The 1951 election resulted in a victory for the Conservative, who won a majority of the seats. However, Labour won a larger proportion of the popular vote. Churchill was the leader of the Conservative Party, although he was largely reduced to a figurehead during this period, with figures like Butler and Macmillan taking up the mantle, due to his age and health, and also his relative weakness in domestic policy vs. his role as international statesman during WW2. He was still a largely revered figure in Britain at the time. The resignation of Wilson and Bevan from Attlee's government was considered the "death knell" of his government, and arguably contributed to an image of the Labour Party as the weaker governing party. This was also compounded by rationing (which ended in 1953) and the failure of some nationalised industries, and a sense of Labour as old and tired, with fresh young talent in the Conservative Party. Many previously Liberal voters defected to the Conservatives over Labour because the party had pulled candidates out of some seats due to economic considerations, which arguably won the Conservatives the election.