle to the grave" protection.
• 5The Attlee government nationalised major industries: railways, coal mines, and gas, water and electricity supplies.
• 6The Education Act 1944 (the "Butler Act", after Conservative minister R. A. Butler) introduced free secondary education in England and Wales.
• 7Clement Attlee was Labour leader for 20 years and PM 1945–1951.
• 8Dylan Thomas (1914–1953) — Welsh poet and writer; famous works include the radio play Under Milk Wood and the poem "Do not go gentle into that good night"; he died in New York aged 39.
• 9In 1947 independence was granted to nine countries including India, Pakistan and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka); most other colonies became independent over the next 20 years.
• 10The UK developed its own atomic bomb and joined NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) in 1949 as a founding member.
• 11The Conservatives returned to power in 1951; Churchill was again PM (until 1955); post-war rebuilding continued through the 1950s.
• 12Post-war labour shortages led Britain to encourage immigration: workers came from Ireland and other parts of Europe, and from 1948 people from the West Indies were invited to come and work (e.g. as bus drivers).
• 13During the 1950s, centres were set up in the West Indies to recruit bus drivers, and workers from India and Pakistan came to work in textiles and engineering.
• 14The 1960s — the "Swinging Sixties" — saw growth in fashion, cinema and British pop music; the Beatles and the Rolling Stones became famous worldwide.
• 15Social laws were liberalised in the 1960s (e.g. on divorce and abortion), and the position of women improved, with more women in work.
• 16British 1960s technology: Concorde, the supersonic passenger airliner developed with France, first flew in 1969 (passenger service from 1976; retired 2003).
• 17In the late 1960s new laws restricted immigration to Britain; immigrants now generally needed a strong connection to Britain (e.g. a parent or grandparent born there); these restrictions did not apply to people from old Commonwealth countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
• 18In 1972 Uganda's ruler Idi Amin expelled the Ugandan Asians, about 28,000 of whom came to Britain.
• 19The 1970s were a difficult decade: inflation, economic problems, and serious industrial unrest with frequent strikes.
• 20The Troubles: violence broke out in Northern Ireland from 1969; in 1972 the Northern Ireland Parliament was suspended and direct rule from London imposed.
• 21Mary Peters — an athlete raised in Northern Ireland who won an Olympic gold medal in the pentathlon in 1972; she later promoted sport and tourism in Northern Ireland and was made a Dame.
• 22The UK joined the European Economic Community (EEC) on 1 January 1973.
• 23Margaret Thatcher, Britain's first woman Prime Minister, led Conservative governments from 1979 to 1990 — the longest-serving PM of the 20th century.
• 24Thatcher-era changes: privatisation of nationalised industries, legal controls on trade union power, deregulation that helped the City of London's financial services grow; traditional heavy industries (shipbuilding, mining) declined.
• 25In 1982 Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands (a British overseas territory); Britain sent a task force and recovered the islands.
• 26Roald Dahl (1916–1990) — born in Wales to Norwegian parents; served in the RAF in WWII; famous children's books include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and George's Marvellous Medicine; many of his books have been filmed.
• 27John Major became Conservative PM after Thatcher in 1990; his government helped begin the Northern Ireland peace process.
• 28Labour won the 1997 election under Tony Blair (PM 1997–2007), followed by Gordon Brown (2007–2010).
• 29The Blair government introduced devolution: the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly were established in 1999.
• 30The Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998, leading to the Northern Ireland Assembly; the peace process largely ended the Troubles.
• 31Since 1990 Britain has taken part in international conflicts including the Gulf War and operations in the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan (from 2001) and Iraq (2003).
• 32In May 2010, for the first time since February 1974, no party won an overall majority at the general election; the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats formed a coalition, and Conservative leader David Cameron became Prime Minister.