Harold Macmillan

The Right Honourable Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC (10 February 1894–29 December 1986), nicknamed "Supermac" and "Mac the Knife", was a British Conservative politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963.

Early life

Macmillan was born in Brixton. His grandfather was a Scottish crofter who founded Macmillan Publishers. He was educated at Eton and at Balliol College, Oxford. He served with distinction in WW I, being wounded on three occasions. He married Lady Dorothy, daughter of Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire. Elected to the House of Commons in 1924 for Stockton-on-Tees, he lost his seat in 1929 only to return in 1931. In the 1930s he was stuck on the backbenches, his leftish ideas and sharp criticism of Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain serving to isolate him. In World War II he was part of the wartime coalition government; he worked with the Ministry of Supply before being sent to North Africa in 1942 as British government representative to the Allies in the Mediterranean.

Related Topics:
Brixton - Scottish - Crofter - Macmillan Publishers - Eton - Balliol College, Oxford - WW I - Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire - House of Commons - 1924 - Stockton-on-Tees - 1929 - 1931 - 1930s - Stanley Baldwin - Neville Chamberlain - World War II - 1942

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He returned to England post-war and lost his own seat in the massive electoral defeat of 1945. He soon returned to Parliament in a November 1945 by-election for Bromley. When the Conservatives regained power in 1951 he was Minister of Housing (October 1951) then Minister of Defence (October 1954) under Winston Churchill and Foreign Secretary (April-December 1955) and Chancellor of the Exchequer(1955-1957) under Anthony Eden. When Eden resigned in January 1957 he was succeeded by Macmillan on the 10th (despite many expecting Rab Butler to succeed instead) and Macmillan also became leader of the Conservative Party (22nd).

Related Topics:
1945 - Bromley - 1951 - Minister of Housing - Minister of Defence - 1954 - Winston Churchill - Foreign Secretary - 1955 - Chancellor of the Exchequer - 1957 - Anthony Eden - Rab Butler

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