Churchill war ministry

Churchill war ministry
1940–1945
Winston Churchill on 2 August 1944
Date formed	10 May 1940 (1940-05-10)
Date dissolved	23 May 1945 (1945-05-23)
People and organisations
Monarch	George VI
Prime Minister	Winston Churchill
Deputy Prime Minister	Clement Attlee (1942–1945)
Total no. of members	223 appointments
Member parties	Conservative Party Labour Party National Liberal Party Liberal Party National Labour
Status in legislature	Majority (coalition)
History
Legislature terms	37th UK Parliament
Incoming formation	Norway Debate
Predecessor	Chamberlain war ministry
Successor	Churchill caretaker ministry

The Churchill war ministry was the United Kingdom's coalition government for most of the Second World War from 10 May 1940 to 23 May 1945. It was led by Winston Churchill, who was appointed Prime Minister by King George VI following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain in the aftermath of the Norway Debate.

At the outset, Churchill formed a five-man War Cabinet which included Chamberlain as Lord President of the Council, Clement Attlee as Lord Privy Seal and later as Deputy Prime Minister, Viscount Halifax as Foreign Secretary and Arthur Greenwood as a Minister without Portfolio. Although the original war cabinet was limited to five members, in practice they were augmented by the service chiefs who attended the majority of meetings. The cabinet changed in size and membership as the war progressed but there were significant additions later in 1940 when it was increased to eight after Churchill, Attlee and Greenwood were joined by Ernest Bevin as Minister of Labour and National Service; Anthony Eden as Foreign Secretary – replacing Halifax, who was sent to Washington D.C. as ambassador to the United States; Lord Beaverbrook as Minister of Aircraft Production; Sir Kingsley Wood as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Sir John Anderson as Lord President of the Council – replacing Chamberlain who died in November (Anderson later became Chancellor after Kingsley Wood's death in September 1943).

The coalition was dissolved in May 1945, following the final defeat of Germany, when the Labour Party decided to withdraw in order to prepare for a general election. Churchill, who was the leader of the Conservative Party, decided to resign but was asked by the King to form a caretaker government, essentially a Conservative one, to manage the country's affairs until completion of the general election on 26 July that year.

Background

Main article: Norway Debate

The 1935 general election had resulted in a Conservative victory with a substantial majority and Stanley Baldwin became Prime Minister. In May 1937, Baldwin retired and was succeeded by Neville Chamberlain who continued Baldwin's foreign policy of appeasement in the face of German, Italian and Japanese aggression. Having signed the Munich Agreement with Hitler in 1938, Chamberlain became alarmed by the dictator's continuing aggression and, in March 1939, signed the Anglo-Polish military alliance which supposedly guaranteed British support for Poland if attacked. Chamberlain issued the declaration of war against Germany on 3 September 1939 and formed a war cabinet which included Winston Churchill (out of office since June 1929) as First Lord of the Admiralty.

Dissatisfaction with Chamberlain's leadership became widespread in the spring of 1940 after Germany successfully invaded Norway. In response, the House of Commons held the Norway Debate from 7 to 9 May. At the end of the second day, the Labour opposition forced a division which was in effect a motion of no confidence in Chamberlain. The government's majority of 213 was reduced to 81, still a victory but nevertheless a shattering blow for Chamberlain.

9–13 May 1940: Creation of a new government

9 May: Chamberlain must go

On Thursday, 9 May, Chamberlain attempted to form a National Coalition Government. In talks at Downing Street with Viscount Halifax and Churchill, he indicated that he was quite ready to resign if that was necessary for Labour to enter such a government. Labour's leader Clement Attlee and his deputy Arthur Greenwood then joined the meeting, and when asked, they indicated that they must first consult their party's National Executive Committee (then in Bournemouth to prepare for the annual conference), but it was unlikely they could serve in a government led by Chamberlain; they probably would be able to serve under some other Conservative.

