Warned off the 4th of July

Britain will head to its first July election for almost 80 years – and the last time it happened it did not go well for the Conservatives.

War-ravaged voters went to the polls on July 5 1945, just two months after Victory in Europe and more than a month before Victory in Japan. Winston Churchill, right, the prime minister, had been in wartime coalition with Labour since 1940, but with the end of fighting in Europe, Labour voted to pull out of the deal.

Churchill had been a popular wartime leader, but many voters – including millions of soldiers still posted around the world – wanted to ensure that life really would change for the better after the end of hostilities.

Memories of the Tory and Liberal failure to provide “homes fit for heroes” after the First World War were strong, and millions were convinced that only Labour would truly change the country.

So when the votes were finally counted – after being shipped back from military camps all round the world – Clement Attlee stunned the world by winning.

He took Labour to a 145-seat majority and throwing Churchill out of government.

Although they were grateful to Churchill offering his people “blood, toil, tears and sweat” during the conflict, only 36 per cent of voters backed the Tories, with 48 per cent choosing Labour.

Labour gained 239 constituencies to win 393 seats, while the Tories lost 189 to end up with just 197.

When Churchill’s wife Clementine attempted to cheer him up by telling him the defeat might be a “blessing in disguise”, he replied: “At the moment it seems quite effectively disguised.” Labour stayed in power for six years, during which time they changed the country forever by establishing the welfare state and the NHS.

Rishi Sunak will be hoping that the election – on July 4 2024 – will follow a different trajectory to that of his wartime hero.

He may find a crumb of comfort, however, in the fact that Churchill did return to power in 1951, leading the Conservatives to a slim-majority victory.