The Minister for Co-ordination of Defence was a British Cabinet-level position established in 1936 to oversee and co-ordinate the rearmament of Britain's defences. It was abolished in 1940.
The Minister for Co-ordination of Defence was a British Cabinet-level position established in 1936 to oversee and co-ordinate the rearmament of Britain's defences. It was abolished in 1940.
The position was established by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin in response to criticism that Britain's armed forces were understrength compared to Nazi Germany. This campaign had been led by Winston Churchill, and many expected him to be appointed as the new minister, though nearly every other senior figure in the National Government was also speculated upon by politicians and commentators. Despite this, Baldwin's choice of the Attorney General Sir Thomas Inskip provoked widespread astonishment. A famous remark was "This is the most cynical appointment since Caligula made his horse a consul". [1] The appointment is now regarded as a sign of caution by Baldwin, who did not wish to appoint someone like Churchill who would have been interpreted by foreign powers as a sign of the United Kingdom preparing for war, as well as a desire to avoid taking on board a controversial and radical minister.
In 1939 Inskip was succeeded by First Sea Lord Lord Chatfield. When the Second World War broke out, the new Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain formed a small War Cabinet, and it was expected that Chatfield would serve as a spokesperson for the three service ministers, the Secretary of State for War, the First Lord of the Admiralty and the Secretary of State for Air; however political considerations resulted in all three posts being included in the Cabinet, and Chatfield's role proved increasingly redundant. In April 1940 the position was formally wound up and the functions transferred to other Ministers.
The following month Chamberlain was succeeded as Prime Minister by Churchill, who took the additional title of "Minister of Defence"; this was, however, a separate office from Minister for Coordination of Defence, though the two titles were frequently used interchangeably.
| Royal Navy | British Army | Royal Air Force | Co-ordination | |
| 1628 | First Lord of the Admiralty (1628–1964) | |||
| 1794 | Secretary of State for War (1794–1801) | |||
| 1801 | Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (1801–1854) | |||
| 1854 | Secretary of State for War (1854–1964) | |||
| 1919 | Secretary of State for Air (1919–1964) | |||
| 1936 | Minister for Co-ordination of Defence (1936–1940) | |||
| 1940 | Minister of Defence (1940–1964) | |||
| 1964 | Secretary of State for Defence (1964–present) | |||
| Minister | Term of office | Party | Ministry | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Thomas Inskip MP for Fareham | 13 March 1936 | 29 January 1939 | Conservative | National Government (1935–1937) (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.) | ||
| National Government (1937–1939) (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.) | |||||||
 | Ernle Chatfield 1st Baron Chatfield | 29 January 1939 | 3 April 1940 | Independent (National) | |||
| Chamberlain war ministry (Con.–N.Lab.–Lib.N.) | |||||||
Arthur Neville Chamberlain, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940 and Leader of the Conservative Party from May 1937 to October 1940. He is best known for his foreign policy of appeasement, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement on 30 September 1938, ceding the German-speaking Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Nazi Germany led by Adolf Hitler. Following the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, which marked the beginning of the Second World War, Chamberlain announced the declaration of war on Germany two days later and led the United Kingdom through the first eight months of the war until his resignation as prime minister on 10 May 1940.
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Thomas Walker Hobart Inskip, 1st Viscount Caldecote, was a British politician who served in many legal posts, culminating in serving as Lord Chancellor from 1939 until 1940. Despite legal posts dominating his career for all but four years, he is most prominently remembered for serving as Minister for Coordination of Defence from 1936 until 1939.
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