Winston Churchill was the British Prime Minister during World War II. As a Conservative Party member, he served as UK prime minister twice, from 1940 to 1945, and again from 1951 to 1955. This page was last updated on December 5, 2017.
For the individuals to have been Prime Minister, see List of prime ministers of the United Kingdom. The position of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom was not created as a result of a single action; it evolved slowly and organically over three hundred years due to numerous Acts of Parliament, political developments, and accidents of history.
However, the term was regularly, if informally, used of Walpole by the 1730s. It was used in the House of Commons as early as 1805, and it was certainly in parliamentary use by the 1880s. In 1905, the post of prime minister was officially given recognition in the order of precedence.
Churchill becomes prime minister. In September 1939, that peace was shattered by Hitler’s invasion of Poland. Chamberlain declared war against Germany but during the next eight months showed himself to be ill-equipped for the daunting task of saving Europe from Nazi conquest. After British forces failed to prevent the German occupation...
Winston Churchill was an inspirational statesman, writer, orator and leader who led Britain to victory in the Second World War. He served as Conservative Prime Minister twice - from 1940 to 1945 (before being defeated in the 1945 general election by the Labour leader Clement Attlee) and from 1951 to 1955.
Winston ChurchillWinston Churchill Hitler's invasion of Poland in September 1939 showed that negotiating with the German dictator to prevent war had been fruitless. Public opinion began to swing behind Churchill. Churchill was appointed prime minister on 10 May 1940, aged 65.
H. H. AsquithOn 4 August, King George V declared war on the advice of his prime minister, H. H. Asquith, leader of the Liberal Party.
David Lloyd GeorgeThe Right Honourable David Lloyd George OM [n.b.]Lloyd George c. 1919Prime Minister of the United KingdomIn office 6 December 1916 – 19 October 1922MonarchGeorge V51 more rows
Winston Churchill is arguably Britain's greatest wartime leader, having led his country through its 'Darkest Hour' all the way to victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.
Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty renowned for his military leadership, was called to replace Neville Chamberlain as British Prime Minister on May 10, 1940, following the latter's resignation after losing a confidence vote in the House of Commons.
Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRSArthur Neville Chamberlain FRS (/ˈtʃeɪmbərlɪn/; 18 March 1869 – 9 November 1940) was a British politician of the Conservative Party who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940....Neville Chamberlain.The Right Honourable Neville Chamberlain FRSSucceeded byWinston Churchill34 more rows
King George VIWhen war broke out in 3rd September 1939 King George VI was three years into his reign. He became King unexpectedly following the abdication of his brother, King Edward VIII, in 1936.
World War II saw Britain have three prime ministers. When the conflict began in 1939 Neville Chamberlain was leader. He was replaced by Winston Churchill in 1940. Churchill was then replaced by Clement Attlee in 1945.
David Lloyd George was one of the 20th century's most famous radicals. He was the first and only Welshman to hold the office of Prime Minister. Lloyd George, although born in Manchester, grew up in Caernarvonshire under the care of his uncle, who was a cobbler.
Strictly speaking, the first prime minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was William Pitt the Younger. The first prime minister of the current United Kingdom, i.e. the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was Bonar Law, although the country was not renamed officially until 1927, ...
Modern historians generally consider Sir Robert Walpole, who led the government of Great Britain for over twenty years from 1721, as the first prime minister. Walpole is also the longest-serving British prime minister by this definition. However, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman was the first and Margaret Thatcher the longest-serving prime minister ...
For the next three years, the government was headed by Lord Townshend, who was appointed Secretary of State for the Northern Department.
By the late Stuart period, the Treasury was often run not by a single individual (i.e., the Lord High Treasurer) but by a commission of Lords of the Treasury, led by the First Lord of the Treasury. The last Lords High Treasurer, Lord Godolphin (1702–1710) and Lord Oxford (1711–1714), ran the government of Queen Anne.
Bottom left: Margaret Thatcher was the first female prime minister. Bottom right: Boris Johnson is the current prime minister. The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of the Government of the United Kingdom, and chair of the British Cabinet. There is no specific date for when the office of prime minister first appeared, ...
Bath was invited to form a ministry by George II when Henry Pelham resigned in 1746, as was Waldegrave in 1757 after the dismissal of William Pitt the Elder, who dominated the affairs of government during the Seven Years' War.
He then succeeded Neville Chamberlain as Prime Minister in 1940, after being appointed in the House of Commons by an all-party coalition government. 3. Contributions. As Prime Minister, Churchill inspired the UK and her allies to fight against Hitler’s Nazism from 1940 to 1945 during World War II. He forged the UK’s alliance with Josef Stalin, ...
With the Liberal Party in power, Churchill was one of the architects of the First World War's botched Gallipoli Campaign (1915-1916), wherein 44,000 Allied troops died. Disgraced, Churchill resigned.
