THE May 1955 General Election was a matter of days away when Labour leader Clement Attlee came north in an attempt to rally the Scottish faithful.

In the hall of the swimming pool at Port Seton, East Lothian, the former Prime Minister addressed a meeting of almost 1,000 miners, housewives, fishermen and fisherwomen.

He then made his way to a rally at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall, then headed to Falkirk, where he was photographed arriving at the town hall in the company of his wife, Violet, and of Arthur Woodburn, Labour’s candidate in Clackmannan and East Stirlingshire, and a former Scottish Secretary under Attlee.

Attlee’s final engagement of the day was a speech at St Andrew’s Halls. The Glasgow Herald reported that he “appeared to be suffering from strain”; and Labour Party officials were, it was said, disappointed because the attendance of 1,700 meant that the venue was only three-quarters full.

Attlee is also seen here making a donation to Glasgow’s former Lord Provost, Thomas A Kerr, who was taking a collection.

Attlee had occupied Number 10 between 1945 and 1951, during which time he introduced social security and created the NHS, and had been leader of the Labour Party for 20 years by the time of the 1955 election. His opponent was the Conservative Prime Minister, Sir Anthony Eden, who had not long taken over from Sir Winston Churchill.

At the St Andrew’s Halls Attlee addressed party members for 30 minutes. He spoke with emphasis of the solidity within Labour, and repeated his calls for an inquiry into the length of National Service.

He reminded his audience that “great advances” had been made by the government he had led in the years 1945-1951. It was time to advance again, he said, and everyone had to remember that they must fight to retain the things that had been won by their predecessors.

Some 24 hours later, the same venue was given over to a loud and enthusiastic Scottish Unionist rally, addressed by Sir Anthony. There were some 3,000 people in the main hall, and another 1,110 in overflow meetings.

Sir Anthony declared that the prospects of “useful discussions”with the Russians were more hopeful now than at any time since the war. Such talks were really the answer to the hydrogen bomb, and the only true answer was that nations should have the confidence to put their names to a true arms agreement.

Sir Anthony and his wife, Lady Eden, were on a quick tour of four marginal constituencies in and around Glasgow. At Renfrew Airport, as they prepared to fly to London, the Premier declared: “You have been singing to us, ‘Will ye no’ come back again?’ Let me tell you now that we’ll be back – back to Westminster and back here in Scotland soon.”

In the end, Labour went down to defeat on May 26. Attlee stood down that December.

Read more: Herald Diary