The Churchill war ministry was the United Kingdom's unity 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 of the United Kingdom 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 whose members 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. There were significant additions later in 1940 when it was increased to eight. Churchill, Attlee, and Greenwood were joined by Ernest Bevin, as Minister of Labour and National Service; Anthony Eden, as Foreign Secretary, replacing Halifax who had been sent to Washington 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 had died in November (Anderson later became Chancellor following 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, was asked by the King to form a new, essentially Conservative, government. It was known as the Churchill caretaker ministry, and managed the country's affairs until completion of the general election on 26 July that year.
Background
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 Adolf 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 nominal majority of 213 was reduced to 81, still a victory but nevertheless a shattering blow for Chamberlain.
9–31 May 1940—creation of a new government 9 May—Chamberlain considers his options 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 Party leader Clement Attlee and his deputy Arthur Greenwood then joined the meeting. When asked, they indicated that they must first consult Labour's National Executive Committee, which at that moment was in Bournemouth to prepare for the party's annual conference. It was unlikely that they could serve in a government led by Chamberlain; but they probably would be able to serve under another Conservative.
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 a spat between himself 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 has an incorrect date, 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."quoted in Gilbert, as from According to Halifax, Margesson then confirmed that the House of Commons had been veering towards Churchill.
In a letter to Churchill written that night,cited in Gilbert: "Letter of 9 May 1940, marked by Churchill 'secret, for dinner, in a box'; Churchill papers 2/392". 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".quoted in
10 May—Churchill succeeds Chamberlain On the morning of Friday, 10 May, Germany invaded the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. 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.war cabinet No. 119 of 1940, 4.30 p.m. (there were three war cabinet meetings that day): Cabinet papers 65/7 cited in Gilbert. 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 leadership over the BBC. Churchill's first act as PM was to ask Attlee and Greenwood 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 with the assistance of Attlee and Greenwood. Their conference went on into the early hours of Saturday, and they reached a broad agreement on the composition of the new war cabinet, subject to Labour Party confirmation. Attlee and Greenwood were confident of securing this on Saturday after Churchill promised that more than a third of government positions would be offered to Labour members, including some of the key posts.
11/12 May—formation of the national government
On Saturday, 11 May, the Labour Party agreed to join a national government under Churchill's leadership, and he was able to confirm 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.
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. Constitutional convention in the Commons requires someone, even a member of the government, to fill the role even if there is no actual opposition. The first acting leader 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 by Arthur Greenwood, who had left the war cabinet, from 22 February 1942 until 23 May 1945.
The main problem for Churchill as he became PM was that he was not the leader of the majority Conservative Party and, needing its support, was obliged to include Chamberlain in the war cabinet. This was not to Labour's liking. Initially, Churchill proposed to appoint Chamberlain as both Leader of the House of Commons and Chancellor of the Exchequer. Attlee objected, and Churchill decided to appoint Chamberlain as Lord President of the Council. The fifth member of the war cabinet was Halifax, who retained his position as Foreign Secretary. Instead of Chamberlain, Sir Kingsley Wood became Chancellor but, until 3 October 1940, he was not a member of the war cabinet.
Churchill appointed himself as Leader of the House (it was normal procedure until 1942 for a Prime Minister in the Commons to lead the House), and created for himself the new role of Minister of Defence, so that he would be permanent chair of the Cabinet Defence Committee (CDC), Operations, which included the three service ministers, the three Chiefs of Staff (CoS) and other ministers, especially Attlee, and experts as and when required. The CDC was established by Churchill as soon as he took office. It was the key organisation through which the government prosecuted the war, especially in 1940 and 1941. From 1942, as the tide of war began to turn in favour of the Allies, the importance of the CDC was reduced, and its meetings became fewer as its work was increasingly delegated or raised at conferences.
Anthony Eden became Secretary of State for War (until December 1940); Labour's A. V. Alexander succeeded Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty; and the Liberal Party leader, Sir Archibald Sinclair, became Secretary of State for Air. The CoS at this time were Admiral Sir Dudley Pound, the First Sea Lord; Air Marshal Sir Cyril Newall, the Chief of the Air Staff; and Field Marshal Sir Edmund Ironside, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS). (On 27 May, Ironside was replaced at Churchill's request by his deputy Field Marshal Sir John Dill, and Ironside became Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces). The CoS continued to hold their own Chiefs of Staff Committee (CSC) meetings. The CDC enabled Churchill to have direct contact with them so that strategic concerns could be addressed with due regard to civil matters and foreign affairs.