Chamberlain war ministry

"Fifth National Government" redirects here. For the New Zealand government, see Fifth National Government of New Zealand.

Chamberlain war ministry
1939–1940
Date formed	3 September 1939 (1939-09-03)
Date dissolved	10 May 1940 (1940-05-10)
People and organisations
Monarch	George VI
Prime Minister	Neville Chamberlain
Prime Minister's history	1937–1940
Total no. of members	98 appointments
Member parties	Conservative Party   Liberal National Party   National Labour
Status in legislature	Majority (coalition) 428 / 615 (70%)
Opposition party	Labour Party
Opposition leader	Clement Attlee
History
Legislature terms	37th UK Parliament
Outgoing formation	Norway Debate
Predecessor	Fourth National Government
Successor	Churchill war ministry

Neville Chamberlain formed the Chamberlain war ministry in 1939 after declaring war on Germany. Chamberlain led the country for the first eight months of the Second World War, until the Norway Debate in Parliament led Chamberlain to resign and Winston Churchill to form a new ministry.

History

Further information: Phoney War

On 3 September 1939, Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, reconstructed his existing government so as to be suited for the Second World War. The most dramatic change to the ministerial line-up saw the return of Winston Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty. Other changes included Lord Caldecote replacing Lord Maugham as Lord Chancellor, Sir John Anderson replacing Sir Samuel Hoare as Home Secretary (Hoare became Lord Privy Seal with a wide-ranging brief) and the return of Anthony Eden to the government as Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs. However, the administration was not a true national unity government as it was made up primarily of Conservatives with support from some National Labour and National Liberal members. There were no representatives from the Labour Party or Liberal Party ^[1]

The government was notable for having a small war cabinet consisting of only the principal and service ministers, with most other government positions serving outside the Cabinet. The War Cabinet included Chamberlain, Hoare, Chancellor of the Exchequer Sir John Simon, Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax, Churchill, Secretary of State for Air Sir Kingsley Wood, Minister for Coordination of Defence Lord Chatfield, Lord Hankey (as Minister without Portfolio), and Secretary of State for War Leslie Hore-Belisha. Oliver Stanley replaced Hore-Belisha in January 1940 while Chatfield left the war cabinet in April 1940.

The government ended on 10 May 1940 when Chamberlain resigned and was succeeded by Churchill who formed the War Coalition.

Cabinet

War Cabinet, September 1939 – May 1940

Chamberlain's War Cabinet in September 1939. From left to right: Standing: Wood, Churchill, Hore-Belisha, and Hankey. Front row: Halifax, Simon, Chamberlain, Hoare, and Chatfield.

Upon the outbreak of the war, Chamberlain carried out a fullscale reconstruction of the government and introduced a small War Cabinet who were as follows:

• Neville Chamberlain – Prime Minister and Leader of the House of Commons
• Sir Samuel Hoare – Lord Privy Seal
• Sir John Simon – Chancellor of the Exchequer
• Lord Halifax – Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
• Leslie Hore-Belisha – Secretary of State for War
• Sir Kingsley Wood – Secretary of State for Air
• Winston Churchill – First Lord of the Admiralty
• Lord Chatfield – Minister for Coordination of Defence
• Lord Hankey – Minister without Portfolio

Changes

• January 1940 – Oliver Stanley succeeds Leslie Hore-Belisha as Secretary of State for War.
• April 1940 – Hoare swaps Lord Privy Seal with Wood for Secretary of State for Air. Lord Chatfield leaves the government and the office of Minister for Coordination of Defence is abolished.

Key office holders not in the Cabinet

• Lord Caldecote – Lord Chancellor
• Lord Stanhope – Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Lords
• Sir John Anderson – Secretary of State for the Home Department
• Malcolm MacDonald – Secretary of State for the Colonies
• Anthony Eden – Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs
• Lord Zetland – Secretary of State for India and Burma
• John Colville – Secretary of State for Scotland
• Oliver Stanley – President of the Board of Trade
• Lord De La Warr – President of the Board of Education
• Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith – Minister of Agriculture
• Ernest Brown – Minister of Labour and National Service
• Walter Elliot – Minister of Health
• Euan Wallace – Minister of Transport
• Leslie Burgin – Minister of Supply
• William Shepherd Morrison – Minister of Food and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
• Herwald Ramsbotham – First Commissioner of Works
• Lord Macmillan – Minister of Information
• Ronald Cross – Minister of Economic Warfare
• Sir Walter Womersley – Minister of Pensions
• George Tryon – Postmaster General
• Lord Winterton – Paymaster General
• Sir Donald Somervell – Attorney General
• Sir Terence O'Connor – Solicitor General
• David Margesson – Chief Whip

