1942 - 1945

Anthony Eden (1897-1977) was elected to the House of Commons in 1923 as a Conservative, following wartime service. He took ministerial office in the national government in 1931, and in 1935 became the youngest foreign Secretary since the eighteenth century. During the Second World War he was close to Churchill, who told him that he should eventually succeed him. Still foreign Secretary, he was made Leader of the House of Commons in addition on Cripps's resignation in late 1942, and he held both posts until the Conservatives' defeat in the 1945 general election. Eden returned to the foreign office after they regained power in 1951, and did finally succeed Churchill as premier in 1955; but he resigned in 1957, following the Suez affair and the onset of illness.