9 May: Halifax a non-runner

After Attlee and Greenwood left, Chamberlain asked whom he should recommend to the King as his successor. The version of events given by Churchill is that Chamberlain's preference for Halifax was obvious (Churchill implies that the spat between Churchill and the Labour benches the previous night had something to do with that); there was a long silence which Halifax eventually broke by saying he did not believe he could lead the government effectively as a member of the House of Lords instead of the House of Commons. Churchill's version gets the date wrong, and he fails to mention the presence of David Margesson, the government Chief Whip.

Halifax's account omits the dramatic pause and gives an additional reason: "PM said I was the man mentioned as most acceptable. I said it would be hopeless position. If I was not in charge of the war (operations) and if I didn't lead in the House, I should be a cypher. I thought Winston was a better choice. Winston did not demur." According to Halifax, Margesson then confirmed that the House of Commons had been veering to Churchill.

In a letter to Churchill written that night, Bob Boothby asserted that parliamentary opinion was hardening against Halifax, claiming in a postscript that according to Liberal MP Clement Davies, "Attlee & Greenwood are unable to distinguish between the PM & Halifax and are not prepared to serve under the latter". Davies (who thought Chamberlain should go, and be replaced by Churchill) had lunched with Attlee and Greenwood (and argued his case) shortly before they saw Chamberlain. Labour's Hugh Dalton, however, noted in his diary entry for 9 May that he had spoken with Attlee, who "agrees with my preference for Halifax over Churchill, but we both think either would be tolerable".

10 May: Churchill becomes Prime Minister

On the morning of Friday, 10 May, Germany invaded the Netherlands and Belgium. Chamberlain initially felt that a change of government at such a time would be inappropriate, but upon being given confirmation that Labour would not serve under him, he announced to the War Cabinet his intention to resign. Scarcely more than three days after he had opened the debate, Chamberlain went to Buckingham Palace to resign as Prime Minister. Despite resigning as PM, however, he continued to be the leader of the Conservative Party. He explained to the King why Halifax, whom the King thought the obvious candidate, did not want to become Prime Minister. The King then sent for Churchill and asked him to form a new government; according to Churchill, there was no stipulation that it must be a coalition government.

At 21:00 on 10 May, Chamberlain announced the change of Prime Minister over the BBC. Churchill's first act as Prime Minister was to ask Attlee to come and see him at Admiralty House. Next, he wrote to Chamberlain to thank him for his promised support. He then began to construct his coalition cabinet: before he went to bed at 03:00 on Saturday, 11 May, six hours after Chamberlain's original announcement, Churchill had established the composition of the new War Cabinet and appointed the heads of the three Service Ministries.

11 May: Labour joins the coalition

Clement Attlee was the serving deputy to Churchill from 1942

On Saturday, 11 May, the Labour Party agreed to join a national government under Churchill's leadership and he was able to form his war cabinet. In his biography of Churchill, Roy Jenkins described the Churchill cabinet as one "for winning", while the former Chamberlain cabinet was one "for losing". Labour leader Clement Attlee relinquished his official role as Leader of the Opposition to become Lord Privy Seal (until 19 February 1942 when he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister). Arthur Greenwood, Labour's deputy leader, was appointed a Minister without Portfolio. The main problem for Churchill as he became Prime Minister was that he was not the leader of the Conservative Party and so he was obliged to include Chamberlain in the war cabinet, as Lord President of the Council, and also Halifax as Foreign Secretary. These two are believed to have favoured negotiation with Hitler as it became apparent that France was going to be defeated. Churchill relied heavily on the support of Attlee and Greenwood to reject negotiation and keep Great Britain in the war.

13 May: Coalition Government is endorsed

By Monday, 13 May, most of the senior government posts were filled. That day was Whit Monday, normally a bank holiday but cancelled by the incoming government. A specially convened sitting of the House of Commons was held and Churchill spoke for the first time as Prime Minister:

I beg to move, that this House welcomes the formation of a Government representing the united and inflexible resolve of the nation to prosecute the war with Germany to a victorious conclusion.

