Harold Macmillan

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963

Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986), was a Conservative politician. He was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963.


The Earl of Stockton

Harold Macmillan in 1959
Official portrait, 1959
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office
10 January 1957 – 18 October 1963
MonarchElizabeth II
DeputyRab Butler (1962–63)
Preceded bySir Anthony Eden
Succeeded bySir Alec Douglas-Home
Leader of the Conservative Party
In office
10 January 1957 – 18 October 1963
Preceded bySir Anthony Eden
Succeeded bySir Alec Douglas-Home
Personal details
Born
Maurice Harold Macmillan

(1894-02-10)10 February 1894
Belgravia, London, England
Died29 December 1986(1986-12-29) (aged 92)
Chelwood Gate, East Sussex, England
Resting placeSt Giles' Church, Horsted Keynes
Political partyConservative
Spouse(s)
Lady Dorothy Cavendish
(m. 1920; died 1966)
Children4, including Maurice and Caroline
Alma materBalliol College, Oxford
Occupation
Civilian awards
Military service
Allegiance United Kingdom
Branch/service British Army
Years of service1914–1920
RankCaptain
UnitGrenadier Guards
Battles/wars
Military awards
Ministerial offices
Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office
20 December 1955 – 13 January 1957
Prime MinisterSir Anthony Eden
Preceded byRab Butler
Succeeded byPeter Thorneycroft
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
In office
7 April 1955 – 20 December 1955
Prime MinisterSir Anthony Eden
Preceded bySir Anthony Eden
Succeeded bySelwyn Lloyd
Minister of Defence
In office
19 October 1954 – 7 April 1955
Prime MinisterSir Winston Churchill
Preceded byThe Earl Alexander of Tunis
Succeeded bySelwyn Lloyd
Minister of Housing and Local Government
In office
30 October 1951 – 19 October 1954
Prime MinisterSir Winston Churchill
Preceded byHugh Dalton
Succeeded byDuncan Sandys
Secretary of State for Air
In office
25 May 1945 – 26 July 1945
Prime MinisterWinston Churchill
Preceded bySir Archibald Sinclair
Succeeded byThe Viscount Stansgate
Minister Resident in Northwest Africa
In office
30 December 1942 – 25 May 1945
Prime MinisterWinston Churchill
Preceded byNew post
Succeeded byHarold Balfour
Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies
In office
4 February 1942 – 30 December 1942
Prime MinisterWinston Churchill
Preceded byGeorge Hall
Succeeded byThe Duke of Devonshire
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Supply
In office
15 May 1940 – 4 February 1942
Prime MinisterWinston Churchill
Preceded byJohn Llewellin
Succeeded byThe Viscount Portal
Parliamentary offices
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
24 February 1984 – 29 December 1986
Hereditary Peerage
Preceded byEarldom created
Succeeded byThe 2nd Earl of Stockton
Member of Parliament
for Bromley
In office
14 November 1945 – 25 September 1964
Preceded bySir Edward Campbell
Succeeded byJohn Hunt
Member of Parliament
for Stockton-on-Tees
In office
28 October 1931 – 15 June 1945
Preceded byFrederick Fox Riley
Succeeded byGeorge Chetwynd
In office
30 October 1924 – 10 May 1929
Preceded byRobert Strother Stewart
Succeeded byFrederick Fox Riley

Macmillan was in the Grenadier Guards during the First World War. After the war he joined his family publishing company. He entered Parliament at the 1924 general election. After losing his seat in 1929, he won it again in 1931.

During World War II, Churchill made Macmillan Minister Resident in the Mediterranean. This made him the go-between for Churchill and the British forces in North Africa and the Middle East. The Mediterranean was a major theatre of war, and Macmillan's work made his name as a serious politician.

Macmillan became Foreign Secretary and then Chancellor of the Exchequer under Churchill's successor Sir Anthony Eden. When Eden resigned in 1957 after the Suez Crisis, Macmillan succeeded him as Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party.[1]

Macmillan presided over a country becoming richer, with low unemployment and high (but uneven) economic growth. In his Bedford speech of July 1957 he told the nation they had 'never had it so good'.[2]

Macmillan was granted the last hereditary peerage given to a prime minister when he became the Earl of Stockton and Viscount Macmillan of Ovenden.[3]

References change

  1. Horne, Alistair 2008. Macmillan: The Official Biography. (twentieth anniversary ed) London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-71083-2
  2. Sandbrook, Dominic 2005. Never Had It So Good. London: Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0-349-11530-6
  3. "Premiers past: What now for Cameron?". BBC News. Retrieved 13 November 2023.