Revolt in the Fortress

Long years before the Labor Government came to power, London's County Council was the rock of Fabian Socialism in Britain. In the capital's tough, cockney-flavored municipal government, Oxford-accented Fabians had fought and won their first battles. Labor's political machine, reaching into all of London's slums, docks and factory districts, boosted to power such Socialists as Clement Attlee, Herbert Morrison, and Lewis Silkin. For 15 years, no matter who controlled the majorities in Parliament, the Labor Party controlled the London County Council.

Last week, the fortress toppled. In its own historic stronghold, Labor suffered a smashing and totally unexpected defeat--the first serious setback since it came to power in July 1945.

"Clapham's Gone!" Before the day, it had looked like a routine county council election. Laborite politicos were confident that victory was in the bag. Three years before, Labor had won 90 council seats out of 124, the Conservatives only 30. As the day wore on, party headquarters in Transport House began to worry. Worry soon turned into panic. By 4 p.m., Labor ran one seat ahead of the Conservatives. Only South London's staunchly Socialist Clapham had not been heard from. At 4:01 the phone rang. The party worker who answered it turned pale. "Clapham's gone!" he cried.

When all the returns were in, the Conservatives had an edge of more than 100,000 votes over the Laborites. Gone was Labor's uncontested rule of London and its breezy confidence about the 1950 general elections. With 64 seats each in the county council, the Conservatives and Laborites were tied. The one remaining seat went to the Liberal candidate, 73-year-old Sir Percy Harris. In the popular vote the Conservatives got 1,523,529, the Laborites 1,405,543.

By week's end, Labor had resorted to finagling to keep control of the city government. The city government includes, in addition to the councilors, 21 aldermen elected by the council. Under a small-type clause in the council's constitution,

Labor proposed to bring in a chairman from the outside who could swing the aldermen to the Laborites.

"Awkward, Embarrassing." The "London Plot," as the Evening Standard called it, was denounced by many as shady chicanery. Said a London scrubwoman: "I'd never 'ave thought it of 'em." Said Liberal County Councilor Harris: "A scandal. . . deliberately defeating the will of London."

In county elections outside London, there was also a trend against Labor. So far, in these elections, the Tories had gained 360 seats and lost 19; Labor had gained 69 and lost 362. This did not necessarily mean that Labor was certain to be licked in 1950. It did mean that Labor would no longer find it easy to sell Britons Sir Stafford Cripps's austerity program (see below) as the only true high road to a new land of pie-in-the-sky. In Berlin, where the news reached him, Herbert Morrison put it mildly: "The situation is difficult, awkward and embarrassing."

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