Changes

• October 1939 – The position of Minister of Shipping is created, with Sir John Gilmour the first holder.
• November 1939 – Lord Winterton resigns as Paymaster General and no successor is appointed.
• January 1940 – Oliver Stanley becomes Secretary of State for War and a member of the War Cabinet in succession to Leslie Hore-Belisha (resigned) (see above) and is succeeded as President of the Board of Trade by Andrew Duncan. Lord Macmillan resigns as Minister of Information and is succeeded by Sir John Reith.
• April 1940 – Robert Hudson succeeds Sir John Gilmour (deceased) as Minister of Shipping. Lord De La Warr exchanges President of the Board of Education with Herwald Ramsbotham for First Commissioner of Works. William Shepherd Morrison swaps the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster for the Postmaster General with George Tryon and is succeeded as Minister of Food by Lord Woolton.
• May 1940 – Sir Terence O'Connor dies and no new Solicitor General is appointed before the government falls.

List of ministers

Members of the Cabinet are in bold face.

Office	Name	Party		Dates	Notes
Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury Leader of the House of Commons	Neville Chamberlain		Conservative	3 September 1939 – 10 May 1940	Member of the War Cabinet
Lord Chancellor	The Viscount Caldecote		Conservative	3 September 1939
Lord President of the Council Leader of the House of Lords	The Earl Stanhope		Conservative	3 September 1939
Lord Privy Seal	Sir Samuel Hoare, Bt		Conservative	3 September 1939	Member of the War Cabinet
	Sir Kingsley Wood		Conservative	3 April 1940
Chancellor of the Exchequer	Sir John Simon		Liberal National	September 1939	Member of the War Cabinet
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury	David Margesson		Conservative	September 1939
Financial Secretary to the Treasury	Harry Crookshank		Conservative	September 1939
Lords of the Treasury	James Stuart		Conservative	September 1939 – 10 May 1940
	Thomas Dugdale		Conservative	September 1939 – 12 February 1940
	Patrick Munro		Conservative	September 1939 – 10 May 1940
	Stephen Furness		Liberal National	September 1939 – 10 May 1940
	Sir James Edmondson		Conservative	September 1939 – 13 November 1939
	Patrick Buchan-Hepburn		Conservative	13 November 1939 – 10 May 1940
	William Boulton		Conservative	12 February 1940 – 10 May 1940
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	The Viscount Halifax		Conservative	September 1939	Member of the War Cabinet
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	R. A. Butler		Conservative	September 1939 – 10 May 1940
Secretary of State for the Home Department	Sir John Anderson		National	3 September 1939
Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department	Osbert Peake		Conservative	September 1939
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Home Security	Alan Lennox-Boyd		Conservative	6 September 1939
	William Mabane		Liberal National	24 October 1939
First Lord of the Admiralty	Winston Churchill		Conservative	3 September 1939	Member of the War Cabinet
Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty	Geoffrey Shakespeare		Liberal National	September 1939
	Sir Victor Warrender, Bt		Conservative	3 April 1940
Civil Lord of the Admiralty	Sir Austin Hudson, Bt		Conservative	September 1939
Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries	Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith		Conservative	September 1939
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries	The Lord Denham		Conservative	19 September 1939
Secretary of State for Air	Sir Kingsley Wood		Conservative	September 1939	Member of the War Cabinet
	Sir Samuel Hoare, Bt		Conservative	3 April 1940	Member of the War Cabinet
Under-Secretary of State for Air	Harold Balfour		Conservative	September 1939
Secretary of State for the Colonies	Malcolm MacDonald		National Labour	September 1939
Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies	The Marquess of Dufferin and Ava		Conservative	September 1939
Minister for Coordination of Defence	The Lord Chatfield		Independent	September 1939	Member of the War Cabinet until 3 April 1940; Office abolished 3 April 1940
Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs	Anthony Eden		Conservative	3 September 1939
Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs	The Duke of Devonshire		Conservative	September 1939
Minister for Economic Warfare	Ronald Cross		Conservative	3 September 1939
President of the Board of Education	The Earl De La Warr		National Labour	September 1939
	Herwald Ramsbotham		Conservative	3 April 1940
Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education	Kenneth Lindsay		National Labour	September 1939
Minister of Food	William Morrison		Conservative	4 September 1939	Combined with the Duchy of Lancaster
	The Lord Woolton		Conservative	3 April 1940
