Putney MP Fleur Anderson held an event on Monday to celebrate one of the constituency’s most famous residents – former Prime Minister Clement Attlee.
The gathering was attended by Lord Attlee, Clement’s grandson, as well as the Mayor of Wandsworth and Wandsworth Council leader Simon Hogg.
Speeches by Anderson, Lord Attlee, and the mayor took place by a commemorative plaque on Portinscale Road where Attlee was born, marking 80 years since the 1945 general election which brought him to power.
The Labour MP paid tribute to Attlee’s government, which she said changed Britain forever and built the modern welfare state.
Anderson said: “We’re really proud in Putney that Clement Attlee was born here, the only Prime Minister to have come from Putney.
“I think it’s really important that we recognise our heritage and celebrate the fact that he came from here – just behind East Putney station.”
Born in 1883 to an upper-middle class family, Attlee studied at Oxford and trained as a lawyer, before joining the independent Labour Party in 1908 after seeing the scale of poverty in London’s East End, while managing a charitable youth organisation in Limehouse.
He rose to the Labour leadership in 1935 and held the position until 1955 – the longest in the party’s history – later serving as Deputy Prime Minister in Winston Churchill’s coalition government during the Second World War.
Attlee became Prime Minister following Labour’s landslide election victory in 1945, ushering in a period of radical change which included the establishment of the NHS, nationalisation of major industries, and the expansion of the welfare state.
Asked what Labour politicians could learn from Attlee’s government, Anderson said: “It’s good to remember that politics does matter.
“Creating the NHS – that might not have happened had it not been for a good government that could push those through and really translate its values into actions that we are benefiting from today.
“It’s also a challenge to us, our Labour Government now. We’ve also been elected on a big majority, just as Clement Attlee was, in very difficult circumstances. His was post-war, we are now post-Covid, with a cost of living crisis.
“We’ve both got challenges, but we can learn that we can deliver a lot in a government – if we get on with it.”
The event took place amid growing frustration about the direction of the Labour government, which has been criticised for a lack of ambition and thrown into disarray by the resignation of Angela Rayner and sacking of Peter Mandelson.
Anderson was one of a number of ministers to lose her position in the reshuffle following Rayner’s departure.
In a largely non-combative letter to the Prime Minister, she expressed her disappointment to be leaving her role as Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
She added she remained “fully committed to the Labour Government’s vision for stronger, fairer, and greener communities, with rising living standards for all”.
Anderson was joined by Clement’s grandson, Lord Attlee, who, unlike his grandfather, sits in the House of Lords as a Conservative hereditary peer.
Lord Attlee said he had few memories of Clement, who died in 1967, but emphasised his qualities as a leader and drew a comparison with Keir Starmer.
He added: “Leadership isn’t charisma. A lot of people get confused between charisma, and they criticise the current Prime Minister because he’s not got very much charisma, he can’t go into a room and light it up – but much more important is actual, real leadership.”
In accordance with a Labour manifesto commitment, legislation to remove the remaining hereditary peers in the House of Lords is currently in its final stages – a decision Lord Attlee said was a mistake and would deprive parliament of vital experience.
The event was also used to launch educational resources developed for local schools by the Wandsworth Heritage Service for Key Stage 1 Students, in collaboration with Anderson.
Pupils from the local Brandlehow and Sheringdale primary schools were present, and Anderson said she wanted the lesson plans to help students understand who Attlee was and what he did for local children.
She said: “It was local schoolchildren saying they didn’t know about this that made me think we need a lasting legacy.
“To learn about him and use that will be the long-lasting result of this event. I think it’s all part of celebrating our heritage.”
Images provided by Fleur Anderson MP
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