British statesman and prime minister (193740), born in Birmingham, West Midlands, C England, UK, the son of Joseph Chamberlain. He studied at Rugby and Birmingham, was Mayor of Birmingham (191516), and a Conservative MP from 1918. He was a skilful Chancellor of the Exchequer (19234, 19317), steering the country back towards prosperity with a policy of low interest rates and easy credit. Three times minister for health (1923, 19249, 1931), he was responsible for the reform of the Poor Law, the promotion of council-house building, and the reorganization of local government. He played a leading part in the formation of the National Government (1931). As prime minister, he advocated appeasement of the German and Italian dictators in order to avoid war, returning from Munich with a written undertaking by Hitler amounting to peace for our time (1938). While giving orders for the immediate stepping up of the armaments programme, Chamberlain did not, in fact, prevent Hitler's invasion of the Czech Sudetenland in March 1939. When Germany invaded Poland later in the year, he offered Hitler an ultimatum to withdraw or force a war between Britain and Germany. Ignored by Hitler, Chamberlain announced to the nation that war between the two powers had broken out. Criticism of his war leadership and initial military reverses led to his resignation as prime minister (1940), followed by his death a few months later.
Neville Chamberlain|
|
|
| Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | |
|---|---|
|
In office 28 May 1937 – 10 May 1940 |
|
| Preceded by | Stanley Baldwin |
| Succeeded by | Winston Churchill |
| Chancellor of the Exchequer | |
|
In office August 27, 1923 – January 22, 1924 November 5, 1931 - May 28, 1937 |
|
| Preceded by |
Stanley Baldwin Philip Snowden |
| Succeeded by |
Philip Snowden John Allsebrook Simon |
| Born |
18 March 1869 Edgbaston, Birmingham |
| Died |
9 November 1940 Highfield Park, Reading, Berkshire |
| Political party | Conservative |
Arthur Neville Chamberlain (18 March 1869 – 9 November 1940) was a Conservative British politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1937 to 1940.
Chamberlain is perhaps the most ill-regarded British Prime Minister of the 20th century, largely because of his policy of appeasement towards Nazi Germany regarding the abandonment of Czechoslovakia to Hitler at Munich in 1938.
After working in business and local government, and a short spell as Director of National Service in 1916 and 1917, Chamberlain followed his father, Joseph Chamberlain, and older half-brother, Austen Chamberlain, becoming a Member of Parliament in the 1918 general election aged 49. When Stanley Baldwin retired after the abdication of Edward VIII and the Coronation of George VI, Chamberlain took his place as Prime Minister in 1937.
Chamberlain's political legacy is defined by his dealings with and appeasement of Nazi Germany. Chamberlain remained in office during the Phony War, from September 1939 to May 1940, but resigned the premiership immediately after Germany invaded the Netherlands, Belgium and France.
Early life
Chamberlain was born on 18 March 1869, in Birmingham, England. He was the eldest son of the second marriage of Joseph Chamberlain, Lord Mayor of Birmingham, and a half-brother to Austen, later Sir Austen. The Chamberlain children found their relations with their father strained, and Neville grew up developing strong bonds with those siblings who were closest to him in age, most notably his sisters Ida and Hilda, to whom he wrote every week he was away from them. His steroid type antics ensured his quick success He did however face strict competition with Garin "you are anging" Allan who used aggressive tactics to ensure votes
Chamberlain was educated at Rugby School, but the experience unsettled him and he became rather shy and withdrawn. It was during this period that Chamberlain developed a love of botany, and he was later became a fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society. Chamberlain had a passion for music and literature, and in later life would at crucial times quote William Shakespeare.
After leaving school, Chamberlain became a day attender at Mason Science College (later the University of Birmingham), one of only three Prime Ministers to attend a university other than Oxford or Cambridge (the others being Lord John Russell, who attended Edinburgh, and John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, who studied at the University of Leiden).
In 1890, Joseph Chamberlain's finances took a downturn, and he decided, against better advice from his brothers, to try growing sisal in the Bahamas.
Neville Chamberlain's later ventures at home were more successful.
