National Government (1935–1937) Explained

Cabinet Number:	3rd
Cabinet Type:	National Government
Jurisdiction:	the United Kingdom
Incumbent:	1935–1937
Government Head Title:	Prime Minister
Government Head:	Stanley Baldwin
State Head Title:	Monarch
Total Number:	109 appointments
Legislature Status:	Majority (coalition) 428 / 615 (70%)
Election:	1935 general election
Opposition Party:	Labour Party
Previous:	Second National Government
Successor:	Fourth National Government

The National Government of 1935–1937 was formed by Stanley Baldwin on his reappointment as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by King George V, following the resignation of Ramsay MacDonald in June 1935.

As a National Government it contained members of the Conservative Party, Liberal Nationals and National Labour, as well as a number of individuals who belonged to no political party. The Government oversaw the Edward VIII abdication crisis and three monarchs in 1936. In May 1937, Baldwin resigned and was replaced as Prime Minister by Neville Chamberlain.

Cabinet

1935–1937

Office	Name	Term
Prime Minister	Stanley Baldwin	1935–1937
Lord President of the Council	Ramsay MacDonald	1935–1937
Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain	The Viscount Hailsham	1935–1937
Leader of the House of Lords Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal	The Marquess of Londonderry	1935
	The Viscount Halifax	1935–1937
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	Sir Samuel Hoare	1935
	Anthony Eden	1935–1937
Secretary of State for the Home Department	Sir John Simon	1935–1937
Secretary of State for the Colonies	Malcolm MacDonald	1935
	James Henry Thomas	1935–1936
	William Ormsby-Gore	1936–1937
Secretary of State for War	The Viscount Halifax	1935
	Duff Cooper	1935–1937
Secretary of State for India	The Marquess of Zetland	1935–1937
Secretary of State for Air	The Viscount Swinton	1935–1937
Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs	James Henry Thomas	1935
	Malcolm MacDonald	1935–1937
Secretary of State for Scotland	Sir Godfrey Collins	1935–1936
	Walter Elliot	1936–1937
Chancellor of the Exchequer	Neville Chamberlain	1935–1937
Minister without Portfolio	Anthony Eden	1935
Minister without Portfolio	Lord Eustace Percy	1935–1936
First Lord of the Admiralty	Bolton Eyres-Monsell (from November 1935 as The Viscount Monsell)	1935–1936
	Sir Samuel Hoare	1936–1937
President of the Board of Trade	Walter Runciman	1935–1937
Minister of Health	Sir Kingsley Wood	1935–1937
President of the Board of Education	Oliver Stanley	1935–1937

Notes

• Anthony Eden served as Minister without Portfolio, with specific responsibility for League of Nations Affairs (and was often referred to as "Minister for League of Nations Affairs) for approximately six months; during this time, he enjoyed equal status with the Foreign Secretary (Sir Samuel Hoare) and sat in the cabinet.

List of ministers

Members of the Cabinet are in bold face.

