Big Ben was striking 11 and some Labor M.P.s were still straggling into the House of Commons committee room when Clement Attlee rose from his place and said in his most curt, acid-drop manner: "Before proceeding to the main business for which you have been called, I have a statement to make." Wasting no words, 72-year-old Clem Attlee resigned as leader of the Labor Party, sat down.
Hesitantly, the Laborites struck up a wavering For He's a Jolly Good Fellow.
Though most had been impatiently awaiting his resignation ever since he suffered a mild stroke last summer, the room was swept...