Third Churchill ministry

Winston Churchill formed the third Churchill ministry in the United Kingdom after the 1951 general election. He was reappointed as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by King George VI and oversaw the accession of Queen Elizabeth II in 1952 and her coronation.

Third Churchill ministry

Cabinet of United KIngdom
1951–1955
Date formed26 October 1951 (1951-10-26)
Date dissolved5 April 1955 (1955-04-05)
People and organisations
Monarch
Prime MinisterSir Winston Churchill
Deputy Prime MinisterSir Anthony Eden
Total no. of members149 appointments
Member party  Conservative Party
Status in legislatureMajority
321 / 625(51%)
Opposition party  Labour Party
Opposition leaderClement Attlee
History
Election(s)1951 general election
Legislature term(s)40th UK Parliament
PredecessorSecond Attlee ministry
SuccessorEden ministry

History

The Conservative Party returned to power in the United Kingdom after winning the 1951 general election following six years in opposition. This was the first majority Conservative government formed since Stanley Baldwin's 1924–1929 ministry. Winston Churchill became Prime Minister for a second time. Churchill's government had several prominent figures and up-and-coming stars. Rab Butler was appointed as Chancellor of the Exchequer while Sir Anthony Eden returned as Foreign Secretary. The noted Scottish lawyer Sir David Maxwell Fyfe, who had gained fame as a prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials, became Home Secretary. He remained in this post until 1954, when he was ennobled as Viscount Kilmuir and appointed Lord Chancellor. Future Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan achieved his first major Cabinet position when he was made Minister of Defence in 1954.

Gwilym Lloyd George, younger son of former Liberal Party leader and Prime Minister David Lloyd George, replaced Sir David Maxwell Fyfe as Home Secretary in 1954. Florence Horsbrugh became the first woman to hold a Cabinet post in a Conservative government when she was appointed Minister of Education in 1951. Several figures who were later to achieve high offices held their first governmental posts. These included: future Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath, future Chancellors of the Exchequer Reginald Maudling, Peter Thorneycroft and Iain Macleod and future Foreign Secretary Lord Carrington. Other notable figures in the government were: John Profumo, Bill Deedes, David Ormsby-Gore and the Fifth Marquess of Salisbury.

The Churchill ministry was mainly concerned with international affairs, the widening Cold War and decolonialisation (especially the Mau Mau Uprising and the Malayan Emergency).

Despite suffering a stroke in 1953, Churchill remained in office until April 1955, when he resigned at the age of eighty. He was succeeded by his ambitious protégé and deputy, Sir Anthony Eden, who finally reached the post he had coveted for so long; although his premiership was to last for less than two years.

1955 cabinet

Prime Minister Winston Churchill's 1955 cabinet. See Wikimedia Commons for a guide to those pictured.

List of ministers

Members of the Cabinet are in bold face.