Lord Mayor of Birmingham
Although he campaigned for his father and brother during elections, Chamberlain entered politics on his own behalf in 1911 when he was elected to Birmingham City Council and immediately became Chair of the Town Planning Committee. Under Chamberlain's direction, Birmingham soon adopted one of the first town planning schemes in Britain. The interim report of the committee could not be implemented immediately because of the war, but it did much to show Chamberlain's vision of improvements to housing. Chamberlain was re-elected Lord Mayor in 1916, but did not complete his term.
Early ministerial career
In December 1916, Chamberlain was in London when he received a message asking him to meet the new Prime Minister, David Lloyd George. In a brief meeting, Lloyd George offered Chamberlain the new position of Director of National Service, with responsibility for co-ordinating conscription and ensuring that essential war industries were able to function with sufficient workforces. Chamberlain had been recommended for the position by, among others, his brother Austen, and he agreed to accept the post; Chamberlain clashed several times with Lloyd George, who had taken a strong dislike to him, thus making the position even harder to operate.
Embittered by his failure, Chamberlain decided to stand in the next general election, when he was elected, at the age of 49 – by far the oldest age for any future Prime Minister entering Parliament to date. Chamberlain spent the next four years as a Conservative backbencher, despite his half-brother Austen becoming leader of Conservative MPs in 1921.
In October 1922, discontent amongst Conservatives against the Lloyd George Coalition Government erupted. The new Conservative Prime Minister, Andrew Bonar Law, offered Chamberlain the position of Postmaster General, outside Cabinet. To fill the position, Law chose Chamberlain, who entered the Cabinet as Minister of Health. Chamberlain's main interest lay in housing, and becoming the Minister of Health gave him a chance to spread these ideas on a national basis.
When Stanley Baldwin became Prime Minister four months later, he promoted Chamberlain to Chancellor of the Exchequer, a position which he held until the government fell in January 1924.
Chamberlain remained one of the leading Conservative figures, but he faced a significant challenge in the 1924 general election from Oswald Mosley, head of the Labour Party in Birmingham. The Conservatives formed a new government, but Chamberlain declined a second term as Chancellor of the Exchequer, choosing to become Minister of Health again.
Over the next four and a half years, he successfully introduced 21 pieces of legislation, the boldest of which was perhaps the Rating and Valuation Act 1925, which radically altered local government finance. The measure established Chamberlain as a strong social reformer, but it angered some in his own party.
Becoming the heir apparent
In the 1929 general election, Chamberlain changed his constituency from Birmingham Ladywood to Birmingham Edgbaston and held it easily, but the Conservative Party lost the election and entered a period of internal conflict. In 1930 Chamberlain became Chairman of the Conservative Party for a year and was widely seen as the next leader. During this period, Chamberlain founded and became the first head of the Conservative Research Department. Chamberlain was inclined towards tariffs, having a personal desire to see his father's last campaign vindicated. Chamberlain found himself in the difficult position of supporting his leader, even though he disagreed with Baldwin's handling of the issue and was best placed to succeed if he did resign. The official Conservative candidate was victorious, and Chamberlain found his position as the clear heir to Baldwin established, especially after Churchill's resignation from the Conservative Business Committee over Indian Home Rule.
Chamberlain and Baldwin had a strong political partnership throughout their fourteen years at the height of politics together, but Chamberlain was frustrated by Baldwin's sense of detachment and disinterest in the detail of policy, while Baldwin found Chamberlain's low opinion of the Labour Party disappointing.
Formation of the National Government
While the Conservative Party settled internal matters, the Labour Government faced a massive economic crisis as currencies collapsed and speculators turned towards the United Kingdom. Baldwin spent much of the summer in France, so Chamberlain was the primary leader of the Conservative delegation; As the political situation deteriorated, Chamberlain argued strongly for coalition, eventually convincing both Baldwin and MacDonald that this was the best outcome. Chamberlain once more returned to the Ministry of Health with the specific task of encouraging local authorities to make cuts to their expenditure.
