Leeds Nostalgia: What people lusted for in January 1947...

SEVENTY years ago today there were 'whisperings' of a General Election in the spring and the Yorkshire Evening Post characterised the rumours thus: 'To put their strength higher would be to rate a zephyr in a gale force but their significance lies in the quarter from which the zephyr blows gently but steadily - a quarter from which a gale might well develop.'

It added: “With a Socialist Government going full steam on a carefully planned course of nationalisation, with an Opposition numerically too weak and apparently as yet insufficiently organised to bid them nay, such a suggestions may well seem far fetched. But is it?”

It was. The next General Election wasn’t until 1950.

In other news, a survey revealed what ordinary people wanted most and it wasn’t the latest iPhone or a holiday in some far flung place. One has to remember that in the years after the Second World War, rationing was still very much in place. Indeed, in some cases, the restriction of staple goods were worse than they were during war time. The country was bankrupt and new trade negotiations were being undertaken with other nations in order to keep the the country supplied with basic commodities.

The survey of 1,000 people revealed people wanted more dried milk, ice cream, dried egg, cheese and milk chocolate.

And finally, British families living in Palestine were ordered to leave after a fresh security threat. The state of Israel had not yet been formed and would not be until May 1948, when the British Mandate formally ended. However, the Middle East was still as volatile as it is today, with regular attacks on British forces by Jewish freedom groups. The partition of Jerusalm came in 1947 after a meeting of the UN.