Office	Name	Party		Dates	Notes
Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House of Commons	Stanley Baldwin		Conservative	7 June 1935
Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain	The Viscount Hailsham		Conservative	7 June 1935
Lord President of the Council	Ramsay MacDonald		National Labour	7 June 1935
Leader of the House of Lords Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal	The Marquess of Londonderry		Conservative	7 June 1935
	The Viscount Halifax		Conservative	22 November 1935
Chancellor of the Exchequer	Neville Chamberlain		Conservative	7 June 1935
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury	David Margesson		Conservative	18 June 1935
Financial Secretary to the Treasury	Duff Cooper		Conservative	18 June 1935
	William Morrison		Conservative	22 November 1935
	John Colville		Conservative	29 October 1936
Lords of the Treasury	James Stuart		Conservative	18 June 1935 – May 1937
	Archibald Southby		Conservative	18 June 1935 – 28 May 1937	Knighted
	Sir Walter Womersley		Conservative	18 June 1935 – 6 December 1935
	George Frederick Davies		Conservative	18 June 1935 – 6 December 1935
	James Blindell		Liberal National	18 June 1935 – 28 May 1937	Knighted
	Arthur Hope		Conservative	6 December 1935 – 28 May 1937
	Henry Morris-Jones		Liberal National	6 December 1935 – 28 May 1937
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs	Sir Samuel Hoare, Bt		Conservative	7 June 1935
	Anthony Eden		Conservative	22 December 1935
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs			Conservative	18 June 1935 – 16 June 1936
	Viscount Cranborne		Conservative	6 August 1935 – May 1937
	The Earl of Plymouth		Conservative	30 July 1936 – May 1937
Secretary of State for the Home Department and Deputy Leader of the House of Commons	Sir John Simon		Liberal National	7 June 1935
Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department	Euan Wallace		Conservative	18 June 1935
	Geoffrey Lloyd		Conservative	28 November 1935
First Lord of the Admiralty	Sir Bolton Eyres-Monsell		Conservative	7 June 1935
	Sir Samuel Hoare, Bt		Conservative	5 June 1936
Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty	Sir Victor Warrender		Conservative	18 June 1935
	Lord Stanley		Conservative	28 November 1935
Civil Lord of the Admiralty	Kenneth Lindsay		National Labour	18 June 1935
Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries	Walter Elliot		Unionist	7 June 1935
	William Morrison		Conservative	29 October 1936
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries	The Earl De La Warr		National Labour	18 June 1935
	Herwald Ramsbotham		Conservative	28 November 1935
	The Earl of Feversham		Conservative	30 July 1936	also Deputy Minister of Fisheries
Secretary of State for Air	The Viscount Swinton		Conservative	7 June 1935
Under-Secretary of State for Air	Sir Philip Sassoon, Bt		Conservative	18 June 1935
Secretary of State for the Colonies	Malcolm MacDonald		National Labour	7 June 1935
	James Henry Thomas		National Labour	22 November 1935
	Hon. William Ormsby-Gore		Conservative	28 May 1936
Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies	The Earl of Plymouth		Conservative	18 June 1935
	The Earl De La Warr		National Labour	30 July 1936
Minister for Coordination of Defence	Sir Thomas Inskip		Conservative	13 March 1936
Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs	James Henry Thomas		National Labour	7 June 1935
	Malcolm MacDonald		National Labour	22 November 1935
Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs	Lord Stanley		Conservative	18 June 1935
	Douglas Hacking		Conservative	28 November 1935
	Marquess of Hartington		Conservative	4 March 1936	Duke of Devonshire
President of the Board of Education	Oliver Stanley		Conservative	7 June 1935
Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education	Herwald Ramsbotham		Conservative	18 June 1935
	Earl De La Warr		National Labour	28 November 1935
	Geoffrey Shakespeare		Liberal National	30 July 1936
Minister of Health	Sir Kingsley Wood		Conservative	7 June 1935
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health	Geoffrey Shakespeare		Liberal National	18 June 1935
	Robert Hudson		Conservative	30 July 1936
Secretary of State for India	The Marquess of Zetland		Conservative	7 June 1935	For India and Burma from 1937
