Churchill caretaker ministry

After the defeat of Nazi Germany in early May, Churchill proposed to the Labour and Liberal leaders Clement Attlee and Archibald Sinclair that the war-time coalition should continue until victory over Japan had been completed. At first, it seemed agreement would be reached but, at the Labour Party Conference soon afterwards, opinion was hostile to a continuation of the coalition. Attlee wrote to Churchill to confirm that his party wanted an election in October, and would leave the coalition then.

Churchill came under pressure from his own party to hold a quick election and try to exploit his standing as the man who had won the war. On 23 May 1945, while the Labour conference was still in session, he decided to resign as prime minister and this ended the war-time coalition. Later that day, King George VI invited Churchill to form an interim government pending completion of the election. Churchill agreed and his new government was known officially as the National Government, implying that it was a continuation of the Conservative-dominated coalition of the 1930s – it consisted of members of the Conservative Party and other groups and politicians who had been associated with that government. The Labour and Liberal parties formed the opposition, except that one Liberal Member of Parliament, Gwilym Lloyd George, accepted an invitation to join the new ministry.

The new government was unofficially known as "the caretaker ministry". Speaking at his Woodford constituency on 25 May, Churchill commented on this name: "They call us 'the Caretakers'; we condone the title, because it means that we shall take every good care of everything that affects the welfare of Britain and all classes in Britain".[1]

Parliament was dissolved on 15 June. Polling day was on 5 July and, after a delay caused by the need to collect the votes of those serving overseas, the results were declared on 26 July. Churchill, having been defeated, resigned that day and was succeeded as prime minister by Attlee.

• Butler, David; Butler, Gareth (1994). British Political Facts 1900–1994 (7 ed.). Basingstoke and London: The Macmillan Press. ISBN 978-03-12121-47-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Hermiston, Roger (2016). All Behind You, Winston – Churchill's Great Coalition, 1940–45. London: Aurum Press. ISBN 978-17-81316-64-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)