Arthur Neville Chamberlain was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940 and Leader of the Conservative Party from May 1937 to October 1940. He is best known for his foreign policy of appeasement, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement on 30 September 1938, ceding the German-speaking Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Nazi Germany led by Adolf Hitler. Following the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, which marked the beginning of the Second World War, Chamberlain announced the declaration of war on Germany two days later and led the United Kingdom through the first eight months of the war until his resignation as prime minister on 10 May 1940.
After working in business and local government, and after a short spell as Director of National Service in 1916 and 1917, Chamberlain followed his father Joseph Chamberlain and elder half-brother Austen Chamberlain in becoming a Member of Parliament in the 1918 general election for the new Birmingham Ladywood division at the age of 49. He declined a junior ministerial position, remaining a backbencher until 1922. He was rapidly promoted in 1923 to Minister of Health and then Chancellor of the Exchequer. After a short-lived Labour-led government, he returned as Minister of Health, introducing a range of reform measures from 1924 to 1929. He was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer in the National Government in 1931.
Chamberlain succeeded Stanley Baldwin as prime minister on 28 May 1937. His premiership was dominated by the question of policy towards an increasingly aggressive Germany, and his actions at Munich were widely popular among the British at the time. In response to Hitler's continued aggression, Chamberlain pledged the United Kingdom to defend Poland's independence if the latter were attacked, an alliance that brought his country into war after the German invasion of Poland. The failure of Allied forces to prevent the German invasion of Norway caused the House of Commons to hold the historic Norway Debate in May 1940. Chamberlain's conduct of the war was heavily criticised by members of all parties and, in a vote of confidence, his government's majority was greatly reduced. Accepting that a national government supported by all the main parties was essential, Chamberlain resigned the premiership because the Labour and Liberalparties would not serve under his leadership. Although he still led the Conservative Party, he was succeeded as prime minister by his colleague Winston Churchill. Until ill health forced him to resign on 22 September 1940, Chamberlain was an important member of the war cabinet as Lord President of the Council, heading the government in Churchill's absence. His support for Churchill proved vital during the May 1940 war cabinet crisis. Chamberlain died aged 71 on 9 November 1940 of cancer, six months after leaving the premiership.
Chamberlain's reputation remains controversial among historians, the initial high regard for him being entirely eroded by books such as Guilty Men, published in July 1940, which blamed Chamberlain and his associates for the Munich accord and for allegedly failing to prepare the country for war. Most historians in the generation following Chamberlain's death held similar views, led by Churchill in The Gathering Storm. Some later historians have taken a more favourable perspective of Chamberlain and his policies, citing government papers released under the thirty-year rule and arguing that going to war with Germany in 1938 would have been disastrous as the UK was unprepared. Nonetheless, Chamberlain is still unfavourably ranked amongst British prime ministers.
Robert Walpole • Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington • Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle • William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire • Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle • John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute • George Grenville • Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham • William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham • Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton • Frederick North, Lord North • Charles Watson-Wentworth • William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne • William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland • William Pitt the Younger • Henry Addington • William Pitt the Younger • William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville • William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland • Spencer Perceval • Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool • George Canning • F. J. Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich • Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington • Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey • William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne • Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington • Robert Peel • William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne • Robert Peel • John Russell, 1st Earl Russell • Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby • George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen • Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston • Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby • Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston • John Russell, 1st Earl Russell • Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby • Benjamin Disraeli • William Ewart Gladstone • Benjamin Disraeli • William Ewart Gladstone • Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury • William Ewart Gladstone • Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury • William Ewart Gladstone • Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery • Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury • Arthur Balfour • Henry Campbell-Bannerman • H. H. Asquith • David Lloyd George • Bonar Law • Stanley Baldwin • Ramsay MacDonald • Stanley Baldwin • Ramsay MacDonald • Stanley Baldwin • Neville Chamberlain • Winston Churchill • Clement Attlee • Winston Churchill • Anthony Eden • Harold Macmillan • Alec Douglas-Home • Harold Wilson • Edward Heath • Harold Wilson • James Callaghan • Margaret Thatcher • Henry Collingridge • Francis Urquhart • Tom Makepeace • Undisclosed Labour Leader
Robert Walpole • Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington • Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle • William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire • Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle • John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute • George Grenville • Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham • William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham • Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton • Frederick North, Lord North • Charles Watson-Wentworth • William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne • William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland • William Pitt the Younger • Henry Addington • William Pitt the Younger • William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville • William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland • Spencer Perceval • Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool • George Canning • F. J. Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich • Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington • Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey • William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne • Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington • Robert Peel • William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne • Robert Peel • John Russell, 1st Earl Russell • Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby • George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen • Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston • Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby • Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston • John Russell, 1st Earl Russell • Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby • Benjamin Disraeli • William Ewart Gladstone • Benjamin Disraeli • William Ewart Gladstone • Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury • William Ewart Gladstone • Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury • William Ewart Gladstone • Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery • Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury • Arthur Balfour • Henry Campbell-Bannerman • H. H. Asquith • David Lloyd George • Bonar Law • Stanley Baldwin • Ramsay MacDonald • Stanley Baldwin • Ramsay MacDonald • Stanley Baldwin • Neville Chamberlain • Winston Churchill • Clement Attlee • Winston Churchill • Anthony Eden • Harold Macmillan • Alec Douglas-Home • Harold Wilson • Edward Heath • Harold Wilson • James Callaghan • Margaret Thatcher • John Major • Tony Blair • Gordon Brown • David Cameron • Theresa May • Boris Johnson • Liz Truss • Rishi Sunak