OfficeNameDatesNotes
Prime Minister
and First Lord of the Treasury
Winston Churchill26 October 1951 – 5 April 1955Knighted 1953
Lord ChancellorThe Lord Simonds30 October 1951 
The Viscount Kilmuir18 October 1954 
Lord President of the CouncilThe Lord Woolton28 October 1951 
The Marquess of Salisbury24 November 1952also Leader of the House of Lords
Lord Privy SealThe Marquess of Salisbury28 October 1951also Leader of the House of Lords
Harry Crookshank7 May 1952also Leader of the House of Commons
Chancellor of the ExchequerRab Butler28 October 1951 
Minister of Economic AffairsSir Arthur Salter31 October 1951Office abolished 24 November 1952
Parliamentary Secretary to the TreasuryPatrick Buchan-Hepburn30 October 1951 
Financial Secretary to the TreasuryJohn Boyd-Carpenter31 October 1951 
Henry Brooke28 July 1954 
Economic Secretary to the TreasuryReginald Maudling24 November 1952 
Lords of the TreasuryHarry Mackeson7 November 1951 – 28 May 1952 
Herbert Butcher7 November 1951 – 3 July 1953Knighted
Edward Heath7 November 1951 – April 1955 
Tam Galbraith7 November 1951 – 4 June 1954 
Dennis Vosper7 November 1951 – 4 June 1954 
Hendrie Oakshott28 May 1952 – April 1955 
Martin Redmayne3 July 1953 – April 1955 
Richard Thompson28 July 1954 – April 1955 
Gerard Wills26 October 1954 – April 1955 
Secretary of State for Foreign AffairsAnthony Eden28 October 1951Knighted 1954
Minister of State for Foreign AffairsSelwyn Lloyd30 October 1951 – 18 October 1954 
The Marquess of Reading11 November 1953 – April 1955 
Anthony Nutting18 October 1954 – April 1955 
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign AffairsThe Marquess of Reading31 October 1951 – 11 November 1953 
Anthony Nutting31 October 1951 – 18 October 1954 
Douglas Dodds-Parker11 November 1953 – 18 October 1954 
Robin Turton18 October 1954 – April 1955 
Secretary of State for the Home Department
and Welsh Affairs
Sir David Maxwell Fyfe28 October 1951 
Hon. Gwilym Lloyd George18 October 1954 
Under-Secretary of State for the Home DepartmentDavid Llewellyn5 November 1951 – 14 October 1952 
Sir Hugh Lucas-Tooth3 February 1952 – April 1955 
The Lord Lloyd24 November 1952 – 18 October 1954 
The Lord Mancroft18 October 1954 – April 1955 
First Lord of the AdmiraltyJames Thomas31 October 1951Viscount Cilcennin
Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the AdmiraltyAllan Noble5 November 1951 
Civil Lord of the AdmiraltySimon Wingfield Digby5 November 1951 
Minister of Agriculture and FisheriesSir Thomas Dugdale31 October 1951Post in Cabinet from 3 September 1953
Derick Heathcoat-Amory28 July 1954Combined with Minister of Food 18 October 1954
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and FisheriesThe Lord Carrington5 November 1951 – 18 October 1954 
Richard Nugent5 November 1951 – April 1955 
The Earl St Aldwyn18 October 1954 – April 1955 
Secretary of State for AirThe Lord de L'Isle and Dudley31 October 1951 
Under-Secretary of State for AirNigel Birch3 November 1951 
Hon. George Ward29 February 1952 
Secretary of State for the ColoniesOliver Lyttelton28 October 1951 
Alan Lennox-Boyd28 July 1954 
Minister of State for the ColoniesAlan Lennox-Boyd2 November 1951 
Henry Hopkinson7 May 1952 
Under-Secretary of State for the ColoniesThe Earl of Munster5 November 1951 
The Lord Lloyd18 October 1954 
Secretary of State for Commonwealth RelationsThe Lord Ismay28 October 1951 
The Marquess of Salisbury12 March 1952also Leader of the House of Lords
The Viscount Swinton24 November 1952 
Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth RelationsJohn Foster3 November 1951 
Douglas Dodds-Parker18 October 1954 
Minister for Coordination of Transport, Fuel and PowerThe Lord Leathers30 October 1951Office abolished 3 September 1953
Minister of DefenceWinston Churchill28 October 1951As Prime Minister
The Earl Alexander of Tunis1 March 1952 
Harold Macmillan18 October 1954 
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of DefenceNigel Birch28 February 1952 
The Lord Carrington18 October 1954 
Minister of EducationFlorence Horsbrugh2 November 1951Office in Cabinet from 3 September 1953
Sir David Eccles18 October 1954 
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of EducationKenneth Pickthorn5 November 1951 
Dennis Vosper18 October 1954 
Minister of FoodGwilym Lloyd George31 October 1951Office in Cabinet from 3 September 1953
Derick Heathcoat-Amory18 October 1954Combined with Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of FoodCharles Hill31 October 1951 
Minister of Fuel and PowerGeoffrey Lloyd31 October 1951 
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Fuel and PowerLancelot Joynson-Hicks5 November 1951 
Minister of HealthHarry Crookshank30 October 1951also Leader of the House of Commons
Iain Macleod7 May 1952 
