Anthony Eden

The Earl of Avon
Portrait by Walter Stoneman, 1940s
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office
6 April 1955 – 9 January 1957
MonarchElizabeth II
Preceded byWinston Churchill
Succeeded byHarold Macmillan
Leader of the Conservative Party
In office
6 April 1955 – 10 January 1957
Chairman
Preceded byWinston Churchill
Succeeded byHarold Macmillan
Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
De facto
26 October 1951 – 6 April 1955
Prime MinisterWinston Churchill
Preceded byHerbert Morrison (de facto)
Succeeded byRab Butler (de facto)
Member of the House of Lords
Hereditary peerage
12 July 1961 – 14 January 1977
Preceded byPeerage established
Succeeded byThe 2nd Earl of Avon
Member of Parliament
for Warwick and Leamington
In office
6 December 1923 – 10 January 1957
Preceded byErnest Pollock
Succeeded byJohn Hobson
Ministerial offices
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
In office
28 October 1951 – 6 April 1955
Prime MinisterWinston Churchill
Preceded byHerbert Morrison
Succeeded byHarold Macmillan
In office
22 December 1940 – 26 July 1945
Prime MinisterWinston Churchill
Preceded byThe Viscount Halifax
Succeeded byErnest Bevin
In office
22 December 1935 – 20 February 1938
Prime Minister
Preceded bySamuel Hoare
Succeeded byThe Viscount Halifax
Leader of the House of Commons
In office
22 November 1942 – 26 July 1945
Prime MinisterWinston Churchill
Preceded byStafford Cripps
Succeeded byHerbert Morrison
Secretary of State for War
In office
11 May 1940 – 22 December 1940
Prime MinisterWinston Churchill
Preceded byOliver Stanley
Succeeded byDavid Margesson
Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs
In office
3 September 1939 – 14 May 1940
Prime Minister
Preceded byThomas Inskip
Succeeded byThe Viscount Caldecote
Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal
In office
31 December 1933 – 7 June 1935
Prime MinisterRamsay MacDonald
Preceded byStanley Baldwin
Succeeded byThe Marquess of Londonderry
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
In office
3 September 1931 – 18 January 1934
Prime MinisterRamsay MacDonald
Preceded byHugh Dalton
Succeeded byThe Earl Stanhope
Personal details
Born
Robert Anthony Eden

(1897-06-12)12 June 1897
Rushyford, County Durham, England
Died14 January 1977(1977-01-14) (aged 79)
Alvediston, England
Resting placeSt Mary's Churchyard, Alvediston
Political partyConservative
Spouses
(m. 1923; div. 1950)
(m. 1952)
Children3, including Nicholas (by Beckett)
Parent
EducationEton College
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford
Signature
Military service
Branch/serviceBritish Army
Years of service
  • 1915–1919
  • 1920–1923
  • 1939 (as Territorial)
RankMajor
Unit
Battles/wars
AwardsMilitary Cross

Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, KG, MC, PC (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1955 until his resignation in 1957.

Achieving rapid promotion as a young Conservative member of Parliament, he became foreign secretary aged 38, before resigning in protest at Neville Chamberlain's appeasement policy towards Mussolini's Fascist regime in Italy.[1][2] He again held that position for most of the Second World War, and a third time in the early 1950s. Having been deputy to Winston Churchill for almost 15 years, Eden succeeded him as the leader of the Conservative Party and prime minister in 1955, and a month later won a general election.

Eden's reputation as a skilled diplomat was overshadowed in 1956 when the United States refused to support the Anglo-French military response to the Suez Crisis, which critics across party lines regarded as a historic setback for British foreign policy, signalling the end of British influence in the Middle East.[3] Most historians argue that he made a series of blunders, especially not realising the depth of American opposition to military action.[4] Two months after ordering an end to the Suez operation, he resigned as Prime Minister on grounds of ill health, and because he was widely suspected of having misled the House of Commons over the degree of collusion with France and Israel.[5]

Eden is generally considered to be among the least successful of British prime ministers in the 20th century, although two broadly sympathetic biographies have gone some way to shifting the balance of opinion.[6][7][8] He was the first out of fifteen British prime ministers to be appointed by Queen Elizabeth II in her seventy-year reign.[9]

  1. ^ Mallett, Robert (March 1997). "The Anglo-Italian war trade negotiations, contraband control and the failure to appease Mussolini, 1939–40". Diplomacy & Statecraft. 8 (1): 137–167. doi:10.1080/09592299708406033.
  2. ^ Churchill 1948
  3. ^ David Dutton: Anthony Eden. A Life and Reputation (London, Arnold, 1997).[page needed]
  4. ^ Tony Shaw, Eden, Suez & the Mass Media: Propaganda & Persuasion during the Suez Crisis (1996).[page needed]
  5. ^ Keith Layborn (2002). Fifty Key Figures in Twentieth Century British Politics. Routledge. p. 102. ISBN 978-1-134-58874-9. Archived from the original on 7 December 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  6. ^ "Churchill 'greatest PM of 20th Century'". bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 29 October 2005. Retrieved 29 December 2005.
  7. ^ Robert Rhodes James (1986) Anthony Eden; D. R. Thorpe (2003) Eden.[page needed]
  8. ^ Thorpe (2003) Eden.[page needed]
  9. ^ "In pictures: The prime ministers appointed by the Queen". BBC News. 5 September 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022.