GREAT BRITAIN: Revolt in the Fortress

Long years before the Labor Government came to power, London's County Council was the rock of Fabian Socialism in Britain. In the capital's tough, cockney-flavored municipal government, Oxford-accented Fabians had fought and won their first battles. Labor's political machine, reaching into all of London's slums, docks and factory districts, boosted to power such Socialists as Clement Attlee, Herbert Morrison, and Lewis Silkin. For 15 years, no matter who controlled the majorities in Parliament, the Labor Party controlled the London County Council.

Last week, the fortress toppled. In its own historic stronghold, Labor suffered a smashing and totally unexpected defeat—the first...