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Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat
First Speech as Prime Minister
May 13, 1940
to House of
Commons
On May 10, 1940,
Winston Churchill became Prime Minister. When he
met his Cabinet on May
13 he told them
that
that phrase later in the day when
he asked the House of Commons for a vote of
confidence in
his new all-party
government. The response of Labour was heart-
warming; the Conservative
reaction was
luke-warm. They still really wanted Neville
Chamberlain. For the first time, the
people had hope but Churchill commented
to General Ismay:
trust me, and I can
give them nothing but disaster for quite a long
time.
I beg to move,
That this House welcomes the formation
of a Government representing the united and
inflexible resolve of the nation to
prosecute the war with Germany to a victorious
conclusion.
On Friday evening last I
received His Majesty's commission to form a new
Administration. It
as the evident wish
and will of Parliament and the nation that this
should be conceived on the
broadest
possible basis and that it should include all
parties, both those who supported the
late Government and also the parties of
the Opposition. I have completed the most
important
part of this task. A War
Cabinet has been formed of five Members,
representing, with the
Opposition
Liberals, the unity of the nation. The three party
Leaders have agreed to serve,
either in
the War Cabinet or in high executive office. The
three Fighting Services have been
filled. It was necessary that this
should be done in one single day, on account of
the extreme
urgency and rigour of
events. A number of other positions, key
positions, were filled
yesterday, and I
am submitting a further list to His Majesty to-
night. I hope to complete the
appointment of the principal Ministers
during to-morrow. the appointment of the other
Ministers usually takes a little
longer, but I trust that, when Parliament meets
again, this part
of my task will be
completed, and that the administration will be
complete in all respects.
I considered
it in the public interest to suggest that the
House should be summoned to meet
today.
Mr. Speaker agreed, and took the necessary steps,
in accordance with the powers
conferred
upon him by the Resolution of the House. At the
end of the proceedings today, the
Adjournment of the House will be
proposed until Tuesday, 21st May, with, of course,
provision for earlier meeting, if need
be. The business to be considered during that week
will
be notified to Members at the
earliest opportunity. I now invite the House, by
the Motion
which stands in my name, to
record its approval of the steps taken and to
declare its
confidence in the new
Government.
To form an Administration
of this scale and complexity is a serious
undertaking in itself, but
it must be
remembered that we are in the preliminary stage of
one of the greatest battles in