Mike Ballard wrote: Aneurin Bevan had a LOT to do with the introduction of national healthcare in Britain and good old Nye had the backing of the Welsh working class among many others. Bevan was in the left faction of the Labour Party, a faction which has since pretty much been squashed by "New Labour".
True, Bevan was the star of the Labour left. The fact however is that irrespective of the formal nature of post-war European parties, the policies of all of them - including welfare and health - were a response to the economic expansion of the time and to full employment, rather than concessions to working class demands. Thus European governments of diverse political colours - whether Labour, Conservative or Christina Democrat - pursued essentially similar policies. The most right-wing bourgeois politicians - Macmillan, Adenauer or De Gaulle - were as committed to consensus politics and social welfare as Labour leftie Nye Bevan.