British coalition government (1940–1945)

Following his appointment as British Prime Minister on 10 May 1940, Winston Churchill formed an all-party coalition government which held office for most of the Second World War until 23 May 1945. Churchill was appointed by King George VI to succeed Neville Chamberlain, who had resigned in the aftermath of the Conduct of the War debate on 7–9 May 1940.

At the outset, Churchill created a five-man war cabinet with himself as both Prime Minister and Minister of Defence. His colleagues were 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 and ministers 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 Wood's death in September 1943).

The coalition was dissolved in May 1945, following the final defeat of Nazi 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, was asked by the King to form an interim government, essentially a Conservative one, which managed the country's affairs until completion of the general election on 26 July that year.

Background

Neville Chamberlain

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 Conduct of the War 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.

Provenance

Some content on this page may previously have appeared on Wikipedia.

This article was wholly revised and then expanded by me between 2019 and 2022. The introduction has already been significantly amended and there will be further revisions in due course as more of the content is added – it will then be in order to remove the attribution tag. John (talk) 07:43, 13 July 2023 (CDT)

Bibliography

• Butler, David & Butler, Gareth (1994). British Political Facts 1900–1994, 7. Basingstoke and London: The Macmillan Press. ISBN 978-03-12121-47-1. 
• Churchill, Winston (1967). From War to War: 1919–1939. London: Cassell & Co. Ltd. 
• Churchill, Winston (1968). The Twilight War: 3 September 1939 – 10 May 1940. London: Cassell & Co. Ltd. 
• Churchill, Winston (1970a). The Fall of France: May 1940 – August 1940. London: Cassell & Co. Ltd. 
• Churchill, Winston (1970b). Alone: September 1940 – December 1940. London: Cassell & Co. Ltd. 
• Gilbert, Martin (1983). Winston S. Churchill, Vol. 6: Finest Hour, 1939–1941. Heinemann. ISBN 978-04-34130-14-6. 
• Gilbert, Martin (1991). Churchill: A Life. London: Heinemann. ISBN 978-04-34291-83-0. 
• Hastings, Max (2009). Finest Years. Churchill as Warlord, 1940–45. Hammersmith: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-00-07263-67-7. 
• Hermiston, Roger (2016). All Behind You, Winston – Churchill's Great Coalition, 1940–45. London: Aurum Press. ISBN 978-17-81316-64-1. 
• Jenkins, Roy (2001). Churchill. London: MacMillan Press. ISBN 978-03-30488-05-1. 
• Owen, David (2016). Cabinet's Finest Hour. London: Haus Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-19-10376-55-3. 
• Pelling, Henry (June 1980). "The 1945 General Election Reconsidered". The Historical Journal 23 (2): 399–414. DOI:10.1017/S0018246X0002433X. Research Blogging.

• Shakespeare, Nicholas (2017). Six Minutes in May. London: Vintage. ISBN 978-17-84701-00-0. 
• Wheeler-Bennett, John (1958). King George VI, His Life and Reign. London: Macmillan. OCLC 655565202. 

External links

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