Return to the Exchequer
After the 1931 general election, Chamberlain became Chancellor of the Exchequer a second time. As Chancellor, Chamberlain hoped to introduce protective tariffs, but the economic situation threatened government unity; In the meantime, Chamberlain introduced the Abnormal Importations Bill, which allowed temporary duties to be imposed if importers seemed to be taking advantage of government delays. In addition, the government would negotiate with Dominion governments to secure trading agreements within the British Empire, promoting Chamberlain's father's vision of the Empire as an economically self-sufficient unit. This unprecedented move had the effect of keeping the National Government together at this stage, but Chamberlain would have preferred to force the Liberals' resignations from the government, despite his reluctance to lose Snowden.
Later that year, Chamberlain travelled to Ottawa, Canada, with a delegation of Cabinet ministers who intended to negotiate free trade within the Empire. Chamberlain welcomed this, believing that all the forces supporting the government would eventually combine into a single "National Party".
Chamberlain served as Chancellor until 1937, during which time he emerged as the most active Minister of the government.
Chamberlain, aware of the strain this was placing on the Exchequer, found himself being attacked on two fronts: Winston Churchill accused him of being excessively frugal with defence expenditure, but the Labour Party attacked him as a warmonger in the 1935 general election. In the 1937 budget, Chamberlain proposed one of his most controversial taxes, the National Defence Contribution, which would raise revenue from excessive profits in industry. The proposal produced a massive storm of disapproval, and some political commentators speculated that Chamberlain might leave the Exchequer, not for 10 Downing Street, but for the backbenches.
Despite these attacks from the Labour Party and Churchill, Chamberlain had adopted a policy that would serve to be vital to Britain during wartime. Rather, Chamberlain was preparing Britain for the time when Britain would emerge out of the depression.
Appointment as Prime Minister
Despite financial controversies, when Baldwin retired after the abdication of Edward VIII and the Coronation of George VI, it was Chamberlain who was invited to "kiss hands" and succeed him.
Some historians have claimed that Chamberlain was not even a Conservative at all, arguing that his technocratic approach to government, commitment to social reform through state interventionism, and disdain for benign paternalism place him beyond even that strand of radical Conservatism associated with Disraeli. Chamberlain himself never liked to use the term "Conservative", preferring the term "Unionist", which had been more commonplace when he first entered politics and which recalled the Liberal Unionist Party of his father.
Chamberlain was a Unitarian and did not accept the basic trinitarian belief of the Church of England, the first Prime Minister to officially reject this doctrine since the Duke of Grafton.
Chamberlain's ministerial selections were notable for his willingness to appoint without regard for balancing the parties supporting the National Government. Even when appointing existing MPs, Chamberlain often ignored conventional choices based on service and appointed MPs who had not been in the House of Commons very long, such as the former civil servant and Governor of Bengal Sir John Anderson, who became the Minister in charge of Air Raid Precautions;
For members of the government from May 1937 until September 1939, see the Fourth National Ministry.
For members of the government from September 1939 until May 1940, see the Chamberlain War Ministry.
Domestic policy
Chamberlain's domestic policy, which receives little attention from historians today, was considered highly significant and radical at the time. In many of these measures Chamberlain took a strong personal interest.
Few aspects of domestic policy gave Chamberlain more trouble than agriculture. In 1938, Chamberlain gave a speech at Kettering in which he dismissed the Beaverbrook campaign, provoking an adverse reaction from farmers and his parliamentary supporters.
In late 1938, Chamberlain and his Minister of Agriculture William Shepherd Morrison proposed a Milk Industry Bill that would set up ten trial areas with district monopolies of milk distribution, create a Milk Commission, cut or reduce subsidies for quality milk, butter, and cheese, and grant local authorities the power to enforce pasteurisation. Early in 1939, Chamberlain moved Morrison away from the Ministry of Agriculture and appointed as his successor Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith, MP for Petersfield and a former president of the National Farmers Union.
Relations with Ireland
When Chamberlain became Prime Minister, relations between the United Kingdom and the Irish Free State had been heavily strained for some years. Chamberlain, mindful of the deteriorating European situation, the desirability of support from a friendly neutral Ireland in time of war, and the difficulty of using the ports for defence if Ireland was opposed, wished to achieve peaceful relations between the two countries.
