Eden ministry
Cabinet of the United Kingdom
1955–1957
Date formed	6 April 1955 (1955-04-06)
Date dissolved	9 January 1957 (1957-01-09)
People and organisations
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Sir Anthony Eden
Deputy Prime Minister	[note 1]
Totalno. of members	132 appointments
Member party	Conservative Party
Status in legislature	Majority
Opposition party	Labour Party
Opposition leader	Clement Attlee (1955) Hugh Gaitskell (1955–1957)
History
Election	1955 general election
Legislature terms	40th UK Parliament 41st UK Parliament
Predecessor	Third Churchill ministry
Successor	First Macmillan ministry

In April 1955, following the resignation ofWinston Churchill,Anthony Eden, then-Deputy Prime Minister andForeign Secretary, wasinvited to form government as he took over asLeader of the Conservative Party.

Eden then shortly asked QueenElizabeth II to dissolve Parliament and call ageneral election for 26 May. Winning a majority of 60, he then resigned the office on 10 January 1957.^[1][2]

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(June 2017)

In April 1955, SirAnthony Eden succeeded SirWinston Churchill as Leader of theConservative Party andPrime Minister of the United Kingdom, and finally reached the post he had coveted for so long. The original composition of Eden's cabinet was remarkable for the fact that ten out of the original eighteen members wereOld Etonians: Eden, Salisbury, Crookshank, Macmillan, Home, Stuart, Thorneycroft, Heathcoat Amory, Sandys and Peake were all educated atEton College.

He initially retainedRab Butler, with whom he did not get along, asChancellor of the Exchequer. At the firstcabinet reshuffle in December 1955, Eden demoted him toLord Privy Seal andLeader of the House of Commons. Eden was succeeded as foreign secretary by future prime ministerHarold Macmillan, who, however, only held this post until December of the same year, when he replaced Butler as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Selwyn Lloyd gained his first cabinet post when he succeeded Macmillan as minister of defence in April 1955, and again replaced Macmillan as foreign secretary in December of that year. Another future prime minister,Alec Douglas-Home, entered the cabinet asSecretary of State for Commonwealth Relations in 1955.Gwilym Lloyd George, younger son of former Liberal leaderDavid Lloyd George, remained as home secretary.

Eden's decision to take military action over theSuez Crisis of 1956 caused major embarrassment for Britain and theirFrench allies. Eden, then already in declining health, resigned as prime minister and Leader of the Conservative Party in January 1957. Harold Macmillan was chosen over Rab Butler to succeed as party leader and prime minister.

• Rab Butler succeeded Harry Crookshank as Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons.
• Harold Macmillan succeeded Butler as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
• Selwyn Lloyd succeeded Macmillan as Foreign Secretary.
• Sir Walter Monckton succeeded Lloyd as Minister of Defence.
• Iain Macleod succeeded Monckton as Minister of Labour and National Service.
• Lord Selkirk succeeds Lord Woolton as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
• Minister of Works,Patrick Buchan-Hepburn, entered the cabinet
• Osbert Peake retired and his successor as Minister of Pensions and National Insurance was not in the cabinet.

• In October 1956, Sir Walter Monckton becamePaymaster General, a post which had been vacant since Lord Selkirk's promotion to Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
• Antony Henry Head succeeded Monckton as Minister of Defence.

Members of the Cabinet are inbold face.

Notes

Notes

Sources

• 1950s in the United Kingdom
• 1955 establishments in the United Kingdom
• 1957 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
• British ministries
• Cabinets disestablished in 1957
• Cabinets established in 1955
• History of the Conservative Party (UK)
• Ministers in the Eden government, 1955–1957
• Ministries of Elizabeth II

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use British English from July 2016
• All Wikipedia articles written in British English
• Use dmy dates from July 2016
• Articles using an unknown Template:Engvar option
• Articles to be expanded from June 2017
• All articles to be expanded