Extracts from a confidential report from Frederick H. Boland
to Seán Nunan (Dublin)
(Confidential)

The series of events involving the resignation of Sir Winston Churchill,¹ the appointment of his successor and the re-shuffling of the Cabinet fell out much in accordance with general anticipations. There were no surprises, and the changes had been so confidently expected that, when they came, public opinion took them as matter of fact, with little comment or emotion.

2. It is said that no one was so emotional about the change of Prime Minister as Sir Winston himself. He seems to have taken it greatly to heart. Some people (mainly people connected with the Labour Party) quote this as proof that Churchill was ‘pushed’. Conservatives dismiss this suggestion as absurd. They say — and they are probably right — that, although the fact and the time of his retirement was entirely his own free choice, his emotional make-up is such that he was bound to feel the break acutely when it came to the point of leaving No. 10 for the last time. It is widely believed here that Churchill made up his mind to go after a long interview with Eden on the 7th March, and a similar interview with Mr. Butler² the following day. It was decided then that the Government would have to be prepared to go to the country late in May or early in June and, having regard to the understanding reached last year that Eden would have to succeed some weeks before the next election so as to be able to present himself to the country as Prime Minister and Leader of the Party, this meant that Churchill’s retirement could hardly be postponed beyond some time early in April.

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5. Sir Anthony Eden’s cabinet changes have been well received. Macmillan’s³ appointment to the Foreign Office is popular with Conservatives and, indeed, public opinion generally. Even his opponents admit his ability, though many think that his combativeness in debate may make it difficult to maintain the inter-party unity on basic issues of foreign policy which opinion inside and outside the House of Commons likes to see preserved. Selwyn Lloyd,⁴ who is very intelligent, a capable parliamentarian but otherwise not a very inspiring person, is a personal friend and protégé of Sir Anthony Eden, under whom he served as Minister of State at the Foreign Office from 1951 to 1954. Both Macmillan and Lloyd have had some slight contact with Ireland, and give the impression of being free from any positive animosity towards us.
6. The new Commonwealth Relations Secretary, the Earl of Home⁵ (pronounced Hume) would want to be very bad not to be better than Lord Swinton. He is a man out of the Tory top drawer, having been like Eden at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, and being a first cousin of Oliver Lyttleton⁶ (although quite unlike him). He is quiet, rather unassuming and perhaps not very forceful or effective; but he is a close personal friend of the new Prime Minister, who had him as his Joint Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office in the Caretaker Government in 1945. Lord Home is a Scot, very interested in Scottish affairs, and he is said to be liberally-minded. Up to 1945, he stood for Parliament as a ‘Unionist’ not as a ‘Conservative’. As this indicates, he belongs to the Chamberlain tradition in the Conservative party and, in fact, he was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Neville Chamberlain from 1937 to 1939, when, no doubt, he collected some first-hand acquaintance with Irish affairs. I am reliably informed that Selwyn Lloyd asked for the CRO and would have preferred to go there than to the Ministry of Defence. He only accepted the latter on Eden’s persuasion.

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