Why did the Conservative Government lose the 1945 General Election?

In order to answer such a question, it is important to look at both the strengths of the victorious Labour Party, as well as the weaknesses of the Conservative government. Although Winston Churchill had been the "man who won the war", the public, having experienced two World Wars, were now looking to the future. They believed Winston Churchill was a man who had thorough experience during wartime, but that a new leader should lead in the post-war world. The people believed that politics in peacetime were very different to those during the war, thus though Churchill had proved a capable wartime leader, they questioned his effectiveness during peace.

In the face of this was Clement Attlee and the Labour Party. Public opinion was increasingly looking to social reform, and Labour campaigned for this. They answered the public's demands for a more equal society during their campaign. Sir William Beveridge's 'Beveridge Report' of 1942 focused on the need for an all-inclusive social policy, including better healthcare and full employment. The Labour Party's campaign offered the public what it wanted, in the face of a more reluctant Conservative government.