Chamberlain, Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs Malcolm MacDonald, and de Valera held a conference starting in January 1938 in an attempt to resolve the other conflicts between their countries. In February 1938, a Northern Ireland general election gave Lord Craigavon's government an increased majority, strengthening the Unionists' hand and making it difficult for the government to make any concessions. No settlement on partition was reached, and Chamberlain's hopes of being able to establish munitions factories in Ireland were not realised during the Second World War, but the two countries also issued a formal expression of friendship. Chamberlain had forged a strong relationship with de Valera, as evidenced by the latter's letter upon Chamberlain's resignation:
I would like to testify that you did more than any former British Statesman to make a true friendship between the peoples of our two countries possible, and, if the task has not been completed, that it has not been for want of goodwill on your part.
Palestine White Paper
One of the greatest controversies of Chamberlain's premiership concerned the government's policy on the future of the British Mandate of Palestine.
European policy
As with many in Europe who had witnessed the horrors of the First World War and its aftermath, Chamberlain was committed to peace at any price short of war. Chamberlain, as even his political detractors admitted, was an honourable man, raised in the old school of European politics. His attempts to deal with Nazi Germany through diplomatic channels and to quell any sign of dissent from within, particularly from Churchill, were called by Chamberlain "The general policy of appeasement" (June 7, 1934).
The first crisis of Chamberlain's tenure was over the annexation of Austria. Informed of Germany's objectives, Chamberlain's government decided it was unable to stop events, and acquiesced to what later became known as the Anschluss. In reference to the Sudetenland and trenches being dug in a London central park, Chamberlain famously declared in a September 1938 radio broadcast:
How horrible, fantastic it is that we should be digging trenches and trying on gas-masks here because of a quarrel in a far away country between people of whom we know nothing.
When Hitler invaded and seized the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939, Chamberlain felt betrayed by the breaking of the Munich Agreement and decided to take a much harder line against the Nazis, declaring war against Germany upon their invasion of Poland.
The repeated failures of the Baldwin government to deal with rising Nazi power are often laid, historically, on the doorstep of Chamberlain, since he presided over the final collapse of European affairs, resisted acting on military information, lied to the House of Commons about Nazi military strength, shunted out opposition which, correctly, warned of the need to prepare – and above all, failed to use the months profitably to ready for the oncoming conflict. Chamberlain, caught between the bleak finances of the Depression era and his own abhorrence of war – and a Kriegsherr who would not be denied a war – gave ground and entered history as a political scapegoat for what was a more general failure of political will and vision which had begun with the Versailles Treaty in 1919. What convicted Chamberlain in the eyes of many commentators and historians was not the policy itself, but his manner of carrying it out and the failure to hedge his bets. If accurate, this assessment of his personality would explain why Chamberlain strove to remain on friendly terms with the Third Reich long after many of his colleagues became convinced that Hitler could not be restrained.
Chamberlain believed passionately in peace for many reasons (most of which are discussed here), thinking it his job as Britain's leader to maintain stability in Europe; Most historians believe that Chamberlain, in holding to these views, pursued the policy of appeasement far longer than was justifiable, but it is not exactly clear whether any course could have averted war, and how much better the outcome would have been had armed hostilities begun earlier, given that France, as well, was unwilling to commit its forces, and there were no other effective allies: Italy had joined the Pact of Steel, the USSR had signed a non-aggression pact, and the United States was still officially isolationist. Chamberlain was nicknamed "Monsieur J'aime Berlin" (French for Mr I love Berlin) just before the outbreak of hostilities, and remained hopeful up until Germany's invasion of the Low Countries that a peace treaty to avert a general war could be obtained in return for concessions "that we don't really care about". however, given that the French General Staff was determined not to attack Germany but instead remain on the strategic defensive, what alternatives Chamberlain could have pursued were not clear. The prominent Conservative former minister Leo Amery, believing that Chamberlain had failed in his responsibilities, famously called on the acting Leader of the Opposition Arthur Greenwood to "Speak for England, Arthur!" Chief Whip David Margesson told Chamberlain that he believed the government would fall if war was not declared.
