Churchill War Ministry

The War Cabinet

Portfolio	Minister		Took office	Left office	Party
First Lord of the Treasury Minister of Defence		Winston Churchill	May 1940	May 1945	Conservative
Deputy Prime Minister		Clement Attlee	February 1942	May 1945	Labour
Lord President of the Council		Neville Chamberlain	May 1940	October 1940	Conservative
		Sir John Anderson	October 1940	September 1943	Independent
		Clement Attlee	September 1943	May 1945	Labour
Lord Privy Seal		Clement Attlee	May 1940	February 1942	Labour
		Sir Stafford Cripps	February 1942	October 1942[1]	Labour
Chancellor of the Exchequer		Sir Kingsley Wood	October 1940	February 1942[2]	Conservative
		Sir John Anderson	September 1943	May 1945	National
Foreign Secretary		The Viscount Halifax	May 1940	December 1940	Conservative
		Anthony Eden	December 1940	May 1945	Conservative
Home Secretary		Herbert Morrison	October 1942	May 1945	Labour
Minister of Aircraft Production		The Lord Beaverbrook	August 1940	May 1941[1]	Conservative
Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs		Clement Attlee	February 1942	September 1943[1]	Labour
Minister of Labour and National Service		Ernest Bevin	October 1940	May 1945	Labour
Minister Resident Middle East		Oliver Lyttelton	February 1942	March 1942	Conservative
		Richard Casey	March 1942	January 1944	Independent
		The Lord Moyne	January 1944	November 1944[1]	Conservative
Minister without Portfolio		Arthur Greenwood	May 1940	February 1942	Labour
Minister of Reconstruction		The Lord Woolton	November 1943	May 1945	Conservative
Minister of State		The Lord Beaverbrook	May 1941	June 1941	Conservative
Minister of Supply		The Lord Beaverbrook	June 1941	February 1942	Conservative
Minister of War Production		The Lord Beaverbrook	February 1942	February 1942	Conservative
		Oliver Lyttelton	March 1942	May 1945	Conservative

Changes

• August 1940: Lord Beaverbrook (a Canadian-British citizen), Minister of Aircraft Production, joins the War Cabinet
• October 1940: Sir John Anderson succeeds Neville Chamberlain as Lord President. Sir Kingsley Wood, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Ernest Bevin, the Minister of Labour, enter the War Cabinet. Lord Halifax assumes the additional job of Leader of the House of Lords.
• December 1940: Anthony Eden succeeds Lord Halifax as Foreign Secretary. Halifax remains nominally in the Cabinet as Ambassador to the United States. His successor as Leader of the House of Lords is not in the War Cabinet.
• May 1941: Lord Beaverbrook ceased to be Minister of Aircraft Production, but remains in the Cabinet as Minister of State. His successor was not in the War Cabinet.
• June 1941: Lord Beaverbrook becomes Minister of Supply, remaining in the War Cabinet.
• 1941: Oliver Lyttelton enters the Cabinet as Minister Resident in the Middle East.
• 4 February 1942: Lord Beaverbrook becomes Minister of War Production; his successor as Minister of Supply is not in the War Cabinet.
• 19 February 1942: Beaverbrook resigns and no replacement Minister of War Production is appointed for the moment. Clement Attlee becomes Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister. Sir Stafford Cripps succeeds Attlee as Lord Privy Seal and takes over the position of Leader of the House of Commons from Churchill. Sir Kingsley Wood leaves the War Cabinet, though remaining Chancellor of the Exchequer.
• 22 February 1942: Arthur Greenwood resigns from the War Cabinet.
• March 1942: Oliver Lyttelton fills the vacant position of Minister of Production ("War" was dropped from the title). Richard Gardiner Casey (a member of the Australian Parliament) succeeds Oliver Lyttelton as Minister Resident in the Middle East.
• October 1942: Sir Stafford Cripps retires as Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons and leaves the War Cabinet. His successor as Lord Privy Seal is not in the Cabinet, Anthony Eden takes the additional position of Leader of the House of Commons. The Home Secretary, Herbert Morrison, enters the Cabinet.
• September 1943: Sir John Anderson succeeds Sir Kingsley Wood (deceased) as Chancellor of the Exchequer, remaining in the War Cabinet. Clement Attlee succeeds Anderson as Lord President, remaining also Deputy Prime Minister. Attlee's successor as Dominions Secretary is not in the Cabinet.
• November 1943: Lord Woolton enters the Cabinet as Minister of Reconstruction.
• January to November 1944: Lord Moyne replaces Richard Gardiner Casey as Minister Resident in the Middle East.

See also

• Coalition Government 1940-1945, for a complete list of officeholders in the government.
• War cabinet in United Kingdom during the Second World War

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Successor not in cabinet.
2. ^ Left the cabinet but remained chancellor.

References

Preceded by Chamberlain War Ministry

British ministries 1940–1945

Succeeded by Churchill Caretaker Ministry