Under-Secretary of State for India	R. A. Butler		Conservative	18 June 1935
Minister of Labour	Ernest Brown		Liberal National	7 June 1935
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Labour	Anthony Muirhead		Conservative	18 June 1935
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	Sir J. C. C. Davidson		Conservative	18 June 1935
Paymaster General	The Lord Rochester		National Labour	18 June 1935
	The Lord Hutchison of Montrose		Liberal National	6 December 1935
Minister for Pensions	Robert Hudson		Conservative	18 June 1935
	Herwald Ramsbotham		Conservative	30 July 1936
Minister without Portfolio	Anthony Eden		Conservative	7 June 1935 – 22 December 1935	"Minister for League of Nations Affairs"
	Lord Eustace Percy		Conservative	7 June 1935 – 31 March 1936
Postmaster-General	George Tryon		Conservative	7 June 1935
Assistant Postmaster-General	Sir Ernest Bennett		National Labour	18 June 1935
	Sir Walter Womersley		Conservative	6 December 1935
Secretary of State for Scotland	Sir Godfrey Collins		Liberal National	7 June 1935
	Walter Elliot		Unionist	29 October 1936
Under-Secretary of State for Scotland	Noel Skelton		Unionist	18 June 1935
	John Colville		Conservative	28 November 1935
	Henry Wedderburn		Conservative	29 October 1936
President of the Board of Trade	Walter Runciman		Liberal National	7 June 1935
Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade	Leslie Burgin		Liberal National	18 June 1935
Secretary for Overseas Trade	John Colville		Conservative	18 June 1935
	Euan Wallace		Conservative	28 November 1935
Secretary for Mines	Harry Crookshank		Conservative	18 June 1935
Minister of Transport	Leslie Hore-Belisha		Liberal National	18 June 1935	In Cabinet from 29 October 1936
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport			Conservative	18 June 1935
Secretary of State for War	The Viscount Halifax		Conservative	7 June 1935
	Duff Cooper		Conservative	22 November 1935
Under-Secretary of State for War	The Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal		Conservative	18 June 1935
Financial Secretary to the War Office	Douglas Hacking		Conservative	18 June 1935
	Sir Victor Warrender		Conservative	28 November 1935
First Commissioner of Works	William Ormsby-Gore		Conservative	7 June 1935
	The Earl Stanhope		Conservative	16 June 1936
Attorney General	Sir Thomas Inskip		Conservative	18 June 1935
	Sir Donald Somervell		Conservative	18 March 1936
Solicitor General	Sir Donald Somervell		Conservative	18 June 1935
	Sir Terence O'Connor		Conservative	19 March 1936
Lord Advocate	Douglas Jamieson		Unionist	18 June 1935
	Thomas Cooper		Unionist	25 October 1935
Solicitor General for Scotland	Thomas Cooper		Unionist	18 June 1935
	Albert Russell		Unionist	29 November 1935
	James Reid		Unionist	25 June 1936
Treasurer of the Household	Sir Frederick Penny		Conservative	18 June 1935
Comptroller of the Household	Sir George Bowyer		Conservative	21 June 1935
	Sir Lambert Ward		Conservative	6 December 1935
Vice-Chamberlain of the Household	Sir Lambert Ward		Conservative	18 June 1935
	George Davies		Conservative	6 December 1935
Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms	The Earl of Lucan		Conservative	18 June 1935
Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard	The Lord Templemore		Conservative	18 June 1935
Lords in Waiting	The Viscount Gage		Conservative	18 June 1935 – May 1937
	The Earl of Munster		Conservative	18 June 1935 – May 1937
	The Earl of Feversham		Conservative	18 June 1935 – 30 July 1936
	The Marquess of Dufferin and Ava		Conservative	29 October 1936 – 28 May 1937
	The Earl Erne		Conservative	29 October 1936 – May 1937

References

• Butler, David, and G. Butler, Twentieth Century British Political Facts 1900–2000
• Hyde, H. Montgomery. Baldwin: The Unexpected Prime Minister (1973)
• Jenkins, Roy. Baldwin (1987) excerpt and text search
• Mowat, Charles Loch. Britain Between the Wars, 1918–1940 (1955). online pp 413–79
• Raymond, John, ed. The Baldwin Age (1960), essays by scholars 252 pages; online
• Smart, Nick. The National Government. 1931–40 (Macmillan 1999)
• Taylor, A.J.P. English History 1914–1945 (1965) pp 321–88
• Thorpe, Andrew. Britain in the 1930s. The Deceptive Decade, (Oxford: Blackwell, 1992).