In Chamberlain's radio broadcast to the nation, he noted:
This morning the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German Government a final note stating that, unless we heard from them by 11 o'clock that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland, a state of war would exist between us.
As part of the preparations for conflict, Chamberlain asked all his ministers to "place their offices in his hands" so that he could carry out a full-scale reconstruction of the government. Much of the press had campaigned for Churchill's return to government for several months, and taking him aboard looked like a good way to strengthen the government, especially as both the Labour Party and Liberal Party declined to join.
Initially, Chamberlain intended to make Churchill a minister without portfolio (possibly with the sinecure office of Lord Privy Seal) and include him in a War Cabinet of just six members, with the service ministers outside it. Chamberlain's inclusion of all three service ministers in the War Cabinet drew criticism from those who argued that a smaller cabinet of non-departmental ministers could take decisions more efficiently.
War premiership
The first eight months of the war are often described as the "Phony War", for the relative lack of action.
The Soviet invasion of Poland and the subsequent Soviet-Finnish War led a call for military action against the Soviets, but Chamberlain believed that such action would only be possible if the war with Germany were concluded peacefully, a course of action he refused to countenance.
Problems grew at the War Office as the Secretary of State for War, Leslie Hore-Belisha, became an ever more controversial figure. Hore-Belisha had also proved a difficult member of the War Cabinet, and Chamberlain realised that a change was needed; the Minister of Information, Lord Macmillan, had also proved ineffective, and Chamberlain considered moving Hore-Belisha to that post. Senior colleagues raised the objection that a Jewish Minister of Information would not benefit relations with neutral countries, and Chamberlain offered Hore-Belisha the post of President of the Board of Trade instead. since the true nature of the disagreement could not be revealed to the public, it seemed that Chamberlain had folded under pressure from traditionalist, inefficient generals who disapproved of Hore-Belisha's changes.
Fall and resignation
Following the debacle of the British expedition to Norway, Chamberlain found himself under siege in the House of Commons. During the Norway Debate of May 7, Leo Amery – who had been one of Chamberlain's personal friends – delivered a devastating indictment of Chamberlain's conduct of the war.
When the vote came the next day, over 40 government backbenchers voted against the government and many more abstained. Although the government won the vote, it became clear that Chamberlain would have to meet the charges brought against him. Chamberlain set about investigating whether or not he could persuade the Labour Party to serve under him and, if not, then who should succeed him. That afternoon he met with Halifax, Churchill and Margesson, who determined that if Labour should decline to serve under Chamberlain then Churchill would have to try to form a government. Labour leaders Clement Attlee and Arthur Greenwood were unable to commit their party and agreed to put two questions to the next day's meeting of the National Executive Committee: Would they join an all-party government under Chamberlain? At first, Chamberlain believed it was best for him to remain in office for the duration of the crisis, but opposition to his continued premiership was such that, at a meeting of the War Cabinet, Lord Privy Seal Sir Kingsley Wood told him clearly that it was time to form an all-party government. Soon afterwards, a response came from the Labour National Executive – they would not serve with Chamberlain, but they would with someone else. On the evening of May 10, 1940, Chamberlain tendered his resignation to the King and formally recommended Churchill as his successor.
Lord President of the Council and death
Despite his resignation as Prime Minister, Chamberlain remained leader of the Conservative Party and retained a great deal of support. Although Churchill was pressured by some of his own supporters and some Labour MPs to exclude Chamberlain from the government, he remembered the mistake that Lloyd George made in marginalising Asquith during the First World War and realised the importance of retaining the support of all parties in the Commons. Churchill had first planned to make Chamberlain Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons, but so many Labour and Liberal leaders were reluctant to serve in such a government that Churchill instead appointed him as Lord President of the Council.
Chamberlain still wielded power within government as the head of the main home affairs committees, most notably the Lord President's Committee. Chamberlain was initially inclined to accept the terms, but this division threatened to bring down the government. Over the course of three days, Churchill, aided by Greenwood and the Liberal leader Sir Archibald Sinclair, gradually persuaded Chamberlain to oppose the terms, and Britain remained in the war.
