Neville Chamberlain

The Right Honourable Arthur Neville Chamberlain (18 March 1869–9 November, 1940) was a British politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1937–1940.

Formation of the National Government

While the Conservative Party settled internal matters, the Labour Government faced a massive economic crisis as currencies collapsed and speculators turned towards the United Kingdom. Matters were not helped by the publication of the May Report, which revealed that the budget was unbalanced. The revelation triggered a crisis of confidence in the pound, and Labour ministers grappled with the proposed budget cuts. Given the possibility that the Government could fall, Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald met regularly with delegations from both the Conservatives and Liberals. Baldwin spent much of the summer in France, so Chamberlain was the primary leader of the Conservative delegation; he soon came to the conclusion that the best solution was a National Government comprised of politicians drawn from all parties, which would be able to push through budget cuts without inflicting blame on any individual party, splitting the Labour Party as a convenient side-effect. He also believed that a National Government would have the greatest chance of introducing tariffs. As the political situation deteriorated, Chamberlain argued strongly for coalition, eventually convincing both Baldwin and MacDonald that this was the best outcome. King George V and the acting Liberal leader Sir Herbert Samuel, among others, were also convinced. Finally, on August 24 1931, the Labour government resigned and MacDonald formed a National Government. Chamberlain once more returned to the Ministry of Health with the specific task of encouraging local authorities to make cuts to their expenditure.

Related Topics:
May Report - Pound - Ramsay MacDonald - Liberals - France - National Government - King George V - Sir Herbert Samuel - August 24 - 1931 - Ministry of Health

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