The Winston Marshall Show

Thanks for your support! We couldn’t do this without you. For more content, early access and the chance to put questions to future guests, join our community on Substack HERE: https://open.substack.com/pub/winstonmarshall In this episode of The Winston Marshall Show, I sit down with historian and peer Lord Andrew Roberts for a sweeping conversation on Britain after 1945, the defeat of Churchill, and the post-war settlement that shaped the modern world. We begin with why Winston Churchill lost the 1945 general election, despite winning the war, and how promises of state provision, nationalisation, and the Beveridge Report reshaped British politics. Lord Roberts explains how wartime socialism, propaganda, and unrealistic expectations laid the foundations for decades of economic stagnation. The discussion explores Britain’s post-war decline, austerity, debt, and the illusion of prosperity created by Lend-Lease, Marshall Plan aid, and Keynesian economics. We examine why Germany and Japan rebuilt faster than Britain, how trade unions and high taxation crippled growth, and why successive governments chose to manage decline rather than confront it. We also discuss immigration, the welfare state, deindustrialisation, and how the failures of the 1945 settlement echo through Brexit, Trump, globalisation, and the collapse of the rules-based international order. Lord Roberts reflects on NATO, the United Nations, American power, and why the West now faces a historic turning point. A wide-ranging and authoritative conversation about history, power, leadership, and whether Britain can rediscover the courage to reverse its long decline. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WATCH EXTENDED CONVERSATION HERE: https://open.substack.com/pub/winstonmarshall/p/why-winston-churchill-lost-the-1945?r=18lfab&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Substack: https://www.winstonmarshall.co.uk/ X: https://twitter.com/mrwinmarshall Insta: https://www.instagram.com/winstonmarshall Linktree: https://linktr.ee/winstonmarshall ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapters 00:00 Introduction 02:23 Why did Churchill lose the 1945 Election 05:00 Appeasement, Blame & the Conservative Collapse 06:34 The Beveridge Report & the Dream of a New Jerusalem 10:51 War Socialism, Lend-Lease & National Delusion 12:36 Bankruptcy, Austerity & Britain’s Financial Reality 14:28 Why Germany & Japan Recovered Faster 17:24 Keynes, American Loans & Avoiding Collapse 22:23 The Marshall Plan & Stopping European Communism 24:09 Learning the Wrong Lessons from Victory 28:04 Trade Unions, Inflation & the Road to the 1970s 33:24 Immigration After the War & Changing Britain 39:35 Corelli Barnett & Britain’s Long Economic Decline 54:43 The Revolt Against the 1945 Settlement 1:07:43 Leadership, Thatcher & Britain’s Future Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.