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National Government (1937–1939)

The National Government of 1937–1939 was formed by Neville Chamberlain on his appointment as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by King George VI. He succeeded Stanley Baldwin, who announced his resignation following the coronation of the King and Queen in May 1937.

National Government

28 May 1937 (1937-05-28)

3 September 1939 (1939-09-03)

George VI

Neville Chamberlain

1937–1940

119 appointments

Majority (coalition)
428 / 615 (70%)

Labour Party

37th UK Parliament

Third National Government

Chamberlain war ministry

As a National Government it contained members of the Conservative Party, Liberal Nationals and National Labour, as well as a number of individuals who belonged to no political party. In September 1939, Chamberlain requested the formal resignations of all his colleagues, reconstructing the government in order to better confront Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

– Prime Minister and Leader of the House of Commons

Neville Chamberlain

– Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain

The Viscount Hailsham

– Leader of the House of Lords and Lord President of the Council

The Viscount Halifax

– Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal

The Earl De La Warr

Sir – Chancellor of the Exchequer

John Simon

Sir – Secretary of State for the Home Department

Samuel Hoare

– Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs

Anthony Eden

– Secretary of State for the Colonies

William Ormsby-Gore

– Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs

Malcolm MacDonald

– Secretary of State for War

Leslie Hore-Belisha

– Secretary of State for India and Burma

The Marquess of Zetland

– Secretary of State for Air

The Viscount Swinton

– Secretary of State for Scotland

Walter Elliot

– First Lord of the Admiralty

Duff Cooper

– President of the Board of Trade

Oliver Stanley

– President of the Board of Education

The Earl Stanhope

– Minister of Agriculture

William Shepherd Morrison

– Minister of Labour

Ernest Brown

Sir – Minister of Health

Kingsley Wood

– Minister of Transport

Leslie Burgin

Sir – Minister for Coordination of Defence

Thomas Inskip

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

Cowling, Maurice. The Impact of Hitler: British Politics and British Policy, 1933–1940 (Cambridge University Press, 1975).

Feiling, Keith. A Life of Neville Chamberlain (London: Macmillan, 1970)

Macklin, Graham. Chamberlain (Haus Books, 2006)

. Britain between the Wars: 1918–1945 (1955), pp. 413–79

Mowat, Charles Loch

Raymond, John, ed. The Baldwin Age (1960), essays by scholars 252 pages;

online

Roberts, Andrew. 'The Holy Fox': The Life of Lord Halifax (1997).

Self, Robert C. Neville Chamberlain: A Biography (2006)

excerpt and text search

Smart, Nick. The National Government. 1931–40 (Macmillan 1999)  0-333-69131-8

ISBN

Taylor, A. J. P. English History 1914–1945 (1965), pp. 321–88

Thorpe, Andrew. Britain in the 1930s. The Deceptive Decade, (Oxford: Blackwell, 1992).  0-631-17411-7

ISBN