I've been away for a long, long time but I've decided I need to come back and enjoy some AH! The POD here is that, on 12th April 1953, Anthony Eden dies on the operating table. IOTL, the operation was horribly botched and destroyed his health, and it required corrective surgery- surgery that due to its timing stopped Churchill standing down after his own stroke in June that year.
The 13th April 1953 proved to be a sombre day across the United Kingdom. Winston Churchill announced to Parliament the death the previous day of the popular Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden. A veteran of the Great War and a high-profile figure from the Second World War onwards, Eden was well-known and well-loved. He had died on the operating table after complications from an operation to remove gallstones, but instead had badly damaged his bile duct and secondary complications had caused his demise.
Churchill was bereft. Eden had been his clear, chosen successor, and was married to his niece. A state funeral was rejected by Eden's wife, Clarissa. In the meantime, he decided to promote the Housing Minister, Harold Macmillan to the role of Foreign Secretary- Macmillan had done a sterling job in his previous role, and Churchill was well-disposed to him. Eden's seat in Parliament was won (after a respectful waiting period) by the former Smethwick MP, Roy Wise.
Macmillan wasted no time in imposing his views, helped by the fact that Churchill was himself in poor health and willing to delegate. Which was ideal, because Macmillan's plans would have horrified the old man if he'd known the full plan.
Although Rab Butler, the Chancellor, and Macmillan were not particularly friends, they could at least work together. Macmillan's plan was to start decolonisation- he could smell that there was change in the air, and Butler did as well. More importantly to both men, there was an opportunity for costs to be reduced and to trim spending, and simultaneously reduce the need for cuts in the near future- and to use this as a stepping stone to Number Ten. Working together, but primarily directed by Macmillan, they quietly came up with a plan to arrange to exit a number of colonies once the opportunity arose, and once they could persuade Churchill- or more accurately, to wait for him to be unable to refuse. [1]
However, the chance did not come. On the 23rd June 1953, just two months after Eden's death, more drama occurred. At a dinner held for the Italian prime minister Gasperi, Churchill suffered a minor stroke [2]. His doctors advised him to step down immediately. Churchill, tired by now and depressed by Eden's demise, went to see the newly-crowned Queen.
[1] Of course, Macmillan did just that when he became Prime Minister, and got Iain MacLeod to do the work.
[2] This occurred IOTL- Churchill did not stand down because Eden himself was ill.
The 13th April 1953 proved to be a sombre day across the United Kingdom. Winston Churchill announced to Parliament the death the previous day of the popular Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden. A veteran of the Great War and a high-profile figure from the Second World War onwards, Eden was well-known and well-loved. He had died on the operating table after complications from an operation to remove gallstones, but instead had badly damaged his bile duct and secondary complications had caused his demise.
Churchill was bereft. Eden had been his clear, chosen successor, and was married to his niece. A state funeral was rejected by Eden's wife, Clarissa. In the meantime, he decided to promote the Housing Minister, Harold Macmillan to the role of Foreign Secretary- Macmillan had done a sterling job in his previous role, and Churchill was well-disposed to him. Eden's seat in Parliament was won (after a respectful waiting period) by the former Smethwick MP, Roy Wise.
Macmillan wasted no time in imposing his views, helped by the fact that Churchill was himself in poor health and willing to delegate. Which was ideal, because Macmillan's plans would have horrified the old man if he'd known the full plan.
Although Rab Butler, the Chancellor, and Macmillan were not particularly friends, they could at least work together. Macmillan's plan was to start decolonisation- he could smell that there was change in the air, and Butler did as well. More importantly to both men, there was an opportunity for costs to be reduced and to trim spending, and simultaneously reduce the need for cuts in the near future- and to use this as a stepping stone to Number Ten. Working together, but primarily directed by Macmillan, they quietly came up with a plan to arrange to exit a number of colonies once the opportunity arose, and once they could persuade Churchill- or more accurately, to wait for him to be unable to refuse. [1]
However, the chance did not come. On the 23rd June 1953, just two months after Eden's death, more drama occurred. At a dinner held for the Italian prime minister Gasperi, Churchill suffered a minor stroke [2]. His doctors advised him to step down immediately. Churchill, tired by now and depressed by Eden's demise, went to see the newly-crowned Queen.
[1] Of course, Macmillan did just that when he became Prime Minister, and got Iain MacLeod to do the work.
[2] This occurred IOTL- Churchill did not stand down because Eden himself was ill.
