Conservative Government 1951–1955

The Conservative Party came to power in the United Kingdom after victory in the 1951 general election. This was the first purely Conservative government since Stanley Baldwin's 1924–1929 administration. Winston Churchill became Prime Minister for a second time. The administration saw several prominent figures and up-and-coming stars. Rab Butler was appointed 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 Prime Minister Harold Macmillan achieved his first major post when he was made Minister of Defence in 1954.

Gwilym Lloyd George, younger son of former Liberal leader 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 administration 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 Prime Minister Edward Heath, future Chancellors 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 Marquess of Salisbury.

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

Despite suffering a stroke in 1953, Churchill remained as head of the government until April 1955, when, aged 80, he resigned. He was succeeded by his ambitious protégé, Sir Anthony Eden, who finally reached the post he had coveted for so long, although his administration was to last for less than two years.

Members of the Cabinet are in bold face.

References

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