The Battle of Britain Five Months That Changed History, May—October 1940 by James Holland (z-lib.org).epub

the Labour leader, nor Arthur Greenwood, the other most prominent Labour
MP, was likely to serve under him.
By 10.15 a.m., then, when Lord Halifax arrived at No. 10 to talk with
him, Chamberlain knew that the hopes of dawn had been dashed and that he
would almost certainly have to resign – and, as Lady Astor had suggested,
hand over to Halifax. A former Viceroy of India, a hugely experienced
politician and a man widely respected for his sound judgement, Lord
Halifax was certainly top of Chamberlain’s list as successor. In fact, he was
the outstanding candidate. Most of the other leading Tories were either too
young, lacked sufficient following, were too unpopular or were too
inexperienced. There was, however, one exception: a man with unrivalled
experience; a man who had held Cabinet posts over a forty-year
parliamentary career that included the Home Office, Chancellorship of the
Exchequer and the Admiralty; a man who had been a soldier as well as a
statesman; a man who, despite eight long years in the political wilderness,
had returned to the Cabinet on the outbreak of war and was one of the most
dominant personalities in the country. He was Winston Churchill.
Nonetheless, despite his many favourable attributes, there was much
mistrust of Churchill amongst many Conservatives. He was seen as a
maverick, inconsistent and hot-headed; a man who drank too much. His
methods were unorthodox. There was a lot of mud on him that he had been
unable to shake off: he was the architect of the disastrous Dardanelles
campaign of 1915, for example, and Chancellor during the General Strike
of 1926. In more recent times he had fought hard against the Government
over Indian independence, and against Chamberlain’s appeasement policy
with Germany; he had sided with Edward VIII during the abdication crisis
of 1937, which had further distanced him from the establishment. And
although he had largely avoided censure during the two-day debate, he had
been the biggest advocate of the Norwegian campaign amongst the Cabinet.
Thus for all his enormous energy, drive and undoubted oratorical skills, he
was widely regarded as a man lacking sound judgement. And a man
unsuited to the highest office.
Therefore most people assumed that, should Chamberlain go, it would
be Halifax who took over. Safe, sound, solid. He could expect wide support
from the majority of the Tories, but would also be acceptable to the
Opposition in an all-party coalition. Of less importance, but not