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food	Alan Lennox-Boyd		Conservative	11 October 1939
Minister of Health	Walter Elliot		Conservative	September 1939
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health	Florence Horsbrugh		Conservative	September 1939
Secretary of State for India and Burma	The Marquess of Zetland		Conservative	September 1939
Under-Secretary of State for India and Burma	Hon. Sir Hugh O'Neill		Ulster Unionist	11 September 1939
Minister of Information	The Lord Macmillan		Conservative Party	4 September 1939
	Sir John Reith		National	5 January 1940
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Information	Sir Edward Grigg		Conservative Party	19 September 1939	Office vacant 3 April 1940
Minister of Labour and National Service	Ernest Brown		Liberal National	3 September 1939
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour and National Service	Ralph Assheton		Conservative Party	6 September 1939
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	William Morrison		Conservative Party	September 1939	From 4 September 1939 – 3 April 1940 combined with Minister for Food
	George Tryon		Conservative Party	3 April 1940	Lord Tryon
Paymaster General	The Earl Winterton		Conservative Party	September 1939
	Vacant			November 1939
Minister of Pensions	Sir Walter Womersley		Conservative Party	September 1939
Minister without Portfolio	The Lord Hankey		Independent	3 September 1939 – 10 May 1940	Member of the War Cabinet
Postmaster-General	George Tryon		Conservative Party	September 1939
	William Morrison		Conservative Party	3 April 1940
Assistant Postmaster-General	William Mabane		Liberal National	September 1939
	Charles Waterhouse		Conservative Party	24 October 1939
Secretary of State for Scotland	John Colville		Conservative Party	September 1939
Under-Secretary of State for Scotland	John McEwen		Conservative Party	6 September 1939
Minister of Shipping	Sir John Gilmour, Bt		Conservative Party	13 October 1939
	Robert Hudson		Conservative Party	3 April 1940
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Shipping	Sir Arthur Salter		Conservative Party	13 November 1939
Minister of Supply	Leslie Burgin		Liberal National	September 1939
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Supply	John Llewellin		Conservative Party	September 1939
President of the Board of Trade	Hon. Oliver Stanley		Conservative Party	September 1939
	Sir Andrew Duncan		National	5 January 1940
Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade	Gwilym Lloyd George		Independent Liberal	6 September 1939
Secretary for Overseas Trade	Robert Hudson		Conservative Party	September 1939
	Geoffrey Shakespeare		Liberal National	3 April 1940
Secretary for Mines	Geoffrey Lloyd		Conservative Party	September 1939
Minister of Transport	Euan Wallace		Conservative Party	September 1939
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport	Robert Bernays		Liberal National	September 1939
Secretary of State for War	Leslie Hore-Belisha		Liberal National	September 1939	Member of the War Cabinet
	Hon. Oliver Stanley		Conservative Party	5 January 1940	Member of the War Cabinet
Under-Secretary of State for War	The Viscount Cobham		Conservative	19 September 1939
Financial Secretary to the War Office	Sir Victor Warrender, Bt		Conservative	September 1939
	Sir Edward Grigg		Conservative	3 April 1940
First Commissioner of Works	Herwald Ramsbotham		Conservative	September 1939
	The Earl De La Warr		National Labour	3 April 1940
Attorney General	Sir Donald Somervell		Conservative	September 1939
Solicitor General	Sir Terence O'Connor		Conservative	September 1939
Lord Advocate	Thomas Cooper		Conservative	September 1939
Solicitor General for Scotland	James Reid		Conservative	September 1939
Treasurer of the Household	Charles Waterhouse		Conservative	September 1939
	Robert Grimston		Conservative	12 November 1939
Comptroller of the Household	Charles Kerr		Liberal National	September 1939
Vice-Chamberlain of the Household	Robert Grimston		Conservative	September 1939
	Sir James Edmondson		Conservative	12 November 1939
Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms	The Earl of Lucan		Conservative	September 1939
Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard	The Lord Templemore		Conservative	September 1939
Lords-in-Waiting	The Earl Fortescue		Conservative	September 1939 – 10 May 1940
	The Earl of Birkenhead		Conservative	September 1939 – 10 May 1940
	The Viscount Bridport		Conservative	September 1939 – 10 May 1940
	The Lord Ebury		Conservative	September 1939 – 10 May 1940

References

1. Liberal MP Gwilym Lloyd George accepted the post of Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade. He doesn't appeared to have officially resigned from the party or was expelled at this tine.

• D. Butler and G. Butler, Twentieth Century British Political Facts 1900–2000.

Preceded by Fourth National Government	Government of the United Kingdom 1939–1940	Succeeded by Churchill war ministry