He explained that a War Cabinet of five members had been formed to represent the unity of the nation with all three main party leaders agreeing to serve either in the War Cabinet or in high executive office. Churchill was hoping to complete all ministerial appointments by the end of the 14th. He announced an adjournment of Commons business until the 21st and apologised for making only a short address for the present. Even so, his speech has become one of his most famous because he concluded with his statement of intent:

I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this Government: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat". We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I will say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival. Let that be realised; no survival for the British Empire, no survival for all that the British Empire has stood for, no survival for the urge and impulse of the ages, that mankind will move forward towards its goal. But I take up my task with buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men. At this time I feel entitled to claim the aid of all, and I say, "Come then, let us go forward together with our united strength".

In reply, Hastings Lees-Smith as acting Leader of the Opposition announced that Labour would vote for the motion to assure the country of a unified political front. After several other members had spoken, including David Lloyd George and Stafford Cripps, the House divided on the question: "That this House welcomes the formation of a Government representing the united and inflexible resolve of the nation to prosecute the war with Germany to a victorious conclusion". 381 members voted "aye" in favour of the motion and, apart from the two tellers for the "noes", the wartime coalition was endorsed unanimously.

Leader of the Opposition

There was no de facto Leader of the Opposition from 11 May 1940 until Attlee resumed the role on 23 May 1945. The Labour Party appointed an acting Leader of the Opposition whose job, although he was in effect a member of the national government, was to ensure the continued functionality of the House of Commons. Due process in the Commons requires someone, even a member of the government, to fill the role even if there is no actual opposition. The first holder of the position was Hastings Lees-Smith, the MP for Keighley, who died in office on 18 December 1941. He was briefly succeeded by Frederick Pethick-Lawrence and then, from 22 February 1942, by Arthur Greenwood who had left the War Cabinet and filled the role until 23 May 1945.

War Cabinet members

1940–45

For a list of changes to the composition of the ministry, see § Changes.

Minister		Portfolio	Took office	Left office	Party
style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Winston Churchill	Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury Minister of Defence	10 May 1940	23 May 1945	Conservative
rowspan=4 style="background: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Clement Attlee	Lord Privy Seal	11 May 1940	15 February 1942	Labour
Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs		15 February 1942	24 September 1943
Deputy Prime Minister		19 February 1942	23 May 1945
Lord President of the Council		24 September 1943	23 May 1945
style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Neville Chamberlain	Lord President of the Council	10 May 1940	3 October 1940	Conservative
style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Viscount Halifax	Foreign Secretary	10 May 1940	22 December 1940	Conservative
style="background: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Arthur Greenwood	Minister without Portfolio	11 May 1940	22 February 1942	Labour
rowspan=4 style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Lord Beaverbrook	Minister of Aircraft Production	14 May 1940	30 April 1941	Conservative
Minister of State		1 May 1941	29 June 1941
Minister of Supply		29 June 1941	4 February 1942
Minister of War Production		4 February 1942	19 February 1942
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:National Government (United Kingdom)/meta/color" |	Sir John Anderson	Lord President of the Council	3 October 1940	24 September 1943	National
Chancellor of the Exchequer		24 September 1943	23 May 1945
style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir Kingsley Wood	Chancellor of the Exchequer	3 October 1940	22 February 1942	Conservative
style="background: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Ernest Bevin	Minister of Labour and National Service	3 October 1940	23 May 1945	Labour
style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Anthony Eden	Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	22 December 1940	26 July 1945	Conservative
style="background: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Sir Stafford Cripps	Lord Privy Seal	19 February 1942	22 November 1942	Labour
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Oliver Lyttelton	Minister-Resident for the Middle East	June 1941	12 March 1942	Conservative
Minister of Production		12 March 1942	23 May 1945
style="background: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Herbert Morrison	Home Secretary	3 October 1940	23 May 1945	Labour
style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Lord Woolton	Minister of Reconstruction	11 November 1943	23 May 1945	Conservative
style="background: Template:National Government (United Kingdom)/meta/color" |	Richard Casey	Minister-Resident for the Middle East	12 March 1942	January 1944	National
style="background: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Lord Moyne	Minister-Resident for the Middle East	January 1944	6 November 1944	Conservative

