Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill
Churchill, 67, wearing a suit, standing and holding into the back of a chair
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office
26 October 1951 – 5 April 1955
Monarchs
DeputyAnthony Eden
Preceded byClement Attlee
Succeeded byAnthony Eden
In office
10 May 1940 – 26 July 1945
MonarchGeorge VI
DeputyClement Attlee (de facto; 1942–1945)
Preceded byNeville Chamberlain
Succeeded byClement Attlee
Senior political offices
Father of the House of Commons
In office
8 October 1959 – 25 September 1964
Preceded byDavid Grenfell
Succeeded byRab Butler
Leader of the Opposition
In office
26 July 1945 – 26 October 1951
Prime MinisterClement Attlee
Preceded byClement Attlee
Succeeded byClement Attlee
Leader of the Conservative Party
In office
9 October 1940 – 6 April 1955
Preceded byNeville Chamberlain
Succeeded byAnthony Eden
Ministerial offices 1939‍–‍1952
Minister of Defence
In office
28 October 1951 – 1 March 1952
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byManny Shinwell
Succeeded byHarold Alexander
In office
10 May 1940 – 26 July 1945
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byErnle Chatfield (Coordination of Defence)
Succeeded byClement Attlee
First Lord of the Admiralty
In office
3 September 1939 – 11 May 1940
Prime MinisterNeville Chamberlain
Preceded byJames Stanhope
Succeeded byA. V. Alexander
Ministerial offices 1908‍–‍1929
Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office
6 November 1924 – 4 June 1929
Prime MinisterStanley Baldwin
Preceded byPhilip Snowden
Succeeded byPhilip Snowden
Secretary of State for the Colonies
In office
13 February 1921 – 19 October 1922
Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George
Preceded byAlfred Milner
Succeeded byVictor Cavendish
Secretary of State for Air
In office
10 January 1919 – 13 February 1921
Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George
Preceded byWilliam Weir
Succeeded byFrederick Guest
Secretary of State for War
In office
10 January 1919 – 13 February 1921
Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George
Preceded byThe Viscount Milner
Succeeded byLaming Worthington-Evans
Minister of Munitions
In office
17 July 1917 – 10 January 1919
Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George
Preceded byChristopher Addison
Succeeded byAndrew Weir
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office
25 May 1915 – 25 November 1915
Prime MinisterH. H. Asquith
Preceded byEdwin Montagu
Succeeded byHerbert Samuel
First Lord of the Admiralty
In office
24 October 1911 – 25 May 1915
Prime MinisterH. H. Asquith
Preceded byReginald McKenna
Succeeded byArthur Balfour
Home Secretary
In office
19 February 1910 – 24 October 1911
Prime MinisterH. H. Asquith
Preceded byHerbert Gladstone
Succeeded byReginald McKenna
President of the Board of Trade
In office
12 April 1908 – 14 February 1910
Prime MinisterH. H. Asquith
Preceded byDavid Lloyd George
Succeeded bySydney Buxton
Parliamentary offices
Member of Parliament
for Woodford
In office
5 July 1945 – 25 September 1964
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Member of Parliament
for Epping
In office
29 October 1924 – 15 June 1945
Preceded byLeonard Lyle
Succeeded byLeah Manning
Member of Parliament
for Dundee
In office
9 May 1908 – 26 October 1922
Serving with Alexander Wilkie
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Member of Parliament
for Manchester North West
In office
8 February 1906 – 12 April 1908
Preceded byWilliam Houldsworth
Succeeded byWilliam Joynson-Hicks
Member of Parliament
for Oldham
In office
24 October 1900 – 8 February 1906
Preceded byWalter Runciman
Succeeded byJohn Albert Bright
Personal details
Born
Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill

(1874-11-30)30 November 1874
Blenheim, Oxfordshire, England
Died24 January 1965(1965-01-24) (aged 90)
London, England
Resting placeSt Martin's Church, Bladon, Oxfordshire
Political partyConservative (1900–1904, 1924–1964)
Other political
affiliations
Liberal (1904–1924)
Spouse
(m. 1908)
Children5, including Diana, Randolph, Sarah and Mary
Parents
Education
Occupation
Civilian awardsFull list
Signature
Military service
Branch/service
Years of service1893–1924
RankFull list
Unit
Commands6th bn, Royal Scots Fusiliers
Battles/wars
Military awardsFull list

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill[a] (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955. Apart from two years between 1922 and 1924, he was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1900 to 1964 and represented a total of five constituencies. Ideologically an adherent to economic liberalism and imperialism, he was for most of his career a member of the Conservative Party, which he led from 1940 to 1955. He was a member of the Liberal Party from 1904 to 1924.

Of mixed English and American parentage, Churchill was born in Oxfordshire into the wealthy, aristocratic Spencer family. He joined the British Army in 1895 and saw action in British India, the Mahdist War (also known as the Anglo-Sudan War), and the Second Boer War, later gaining fame as a war correspondent and writing books about his campaigns. Elected a Conservative MP in 1900, he defected to the Liberals in 1904. In H. H. Asquith's Liberal government, Churchill served as President of the Board of Trade and Home Secretary, championing prison reform and workers' social security. As First Lord of the Admiralty during the First World War, he oversaw the Gallipoli campaign, but after it proved a disaster, he was demoted to Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He resigned in November 1915 and joined the Royal Scots Fusiliers on the Western Front for six months. In 1917, he returned to government under David Lloyd George and served successively as Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War, Secretary of State for Air, and Secretary of State for the Colonies, overseeing the Anglo-Irish Treaty and British foreign policy in the Middle East. After two years out of Parliament, he served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Stanley Baldwin's Conservative government, returning the pound sterling in 1925 to the gold standard at its pre-war parity, a move widely seen as creating deflationary pressure and depressing the UK economy.

Out of government during his so-called "wilderness years" in the 1930s, Churchill took the lead in calling for British rearmament to counter the growing threat of militarism in Nazi Germany. At the outbreak of the Second World War he was re-appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. In May 1940, he became prime minister, succeeding Neville Chamberlain. Churchill formed a national government and oversaw British involvement in the Allied war effort against the Axis powers, resulting in victory in 1945. After the Conservatives' defeat in the 1945 general election, he became Leader of the Opposition. Amid the developing Cold War with the Soviet Union, he publicly warned of an "iron curtain" of Soviet influence in Europe and promoted European unity. Between his terms as prime minister, he wrote several books recounting his experience during the war. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953. He lost the 1950 election but was returned to office in 1951. His second term was preoccupied with foreign affairs, especially Anglo-American relations and preservation of what remained of the British Empire with India now no longer part of it. Domestically, his government emphasised housebuilding and completed the development of a nuclear weapon (begun by his predecessor). In declining health, Churchill resigned as prime minister in 1955, remaining an MP until 1964. Upon his death in 1965, he was given a state funeral.

One of the 20th century's most significant figures, Churchill remains popular in the UK and the rest of the Anglosphere where he is generally viewed as a victorious wartime leader who played an important role in defending liberal democracy against the spread of fascism. While he has been criticised for his views on race and empire alongside some of his wartime decisions, historians often rank Churchill as the greatest prime minister in British history.

  1. ^ Price 2009, p. 12.


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).