Editing Winston Churchill (section)

===Caretaker government: May 1945 to July 1945===
{{main|Churchill caretaker ministry}}
With a general election looming, and with Labour ministers refusing to continue the coalition, Churchill resigned as prime minister on 23 May 1945. Later that day, he accepted the King's invitation to form a new government, known officially as the [[National Government (United Kingdom)#the caretaker government of 1945|National Government]] but sometimes called the caretaker ministry. It contained Conservatives, [[National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)|National Liberals]] and a few non-party figures such as [[Sir John Anderson]] and [[Lord Woolton]], but not Labour or [[Archibald Sinclair]]'s Official Liberals. Churchill was formally reappointed on 28 May.{{sfn|Hermiston|2016|p=360}}{{sfn|Gilbert|1988|pp=22–23, 27}}

====Potsdam Conference====
{{main|Potsdam Conference}}
[[File:President Truman (center) speaks with Soviet Prime Minister Josef Stalin (at left) and British Prime Minister Winston... - NARA - 198775.jpg|thumb|right|Churchill, [[Harry S. Truman]], and Stalin at the [[Potsdam Conference]], July 1945]]
Churchill was Great Britain's representative at the Potsdam Conference when it opened on 17 July and was accompanied at its sessions by Eden and Attlee. They attended nine sessions in nine days before returning to England for their election counts. After the landslide Labour victory, Attlee returned with Bevin as the new Foreign Secretary and there were five days of discussion.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=795–796}} Potsdam went badly for Churchill. Eden later described his performance as "appalling", saying he was unprepared and verbose. Churchill upset the Chinese, exasperated the Americans and was easily led by Stalin, whom he was supposed to be resisting.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=796}}

====General election, July 1945====
{{main|1945 United Kingdom general election}}
Churchill mishandled the [[1945 United Kingdom general election|election campaign]] by resorting to party politics and trying to denigrate Labour.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pages=791–795}} On 4 June, he committed a serious gaffe by saying in a radio broadcast that a Labour government would require "some form of Gestapo" to enforce its agenda.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=792}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/election_01.shtml |last=Addison |first=Paul |title=Why Churchill Lost in 1945 |publisher=BBC History |date=17 February 2011 |location=London |access-date=4 June 2020 |ref=none |archive-date=26 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226004022/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/election_01.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref> It backfired and Attlee made political capital by saying in his reply broadcast next day: "The voice we heard last night was that of Mr Churchill, but the mind was that of Lord Beaverbrook". Jenkins says that this broadcast was "the making of Attlee".{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=793}}

Although polling day was 5 July, the results did not become known until 26 July, owing to the need to collect votes of those serving overseas. Clementine and daughter Mary had been at the count in [[Woodford (UK Parliament constituency)|Woodford]], Churchill's new constituency, and had returned to Downing Street to meet him for lunch. Churchill was unopposed by the major parties in Woodford, but his majority over a sole independent candidate was much less than expected. He anticipated defeat by Labour and Mary later described the lunch as "an occasion of Stygian gloom".{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=798}}{{sfn|Gilbert|1988|p=108}} To Clementine's suggestion that defeat might be "a blessing in disguise", Churchill retorted: "At the moment it seems very effectively disguised".{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|p=798}}

That afternoon Churchill's doctor Lord Moran commiserated with him on the "ingratitude" of the public, to which Churchill replied: "I wouldn't call it that. They have had a very hard time".{{sfn|Gilbert|1988|p=108}} Having lost, despite enjoying personal support amongst the population, he resigned as prime minister and was succeeded by Attlee who formed the first majority Labour government.{{sfn|Gilbert|1988|pp=57, 107–109}}{{sfn|Gilbert|1991|p=855}}{{sfn|Hermiston|2016|pp=366–367}}{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=798–799}} Many reasons have been given for Churchill's defeat, key being a widespread desire for reform and that the man who had led Britain in war was not seen as the man to lead in peace.{{sfn|Jenkins|2001|pp=789–794}}{{Sfn|Pelling|1980}} Although the Conservative Party was unpopular, many electors appear to have wanted Churchill to continue as prime minister whatever the outcome, or to have wrongly believed this would be possible.{{sfn|Gilbert|1988|p=113}}