At this stage, Chamberlain still retained the support of most Conservative MPs. This was most visible in the House of Commons, where Conservatives would cheer Chamberlain, while Churchill only received the applause of Labour and Liberal members. Realising that this created the impression of a weak government, Chamberlain and the Chief Whip, David Margesson, took steps to encourage the formation of a Conservative power base that would support Churchill.
Despite this, there were many outside Parliament who wished to see Chamberlain removed from the government. The piece, which attacked the record of the National Government and called for the removal of Chamberlain and other ministers who had allegedly contributed to the British disasters, sold phenomenally well, going into twenty-one editions in the first few months despite not being carried by several major bookshops. Similar criticisms appeared in the press, and at one point Chamberlain felt compelled to ask Churchill to bring pressure on the critics.
At first, Chamberlain and many others regarded Churchill as a mere caretaker premier and looked forward to a return to 10 Downing Street after the war. By special consent of Churchill and the King, Chamberlain continued to receive state papers for his remaining months so that he could keep himself informed of the situation.
Neville Chamberlain's estate was probated at 84,013 pounds sterling on April 15 1941.
Legacy
Neville Chamberlain remains one of the most controversial politicians in the history of Britain.
Written criticism of Chamberlain was given its first early boost in the 1940 polemic Guilty Men, which offered a deeply critical view of the politics of the 1930s, most notably the Munich Agreement and steps taken towards rearmament. The post-war Conservative leadership was dominated by individuals such as Churchill, Eden, and Harold Macmillan who had made their names opposing Chamberlain. Some even argued that Chamberlain's foreign policy was in stark contrast to the traditional Conservative line of interventionism and a willingness to take military action.
In recent years, a revisionist school of history has emerged to challenge many assumptions about appeasement, arguing that it was a reasonable policy given the limitations of British arms available, the scattering of British forces across the world, and the reluctance of Dominion governments to go to war. Some have also argued that Chamberlain's policy was entirely in keeping with the Conservative tradition started by Lord Derby between 1846 and 1868 and followed in the Splendid Isolation under Lord Salisbury in the 1880s and 1890s.
The emphasis on foreign policy has overshadowed Chamberlain's achievements in other spheres.
A generally unrecognised aspect of Chamberlain is his role in the inception of and drawing up of a remit for the Special Operations Executive.
Chamberlain was, to an extent, unfortunate in his biography; Feiling filled the gap with extensive use of Chamberlain's private papers and produced a book that many consider to be the best account of Chamberlain's life, but which was unable to overcome the negative image of him at the time. Later historians have done much more, both emphasising Chamberlain's achievements in other spheres and making strong arguments in support of appeasement as the natural policy, but a new clear consensus has yet to be reached.
The papers of Neville Chamberlain are housed in the University of Birmingham Special Collections.
Political Offices
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Preceded by: (new constituency) |
Member of Parliament for Birmingham Ladywood 1918–1929 |
Succeeded by: Wilfrid Whiteley |
|
Preceded by: Sir Francis William Lowe |
Member of Parliament for Birmingham Edgbaston 1929–1940 |
Succeeded by: Sir Peter Frederick Blaker Bennett |
| Political Offices | ||
|
