Personality And Power
What stopped Churchill from assuming power until he was in his 60s? Was it a flaw in his own personality - a flaw that compelled people to ignore him even when he was right - or was it, perhaps, professional jealousy on the part of his contemporaries?
Robert Blake investigates Churchill's career with assistance from some of the people who knew him, both as personal friends and political adversaries.
Lord Boothby had a colourful personal life (including a lengthy affair with Harold Macmillan's wife Dorothy and personal connections with the gangster Ronald Kray). However, he was a very able politician who, along with 29 other Conservatives, including Churchill, refused to support the government over the Munich Agreement. He also was among the 41 MPs who voted against the government in May 1940, with the result that Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned and Churchill came to power.