Winston Churchill died on the 24 th of January, 1965, from complications related to a stroke. His valor during World War II etched him into pictures of greatness amongst ordinary Britons, historians, and other world leaders alike.
He forged the UK’s alliance with Josef Stalin, the Soviet Union's leader, and Franklin Roosevelt, the US President, in order to fight Hitler’s Nazi Germany and its fellow Axis nations' armies.
In 2002, a poll conducted by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) saw Churchill voted as the "Greatest Briton" of all time, ahead of such names as Oliver Cromwell, John Lennon, Horatio Nelson, Queen Elizabeth I, Isaac Newton, Princess Diana, and Charles Darwin.
To win against Nazism, Churchill had the arduous task of convincing Roosevelt and Stalin to join the British in fighting Germany. The US and the Soviet Union were not allies beforehand, and Churchill was said to be the glue holding together this three-nation grand alliance. 1.
However, this appellation is traditionally given to Sir Robert Walpole, who became First Lord of the Treasury of Great Britain in 1721.
During the first 20 years of his reign, George III (1760–1820) tried to be his own "prime minister" by controlling policy from outside the Cabinet, appointing and dismissing ministers, meeting privately with individual ministers, and giving them instructions. These practices caused confusion and dissension in Cabinet meetings; King George's experiment in personal rule was generally a failure. After the failure of Lord North 's ministry (1770–1782) in March 1782 due to Britain's defeat in the American Revolutionary War and the ensuing vote of no confidence by Parliament, the Marquess of Rockingham reasserted the prime minister's control over the Cabinet. Rockingham assumed the Premiership "on the distinct understanding that measures were to be changed as well as men; and that the measures for which the new ministry required the royal consent were the measures which they, while in opposition, had advocated." He and his Cabinet were united in their policies and would stand or fall together; they also refused to accept anyone in the Cabinet who did not agree. King George threatened to abdicate but in the end reluctantly agreed out of necessity: he had to have a government.
The Tories were in power for almost 50 years, except for a Whig ministry from 1806 to 1807. Lord Liverpool was prime minister for 15 years; he and Pitt held the position for 34 years. Under their long, consistent leadership, Cabinet government became a convention of the constitution.
They were given a reserved place, called the Treasury Bench, to the Speaker's right where the prime minister and senior Cabinet members sit today. The Revolutionary Settlement gave the Commons control over finances and legislation and changed the relationship between the executive and the legislature.
Beginnings of the prime minister's party leadership . Political parties first appeared during the Exclusion Crisis of 1678–1681. The Whigs, who believed in limited monarchy, wanted to exclude James, Duke of York, from succeeding to the throne because he was a Roman Catholic.
With effect from 1 January 1801 , Great Britain and Ireland were united into a single kingdom, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Parliament of Ireland came to an end, and until 1922 British ministers were responsible for all three kingdoms of the British Isles.
Nevertheless, the brass plate on the door of the prime minister's home, 10 Downing Street, still bears the title of "First Lord of the Treasury", as it has since the 18th century as it is officially the home of the First Lord and not the prime minister.
Winston Churchill becomes prime minister of Britain. Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, is called to replace Neville Chamberlain as British prime minister following the latter’s resignation after losing a confidence vote in the House of Commons. In 1938, Prime Minister Chamberlain signed the Munich Agreement with Nazi leader Adolf ...
In South Africa, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela is sworn in as the first Black president of South Africa. In his inaugural address, Mandela, who spent 27 years of his life as a political prisoner of the South African government, declared that “the time for the healing of the wounds ...read more
On May 10, Hitler invaded the Low Countries—Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands—and France. The same day, Chamberlain formally lost the confidence of the House of Commons. Churchill, who was known for his military leadership ability, was appointed British prime minister in his place.
On May 13, in his first speech before the House of Commons, Prime Minister Churchill declared that “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat” and offered an outline of his bold plans for British resistance.
Jefferson Davis, president of the fallen Confederate government, is captured with his wife and entourage near Irwinville, Georgia, by a detachment of Union General James H. Wilson’s cavalry. On April 2, 1865, with the Confederate defeat at Petersburg, Virginia imminent, General ...read more
Lord Fredrick North – Led Great Britain into the American War of Independence (1775). Although blamed for Britain’s subsequent defeat, many of the military operations were hampered by infighting within the British high command in North America. Tory.
The conflict however, was not going well and so with deadlock in the trenches, Asquith resigned. David Lloyd George – The only Prime Minister to have spoken Welsh as his first language, Lloyd George accepted an invitation to form a government following the resignation of his fellow Liberal, Asquith.
Prime Ministers of Great Britain. The Prime Minister is the political leader of the United Kingdom and is the head of the Government. So far there have been 14 Prime Ministers during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, some more than once.