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of HealthPatricia Hornsby-Smith3 November 1951 
Minister of Housing and Local GovernmentHarold Macmillan30 October 1951 
Duncan Sandys18 October 1954 
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Housing and Local GovernmentErnest Marples3 November 1951 
William Deedes18 October 1954 
Minister of Labour and National ServiceSir Walter Monckton28 October 1951 
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of LabourSir Peter Bennett31 October 1951 
Harold Watkinson28 May 1952 
Chancellor of the Duchy of LancasterThe Viscount Swinton31 October 1951Also Minister of Materials
The Lord Woolton24 November 1952Office in Cabinet
Minister of MaterialsThe Viscount Swinton31 October 1951Also Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Sir Arthur Salter24 November 1952 
The Lord Woolton1 September 1953Also Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Office wound up 16 August 1954
Minister without PortfolioThe Earl of Munster18 October 1954 – April 1955 
Minister of National InsuranceOsbert Peake31 October 1951Combined with Minister of Pensions 3 September 1953
Paymaster GeneralThe Lord Cherwell30 October 1951 
The Earl of Selkirk11 November 1953Office not in Cabinet
Minister of PensionsDerick Heathcoat-Amory5 November 1951Combined with Minister of National Insurance 1 September 1953
Osbert Peake3 September 1953Office in Cabinet from 18 October 1954
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of PensionsJohn George Smyth5 November 1951 – April 1955 
Robin Turton5 November 1951 – 18 October 1954 
Ernest Marples18 October 1954 – April 1955 
Postmaster-GeneralThe Earl De La Warr5 November 1951 
Assistant Postmaster-GeneralDavid Gammans5 November 1951 
Secretary of State for ScotlandJames Stuart30 October 1951 
Minister of State for ScotlandThe Earl of Home2 November 1951 
Under-Secretary of State for ScotlandTom Galbraith2 November 1951 – 5 April 1955 
William McNair Snadden2 November 1951 – April 1955 
James Henderson Stewart4 February 1952 – April 1955 
Minister of SupplyDuncan Sandys31 October 1951 
Selwyn Lloyd18 October 1954 
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of SupplyToby Low3 November 1951 
Sir Edward Boyle28 July 1954 
President of the Board of TradePeter Thorneycroft30 October 1951Office in Cabinet by 1955
Minister of State for TradeDerick Heathcoat-Amory3 September 1953 
Derek Walker-Smith18 October 1954 
Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of TradeHenry Strauss3 November 1951 
Secretary for Overseas TradeHenry Hopkinson3 November 1951 
Harry Mackeson28 May 1952Office replaced by Minister of State for Trade 3 September 1953
Minister of TransportJohn Maclay31 October 1951 
Alan Lennox-Boyd7 May 1952Ministries of Transport and Civil Aviation merged 1 October 1953
John Boyd-Carpenter28 July 1954 
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of TransportJoseph Gurney Braithwaite5 November 1951 – 1 November 1953 
Reginald Maudling18 April 1952 – 24 November 1952 
John Profumo24 November 1952 – April 1955 
Hugh Molson11 November 1953 – April 1955 
Secretary of State for WarAnthony Head31 October 1951 
Under-Secretary of State and Financial Secretary for WarJames Hutchison5 November 1951 
Fitzroy Maclean18 October 1954 
Minister of WorksSir David Eccles1 November 1951 
Nigel Birch18 October 1954 
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of WorksHugh Molson3 November 1951 
Reginald Bevins11 November 1953 
Attorney GeneralSir Lionel Heald3 November 1951 
Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller18 October 1954 
Solicitor GeneralSir Reginald Manningham-Buller3 November 1951 
Sir Harry Hylton-Foster18 October 1954 
Lord AdvocateJames Clyde2 November 1951 
William Rankine Milligan30 December 1954 
Solicitor General for ScotlandWilliam Rankine Milligan2 November 1951Not an MP
William Grant10 January 1955 
Treasurer of the HouseholdCedric Drewe7 November 1951Knighted
Comptroller of the HouseholdRoger Conant7 November 1951 
Tam Galbraith7 June 1954 
Vice-Chamberlain of the HouseholdHenry Studholme7 November 1951 
Captain of the Gentlemen-at-ArmsThe Earl Fortescue5 November 1951 
Captain of the Yeomen of the GuardThe Earl of Onslow5 November 1951 
Lords in WaitingThe Earl of Birkenhead5 November 1951 – 28 January 1955 
The Earl of Selkirk5 November 1951 – 11 November 1953 
The Lord Lloyd7 November 1951 – 24 November 1952 
The Lord Mancroft15 December 1952 – 18 October 1954 
The Lord Hawke11 November 1953 – April 1955 
The Lord Fairfax of Cameron18 October 1954 – April 1955 
The Lord Chesham28 January 1955 – April 1955 

References

  • D. Butler and G. Butler (ed.). Twentieth Century British Political Facts 1900–2000.
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