Preceded by: — |
Director of National Service 1916–1917 |
Succeeded by: Sir Auckland Geddes |
|
Preceded by: Frederick Kellaway |
Postmaster General 1922–1923 |
Succeeded by: Sir William Joynson-Hicks, Bt |
|
Preceded by: Office vacant |
Paymaster-General 1923 |
|
|
Preceded by: Sir Arthur Griffith-Boscawen |
Minister of Health 1923 |
|
|
Preceded by: Stanley Baldwin |
Chancellor of the Exchequer 1923–1924 |
Succeeded by: Philip Snowden |
|
Preceded by: John Wheatley |
Minister of Health 1924–1929 |
Succeeded by: Arthur Greenwood |
|
Preceded by: — |
Chairman of the Conservative Party 1930–1931 |
Succeeded by: — |
|
Preceded by: Arthur Greenwood |
Minister of Health 1931 |
Succeeded by: Edward Hilton Young |
|
Preceded by: Philip Snowden |
Chancellor of the Exchequer 1931–1937 |
Succeeded by: Sir John Allsebrook Simon |
|
Preceded by: Stanley Baldwin |
Leader of the British Conservative Party 1937–1940 |
Succeeded by: Winston Churchill |
|
Prime Minister 1937–1940 |
||
|
Leader of the House of Commons 1937–1940 |
||
|
Preceded by: The Earl Stanhope |
Lord President of the Council 1940 |
Succeeded by: Sir John Anderson |
| Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom | |
|---|---|
| Walpole, Wilmington, Pelham, Newcastle, Devonshire, Newcastle, Bute, G Grenville, Rockingham, Chatham (Pitt the Elder), Grafton, North, Rockingham, Shelburne, Portland, Pitt the Younger, Addington, Pitt the Younger, W Grenville, Portland, Perceval, Liverpool, Canning, Goderich, Wellington, Grey, Melbourne, Peel, Melbourne, Peel, Russell, Derby, Aberdeen, Palmerston, Derby, Palmerston, Russell, Derby, Disraeli, Gladstone, Disraeli, Gladstone, Salisbury, Gladstone, Salisbury, Gladstone, Rosebery, Salisbury, Balfour, Campbell-Bannerman, Asquith, Lloyd George, Bonar Law, Baldwin, MacDonald, Baldwin, MacDonald, Baldwin, Chamberlain, Churchill, Attlee, Churchill, Eden, Macmillan, Douglas-Home, Wilson, Heath, Wilson, Callaghan, Thatcher, Major, Blair |
| Chancellors of the Exchequer | |
|---|---|
| Baker, Mildmay, Fortescue, Home, Caesar, Greville, Portland, Newburgh, Cottington, Colepeper, Clarendon, Shaftesbury, Duncombe, Ernle, Booth, Hampden, Montagu, Smith, Boyle, Smith, Harley, Benson, Wyndham, Onslow, Walpole, Stanhope, Aislabie, Pratt, Walpole, Sandys, Pelham, Lee, Bilson Legge, Lyttelton, Bilson Legge, Mansfield, Bilson Legge, Barrington, Dashwood, Grenville, Dowdeswell, Townshend, North, Cavendish, Pitt, Cavendish, Pitt, Addington, Pitt, Petty, Perceval, Vansittart, Robinson, Canning, Abbott, Herries, Goulburn, Althorp, Denman, Peel, Monteagle, Baring, Goulburn, C Wood, Disraeli, Gladstone, Lewis, Disraeli, Gladstone, Disraeli, Hunt, Lowe, Gladstone, Northcote, Gladstone, Childers, Hicks Beach, Harcourt, R Churchill, Goschen, Harcourt, Hicks Beach, Ritchie, A Chamberlain, Asquith, Lloyd George, McKenna, Bonar Law, A Chamberlain, Horne, Baldwin, N Chamberlain, Snowden, W Churchill, Snowden, N Chamberlain, Simon, K Wood, Anderson, Dalton, Cripps, Gaitskell, Butler, Macmillan, Thorneycroft, Heathcoat-Amory, Lloyd, Maudling, Callaghan, Jenkins, Macleod, Barber, Healey, Howe, Lawson, Major, Lamont, Clarke, Brown |
| Leaders of the Conservative Party |
|---|
| The Duke of Wellington, Sir Robert Peel, The Earl of Derby, Benjamin Disraeli, The Marquess of Salisbury, Arthur Balfour, Andrew Bonar Law, Stanley Baldwin, Neville Chamberlain, Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Edward Heath, Margaret Thatcher, John Major, William Hague, Iain Duncan Smith, Michael Howard, David Cameron |
| Chairman of the Conservative Party |
|---|
| Chamberlain, Poole, Hailsham, Butler, Macleod, Blakenham, du Cann, Barber, Thomas, Carrington, Whitelaw, Thorneycroft, Parkinson, Gummer, Tebbit, Brooke, Baker, Patten, Fowler, Hanley, Mawhinney, Parkinson, Ancram, Davis, May, Fox, Saatchi, Maude |
User Comments Add a comment…