Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), Friday 27 July 1945, page 1


CONSERVATIVES LOSE 120 SEATS IN

ELECTION LANDSLIDE

11 Ministers Defeated

FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT IN LONDON AND A A P.

A LABOUR GOVERNMENT WAS RETURNED WHEN VOTES

CAST AT THE BRITISH GENERAL ELECTION WERE

COUNTED YESTERDAY. MR ATTLEE WILL BE THE NEW PRIME MINISTER.

The election was a landslide, Labour winning at least 120 seats from the Conservatives and their Liberal National allies.

At least 11 of Mr Churchill's Ministers, including the three Service Ministers, have lost their seats. All the Labour members of the Coalition Government dissolved two months ago have been returned.

For the first time Labour will be able to form a government in Britain without having to rely on the support of other parties.

The result means that Gene-ralissimo Stalin is today the only Allied leader at the be-ginning of the war who is still in office.

This was the first election since the redistribution. There will be 640 seats in the new Par-liament, compared with 615 in

the old.

The expected revival of the Liberal party did not even-tuate. Even Sir William Beveridge (Lib), author of the famous Beveridge plan, lost his seat, Berwick-on-Tweed divi-

sion of Northumberland, to Lieut-Colonel R. A. F. Thorpe

(Con.).

MR CHURCHILL RETURNED

Mr Churchill was returned for his new electorate, the Wood-ford Division of Essex, but his opponent, Mr A. Hancock, an independent, surprisingly re-ceived 10,488 votes in a poll of

38,176.

Mr Churchill's son, Major Randolph Churchill, was de-feated in Preston, and Mr D. Sandys, Mr Churchill's son-in-law, was defeated in Lambeth, Norwood Division, by Mr R. Chamberlain (Lab). At the previous election Mr Sandys had a majority of 12,456.

Mr R. Assheton, chairman of the Conservative party, was beaten by Mrs F. Paton, Labour, in Rushcliffe Division of Not-tingham.

DEFEATED MINISTERS

The following Ministers and others who held appointments under the Churchill Govern-ment were defeated:

Mr BRENDAN BRACKEN, First

Lord of the Admiralty.

Sir JAMES GRIGG, Secretary

for War.

Mr HAROLD MACMILLAN, Air

Secretary and formerly Minister in the Mediter-

ranean.

Mr L. S. AMERY, Secretary for

India.

Sir DONALD SOMERVELL,

Home Secretary.

Mr GEOFFREY LLOYD, Minis-

ter for Information.

Sir WALTER WOMERSLEY,

Minister for Pensions.

Mr RICHARD LAW, Minister

for Education.

Mr WILLIAM MABANE, Minis-

ter of State.

Mr ERNEST BROWN, Minister

for Aircraft Production.

Mr G. S. SUMMERS, a Parlia-

mentary Under-Secretary.

Sir RONALD CROSS, High

Commissioner to Australia.

KING RECEIVES RESULTS

The King received, the election results from time to time as they came in over the tape machine at Buckingham Palace. Sir Richard Acland, leader of the Common Wealth party, lost his seat, the Putney divi-sion of Wandsworth. Sir Percy Harris, deputy leader of the Liberal party, was also de-feated.

Mr Michael Foot, Labour, who was a special correspondent of The Argus at the San Francisco conference, defeated Mr HoreBelisha (Nat), who was Secre-tary for War early in the war, in Plymouth, Devonport divi-

sion.

Mr Dingle Foot (Lib), who was Parliamentary Secretary for Economic Warfare in the Coalition Government, lost his seat in Dundee.

Mr Brendan Bracken's old seat, north division of Pad-dington, was won by LieutGeneral Sir Mason Macfarlane (Lab), former Governor of Gibraltar.

COMMUNIST WINS

In Stepney, Mile End Division, the Labour candidate, Mr D. Frankel, was defeated by Mr P. Piratin, a Communist.

The Australian Air Vice-Mar-shal D. C. J. Bennett, who stood as a Liberal, failed to win Mid-dlesbrough, West Division.

Mr Reginald Purbrick (Con), formerly of Melbourne, was beaten in Walton Division of Liverpool.

Mr R. W. G. Mackay (Lab), an Australian, won Hull, North-west Division, from the retiring Conservative member, Sir Lam-bert Ward.

Sir Edward Campbell (Con), who died on July 17, and Mr L. R. Pym (Con), who died on July 19, both topped the polls in their electorates, Bromley and Monmouth respectively.

MR CLEMENT ATTLEE, new Prime Minister of Great Britain.

THE BIG THREE GET TOGETHER with a touch of "Auld Lang Syne" before the conclusion of the first stage of

conference in Berlin. Front left: Mr Churehil!, President Truman, and Generalissimo Stalin. (British

Official photo by Beam.)