The Minister of Supply was the minister in the British Government responsible for the

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. A separate ministry, however, was responsible for aircr ...

, which existed to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to the national armed forces. The position was campaigned for by many sceptics of the foreign policy of the

National Government A national government is the government of a nation. National government or National Government may also refer to: * Central government in a unitary state, or a country that does not give significant power to regional divisions * Federal governme ...

in the 1930s before ultimately being created in 1939. During World War II there was a separate

Ministry of Aircraft Production Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

; the first minister Beaverbrook later became Minister of Supply. When

W. A. Robotham William Arthur Robotham (26 November 1899 - 1980) was a Rolls-Royce executive involved in the development of Rolls-Royce cars, during World War II of tanks and tank engines, and post-war of Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars complete with bodies and th ...

was Chief Engineer of Tank Design in the Ministry of Supply, he demanded sound manganese steel castings for tank tracks, as a broken track could be a death warrant for the crew. The Beaver ''"rightly"'' accused him of holding up production, and took a poor view of Robotham's observation ''"that they had enough unreliable tanks to last us the rest of the war!"''. In July 1941, 25% of British tanks were immobilised from mechanical failure, although there was no enemy action in the theatres of war! The Ministry of Aircraft Production was amalgamated into the Ministry of Supply in July 1945. In the post-war governments, the Ministry became increasingly unpopular with economy-minded Conservatives, who objected to it as a redundant middle-man. This point of view was shared by Reginald Maudling, who served as the Minister under

Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achieving rapid promo ...

and refused to continue in office under

Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as "Supermac", he ...

, who had served in a junior role in the Ministry and believed in it. Nevertheless, he agreed to wind it up in 1959.

Minister of Supply 1939–1959

References

Supply Defunct ministerial offices in the United Kingdom Ministries disestablished in 1959 Ministries established in 1939

Minister of Supply 1939–1959

Further reading

References