In 1945 a political revolution took place. Despite his triumph over Hitler, Churchill could not triumph over Labour, which came to power in July with a landslide victory. Clem Attlee became Prime Minister. By this time the Labour Party, under the leadership of Alec's chum, had shed any lingering revolutionary aspirations and its ‘class-war’ pretensions, and opted for social cohesion and democratic socialism. By so doing it reflected what Paterson, an erstwhile radical Liberal, had long espoused. He also knew that a Labour administration would reintroduce a version of his much-coveted Criminal Justice Bill. Alec voted Labour, while Frank remained true blue to the last.

In the immediate post-war period there was much for Alec and his colleagues to do picking up the pieces and replenishing the losses. It was a time of exceptional difficulty for the Commissioners. The end of hostilities, far from bringing any respite to the over-strained and under-staffed prison service already entangled in a complex of urgent problems, brought still more difficulties. In particular, the highest daily population since 1914, due mainly to a doubling of the number of women prisoners and a dramatic increase of committals to borstal, had led to overcrowding and bottlenecks. The old Victorian prisons had a stay of execution. Instead of being demolished they were patched up.

Alec was still a repository of fresh ideas. He discussed with Grew, who had moved to Wormwood Scrubs in February 1945, the possibility of using ‘D’ Hall for senior-stage ‘stars’ exclusively. Within the walls they would have almost complete freedom of movement between 7am and 9pm – ‘practically “open” conditions in a close-security prison’.