THE POSSIBILITY

1940 THE BLITZ

Professor Joe Maiolo suspects that Halifax may have shown more sensitivity towards the threat of air power, and in particular German bombing. Beginning on 7 September 1940 when 300 German bombers raided London, the subsequent 57 attacks would constitute a period known as ‘the Blitz’ (from the German ‘Blitzkrieg’) which lasted until May of the following year. The majority of these raids were centred on London, with Liverpool being Britain’s second most bombed city, followed closely by Birmingham. Some 43,500 civilians were killed during the entirety of the Blitz. Could Halifax’s greater focus on air power have mitigated the severity of the Blitz?

1930S IMPERIAL PREFERENCE

If Halifax had been prime minister he may well have initiated a return to free trade and a breakdown of imperial preferences. This policy, introduced in 1932, allowed the free entry of imperial goods to Britain and imposed new tariffs on some food and metal imports.

1945-59 HALIFAX AFTER THE WAR

Serving as ambassador to the United States between 1941 and 1946, it was upon his return that Halifax was offered a role in Churchill’s shadow cabinet, an offer he declined. Continuing to play an active role in the House of Lords, he retired from frontline politics and spent a great deal of time at his Yorkshire estates. One of his final and most important interventions in the Lords was his criticism of Anthony Eden’s handling of the Suez Crisis. Halifax suffered a heart attack on the 23 December 1959 and passed away. What his final years would have been like had he served as prime minister it is hard to know. Indeed, had he accepted Churchill’s offer of a position in the Shadow Cabinet it poses the question as to whether he would have had a role in Churchill’s 1951-55 government.