Changes

See also: May 1940 war cabinet crisis

• August 1940: Lord Beaverbrook, Minister of Aircraft Production, joins the War Cabinet.
• 22 September 1940: resignation of Neville Chamberlain for health reasons (terminal bowel cancer).
• October 1940: Sir John Anderson succeeds Chamberlain as Lord President. Sir Kingsley Wood, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Ernest Bevin, the Minister of Labour, enter the War Cabinet. Lord Halifax assumes the additional job of Leader of the House of Lords.
• 9 November 1940: death of Neville Chamberlain.
• December 1940: Anthony Eden succeeds Lord Halifax as Foreign Secretary. Halifax remains nominally in the Cabinet as Ambassador to the United States. His successor as Leader of the House of Lords is not in the War Cabinet.
• May 1941: Lord Beaverbrook ceased to be Minister of Aircraft Production, but remains in the Cabinet as Minister of State. His successor was not in the War Cabinet.
• June 1941: Lord Beaverbrook becomes Minister of Supply, remaining in the War Cabinet.
• 1941: Oliver Lyttelton enters the Cabinet as Minister Resident in the Middle East.
• 4 February 1942: Lord Beaverbrook becomes Minister of War Production; his successor as Minister of Supply is not in the War Cabinet.
• 19 February 1942: Beaverbrook resigns and no replacement Minister of War Production is appointed for the moment. Clement Attlee becomes Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister. Sir Stafford Cripps succeeds Attlee as Lord Privy Seal and takes over the position of Leader of the House of Commons from Churchill. Sir Kingsley Wood leaves the War Cabinet, though remaining Chancellor of the Exchequer.
• 22 February 1942: Arthur Greenwood leaves the War Cabinet to assume the role of Leader of the Opposition, necessary for House of Commons functionality, till 23 May 1945.
• March 1942: Oliver Lyttelton fills the vacant position of Minister of Production ("War" was dropped from the title). Richard Gardiner Casey (a member of the Australian Parliament) succeeds Oliver Lyttelton as Minister Resident in the Middle East.
• October 1942: Sir Stafford Cripps retires as Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons and leaves the War Cabinet. His successor as Lord Privy Seal is not in the Cabinet, Anthony Eden takes the additional position of Leader of the House of Commons. The Home Secretary, Herbert Morrison, enters the Cabinet.
• 21 September 1943: death of Sir Kingsley Wood.
• September 1943: Sir John Anderson succeeds Sir Kingsley Wood as Chancellor of the Exchequer, remaining in the War Cabinet. Clement Attlee succeeds Anderson as Lord President, remaining also Deputy Prime Minister. Attlee's successor as Dominions Secretary is not in the Cabinet.
• November 1943: Lord Woolton enters the Cabinet as Minister of Reconstruction.
• January to November 1944: Lord Moyne replaces Richard Gardiner Casey as Minister Resident in the Middle East.

Bibliography

• Churchill, Winston (1948). The Second World War. Volume I: The Gathering Storm. London: Cassel. OCLC 818817867.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• Gilbert, Martin (1983). Winston S. Churchill, Vol. 6: Finest Hour, 1939–1941. Heinemann. ISBN 0-43413014-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• Hastings, Max (2009). Finest Years. Churchill as Warlord, 1940–45. Hammersmith: Harper Collins. ISBN 978 0 00 726367 7.
• Hermiston, Roger (2016). All Behind You, Winston – Churchill's Great Coalition, 1940–45. London: Aurum Press. ISBN 1781 31664 3.
• Jenkins, Roy (2001). Churchill. London: MacMillan Press. ISBN 0330 48805 8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• Owen, David (2016). Cabinet's Finest Hour. London: Haus Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978 1 91 037655 3.
• Shakespeare, Nicholas (2017). Six Minutes in May. London: Vintage. ISBN 978 1 78 470100 0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• Wheeler-Bennett, John (1958). King George VI, His Life and Reign. London: Macmillan. OCLC 655565202.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)

External links

• Cawood, Ian (10 May 2013). "Liberal-Conservative Coalitions - "a farce and a fraud"?". History & Policy. History & Policy.
• "Cabinet papers, 1939–1945". National Archives.
• "Photo of the Churchill Coalition Government, 1940–45". Imperial War Museum.

Further reading

• Butler, David; Butler, Gareth (2000). Twentieth Century British Political Facts, 1900–2000. London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0333 77222 9.