Following victory in the Napoleonic Wars, he helped guide the country through a period of radicalism and unrest, including the Peterloo Massacre. Tory. 1827. George Canning – To date the shortest serving Prime Minister, Canning died suddenly from pneumonia, barely 5 months after assuming office.
The official residence of the Prime Minister of Britain is 10 Downing Street, London. Sir Robert Walpole – Restored confidence in the country following the South Sea Bubble financial crash of 1720. Dominated the political scene during the reigns of George I and George II. George II made Walpole a gift of 10 Downing Street.
Tory. Sir Robert Walpole, Lord North, William Pitt The Younger. 1763-65. George Grenville – The introduction of the Stamp Act of 1765 imposed a direct tax on the British colonies and plantations in America, one of the sparks that would help ignite the American War of Independence.
He was in office at the time of The Great Exhibition of 1851. Whig. 1852. Edward Smith Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby – Considered by many to be the father of the modern Conservative party, his government collapsed when the budget of his Chancellor, Benjamin Disraeli, was rejected by the house.
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the principal minister of the crown of Her Majesty's Government, and the head of the British Cabinet. There is no specific date for when the office of prime minister first appeared, as the role was not created but rather evolved over a period of time through a merger of duties. However, the term was regularly, if informally, used of Walpole by the 1…
Before the Union of England and Scotland in 1707, the Treasury of England was led by the Lord High Treasurer. By the late Tudor period, the Lord High Treasurer was regarded as one of the Great Officers of State, and was often (though not always) the dominant figure in government: Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (Lord High Treasurer, 1547–1549), served as Lord Protector to his prepubescent nephew Edward VI; William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (Lord High Treasurer, 1572–1…
Following the succession of George I in 1714, the arrangement of a commission of Lords of the Treasury (as opposed to a single Lord High Treasurer) became permanent. For the next three years, the government was headed by Lord Townshend, who was appointed Secretary of State for the Northern Department. Subsequently, Lord Stanhope and Lord Sunderland ran the government jointly, with Stanhope managing foreign affairs and Sunderland domestic. Stanhope died in Febr…
• List of prime ministers of the United Kingdom by length of tenure
• List of prime ministers of the United Kingdom by education
• Assassination of Spencer Perceval
• Downing Street
• Bogdanor, Vernon, ed. (2010). From New Jerusalem to New Labour: British Prime Ministers from Attlee to Blair. Palgrave Macmillan (published 20 October 2016). ISBN 978-0-230-29700-5.
• Browne, J. Houston (1858). Lives of the Prime Ministers of England: From the Restoration to the Present Time. Vol. 1. London: Thomas Cautley Newby.
• "Past Prime Ministers". Gov.uk. UK Government. Archived from the original on 25 August 2008.
• "Prime Ministers and Politics Timeline". History. BBC. Archived from the original on 27 May 2011.
The position of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom was not created as a result of a single action; it evolved slowly and organically over three hundred years due to numerous Acts of Parliament, political developments, and accidents of history.
Despite the reluctance to legally recognise the premiership, ambivalence toward it waned in the 1780s. During the first 20 years of his reign, George III (1760–1820) tried to be his own "prime minister" by controlling policy from outside the Cabinet, appointing and dismissing ministers, meeting privately with individual ministers, and giving them instructions. These practices caused con…
For the various personages who presided over the government of England and subsequently Great Britain at the pleasure of the monarch, usually with said monarch's permission, prior to the government under Robert Walpole as Prime Minister in 1721, see List of English chief ministers.
Because the premiership was not intentionally created, there is no exact date …
Since the office evolved rather than being instantly created, it may not be totally clear-cut who the first prime minister was. However, this appellation is traditionally given to Sir Robert Walpole, who became First Lord of the Treasury of Great Britain in 1721.
In 1720, the South Sea Company, created to trade in cotton, agricultural goods …
Following the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the British prime minister, William Pitt the Younger, believed the solution to rising Irish nationalism was a union of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland. Britain then included England and Wales and Scotland, but Ireland had its own parliament and government, which were firmly Anglo-Irish and did not represent the aspirations of most Irishmen. For this and other reasons, Pitt advanced his policy, and after some difficulty in persuading the Ir…
In addition to being the leader of a political party and the head of Her Majesty's Government, the modern prime minister directs the law-making process, enacting into law his or her party's programme. For example, Tony Blair, whose Labour party was elected in 1997 partly on a promise to enact a British Bill of Rights and to create devolved governments for Scotland and Wales, subseque…
• Barnett, Hilaire (2009). Constitutional & Administrative Law (7th ed.). Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge-Cavendish.
• Dodd, A. H. (1956). The Growth of Responsible Government from James the First to Victoria. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
• Foord, Archibald S. (1964). His Majesty's Opposition. Clarendon Press, Oxford. ISBN 978-0-313-21974-0.