Clement Attlee

Attlee's government passed the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act in 1946, transferring the mines to the National Coal Board on 1 January 1947. With fuel essential to reconstruction, ministers sought coordinated investment and improved working conditions. Fuel minister Emanuel Shinwell and the new board shared responsibility for delivery. This is a clear change in ownership and investment authority; it does not establish that public ownership by itself solved coal's productivity, cost or labour problems.