Eden ministry - Wikipedia

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Eden ministry
Cabinet of the United Kingdom
1955–1957
Date formed	6 April 1955
Date dissolved	9 January 1957
People and organisations
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Sir Anthony Eden
Deputy Prime Minister	[note 1]
Total no. of members	132 appointments
Member party	Conservative Party
Status in legislature	Majority 345 / 630 (55%)
Opposition party	Labour Party
Opposition leader	Clement Attlee (1955) Hugh Gaitskell (1955–1957)
History
Election	1955 general election
Legislature terms	40th UK Parliament 41st UK Parliament
Predecessor	Third Churchill ministry
Successor	First Macmillan ministry

The Eden ministry was formed following the resignation of Winston Churchill in April 1955. Anthony Eden, then-Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary, took over as Leader of the Conservative Party, and thus became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Upon assuming office, Eden asked Queen Elizabeth II to dissolve parliament and called a general election for May 1955.^[1] After winning the general election with a majority of 60 seats in the House of Commons, Eden governed until his resignation on 10 January 1957.^[2]

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In April 1955, Sir Anthony Eden succeeded Winston Churchill as Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and finally reached the post he had coveted for so long. The original composition of Eden's cabinet was remarkable for the fact that ten out of the original eighteen members were Old Etonians: Eden, Salisbury, Crookshank, Macmillan, Home, Stuart, Thorneycroft, Heathcoat Amory, Sandys and Peake were all educated at Eton College.

He initially retained Rab Butler, with whom he did not get along, as Chancellor of the Exchequer. At the first cabinet reshuffle in December 1955, Eden demoted him to Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons. Eden was succeeded as foreign secretary by future prime minister Harold Macmillan, who, however, only held this post until December of the same year, when he replaced Butler as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Selwyn Lloyd gained his first cabinet post when he succeeded Macmillan as minister of defence in April 1955, and again replaced Macmillan as foreign secretary in December of that year. Another future prime minister, the Earl of Home, entered the cabinet as Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations in 1955. Gwilym Lloyd George, younger son of former Liberal leader David Lloyd George, remained as home secretary.

Eden's decision to take military action over the Suez Crisis of 1956 caused major embarrassment for Britain and their French allies. Eden, then already in declining health, resigned as prime minister and Leader of the Conservative Party in January 1957. Harold Macmillan was chosen over Rab Butler to succeed as party leader and prime minister.

Eden Cabinet^[3]

Portfolio	Minister	Term
Cabinet ministers
Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury	The Rt Hon. Sir Anthony Eden KG MC MP	1955–57
Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain	The Rt Hon. The Viscount Kilmuir GCVO PC QC	1955–57
Leader of the House of Lords Lord President of the Council	The Rt Hon. The Marquess of Salisbury CH PC	1955–57
Leader of the House of Commons Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal	The Rt Hon. Harry Crookshank MP	Apr–Dec 1955
The Rt Hon. R. A. Butler CH MP	Dec 1955–57
Chancellor of the Exchequer Second Lord of the Treasury	The Rt Hon. R. A. Butler CH MP	Apr–Dec 1955
The Rt Hon. Harold Macmillan MP	Dec 1955–57
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	The Rt Hon. Harold Macmillan MP	Apr–Dec 1955
The Rt Hon. Selwyn Lloyd CBE QC MP	Dec 1955–57
Secretary of State for the Home Department	The Rt Hon. Gwilym Lloyd George TD MP	1955–57
Secretary of State for the Colonies	The Rt Hon. Alan Lennox-Boyd DL MP	1955–57
Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations	The Rt Hon. The Earl of Home PC	1955–57
President of the Board of Trade	The Rt Hon. Peter Thorneycroft MP	1955–57
Secretary of State for Air	The Rt Hon. The Lord de L'Isle and Dudley PC	Apr–Dec 1955
The Rt Hon. Nigel Birch PC	Dec 1955–57
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	The Rt Hon. The Viscount Woolton CH PC	Apr–Dec 1955
The Rt Hon. The Earl of Selkirk AFC AE PC	Dec 1955–57
Minister of Education	The Rt Hon. Sir David Eccles KCVO MP	1955–57
Secretary of State for Scotland	The Rt Hon. James Stuart MP	1955–57
Minister of Agriculture	The Rt Hon. Derick Heathcoat-Amory MP	1955–57
Minister of Labour and National Service	The Rt Hon. Sir Walter Turner Monckton GCVO KCMG MC MP	Apr–Dec 1955
The Rt Hon. Ian Macleod MP	Dec 1955–57
Minister of Defence	The Rt Hon. Selwyn Lloyd CBE QC MP	Apr–Dec 1955
The Rt Hon. Sir Walter Turner Monckton GCVO KCMG MC MP	Dec 1955–56
The Rt Hon. Antony Henry Head MC MP	Oct 1956–57
Minister of Housing and Local Government	The Rt Hon. Duncan Sandys MP	1955–57
Minister of Pensions and National Insurance	The Rt Hon. Osbert Peake MP	Apr–Dec 1955
Minister of Public Works	The Rt Hon. Patrick Buchan-Hepburn MP	Dec 1955–57
HM Paymaster General	The Rt Hon. Sir Walter Turner Monckton GCVO KCMG MC MP	Oct 1956–57

• Rab Butler succeeded Harry Crookshank as Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons.
• Harold Macmillan succeeded Butler as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
• Selwyn Lloyd succeeded Macmillan as Foreign Secretary.
• Sir Walter Monckton succeeded Lloyd as Minister of Defence.
• Iain Macleod succeeded Monckton as Minister of Labour and National Service.
• Lord Selkirk succeeds Lord Woolton as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
• The Minister of Public Works, Patrick Buchan-Hepburn, entered the cabinet
• Osbert Peake retired and his successor as Minister of Pensions and National Insurance was not in the cabinet.

• In October 1956, Sir Walter Monckton became Paymaster General, a post which had been vacant since Lord Selkirk's promotion to Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
• Antony Henry Head succeeded Monckton as Minister of Defence.

Members of the Cabinet are in bold face.

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Sources