Editing Neville Chamberlain (section)

== Chancellor of the Exchequer (1931–1937)==
Baldwin called [[1929 United Kingdom general election|a general election]] for 30 May 1929, resulting in a [[hung parliament]] with Labour holding the most seats. Baldwin and his government resigned and Labour, under MacDonald, again took office.{{sfn|Dilks|1984|pp=584–86}} In 1931, the MacDonald government faced a serious crisis as the [[May Report]] revealed that the budget was unbalanced, with an expected shortfall of £120&nbsp;million. The Labour government resigned on 24 August, and MacDonald formed a [[National Government (1931)|National Government]] supported by most Conservative MPs.{{sfn|Smart|2010|pp=160–62}} Chamberlain once again returned to the Ministry of Health.{{sfn|Self|2006|p=161}}

After the [[1931 United Kingdom general election|1931 general election]], in which supporters of the National Government (mostly Conservatives) won an overwhelming victory, MacDonald designated Chamberlain as Chancellor of the Exchequer.{{sfn|Self|2006|pp=161–62}} Chamberlain proposed a 10% tariff on foreign goods and lower or no tariffs on goods from the colonies and the [[Dominions]]. Joseph Chamberlain had advocated a similar policy, "[[Imperial Preference]]";{{sfn|Self|2006|p=163}} Neville Chamberlain laid his bill before the House of Commons on 4 February 1932,{{sfn|Self|2006|pp=165–66}} and concluded his address by noting the appropriateness of his seeking to enact his father's proposal. At the end of the speech, Austen Chamberlain walked down from the backbenches and shook his brother's hand.{{sfn|Dutton|2001|p=17}} The [[Import Duties Act 1932]] passed Parliament easily.{{sfn|Smart|2010|p=173}}

Chamberlain presented his first budget in April 1932. He maintained the severe budget cuts that had been agreed at the inception of the National Government.{{sfn|Macklin|2006|p=32}} Interest on the war debt was a major cost. Chamberlain reduced the annual interest rate on [[War bond#United Kingdom|most of Britain's war debt]] from 5% to 3.5%. Between 1932 and 1938, Chamberlain halved the percentage of the budget devoted to interest on the war debt.{{sfn|Smart|2010|p=174}}

===War debt===
Chamberlain hoped that a cancellation of the war debt owed to the United States could be negotiated. In June 1933, Britain hosted the [[London Economic Conference|World Monetary and Economic Conference]], which came to nothing as US president [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] sent word that he would not consider any war [[debt cancellation]].{{sfn|Smart|2010|p=174}} By 1934, Chamberlain was able to declare a budget surplus and reverse many of the cuts in unemployment compensation and civil servant salaries he had made after taking office. He told the Commons, "We have now finished the story of ''[[Bleak House]]'' and are sitting down this afternoon to enjoy the first chapter of ''[[Great Expectations]]''."{{sfn|Dutton|2001|p=17}}

===Welfare spending===
The Unemployed Assistance Board (UAB, established by the [[Unemployment Act 1934]]) was largely Chamberlain's creation, and he wished to see the issue of unemployment assistance removed from party political argument.<ref name="Bruce1968">{{cite book|author=Maurice Bruce|title=The coming of the Welfare State|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PCy6AAAAIAAJ|year=1968|publisher=Batsford|page=370|isbn=9780713413595|access-date=14 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624170034/https://books.google.com/books?id=PCy6AAAAIAAJ|archive-date=24 June 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Moreover, Chamberlain "saw the importance of 'providing some interest in life for the large numbers of men never likely to get work', and out of this realisation was to come the responsibility of the UAB for the 'welfare', not merely the maintenance, of the unemployed."<ref>Bruce, p. 371.</ref>

===Defence spending===
Defence spending had been heavily cut in Chamberlain's early budgets.{{sfn|Macklin|2006|p=36}} By 1935, faced with [[German rearmament|a resurgent Germany]] under Hitler's leadership, he was convinced of the need for rearmament.{{sfn|Dutton|2001|p=18}} Chamberlain especially urged the strengthening of the [[Royal Air Force]], realising that Britain's historical bulwark, the [[English Channel]], was no defence against air power.{{sfn|Macklin|2006|pp=36–42}}

In 1935, MacDonald stood down as prime minister, and Baldwin became prime minister for the third time.{{sfn|Smart|2010|pp=199–200}} In the [[1935 United Kingdom general election|1935 general election]], the Conservative-dominated National Government lost 90&nbsp;seats from its massive 1931 majority, but still retained an overwhelming majority of 255 in the House of Commons. During the campaign, deputy Labour leader [[Arthur Greenwood]] had attacked Chamberlain for spending money on rearmament, saying that the rearmament policy was "the merest scaremongering; disgraceful in a statesman of Mr Chamberlain's responsible position, to suggest that more millions of money needed to be spent on armaments."{{sfn|Dutton|2001|p=40}}

===Role in the abdication crisis===
Chamberlain is believed to have had a significant role in the [[Edward VIII abdication crisis|1936 abdication crisis]]. He wrote in his diary that [[Wallis Simpson]], Edward VIII's intended wife, was "an entirely unscrupulous woman who is not in love with the King but is exploiting him for her own purposes. She has already ruined him in money and jewels&nbsp;..."<ref>{{cite book|last=Ziegler|first=Philip|title=King Edward VIII|year=1991|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|page=[https://archive.org/details/kingedwardviii00zieg/page/312 312]|isbn=978-0-394-57730-2|url=https://archive.org/details/kingedwardviii00zieg/page/312}}</ref> In common with the rest of the Cabinet, except [[Duff Cooper]], he agreed with Baldwin that the King should abdicate if he married Simpson, and on 6 December he and Baldwin both stressed that the King should make his decision before Christmas; by one account, he believed that the uncertainty was "hurting the Christmas trade".<ref name=wctwy>{{cite book|last=Gilbert|first=Martin|title=Winston Churchill, The Wilderness Years|publisher=Macmillan|year=1981|pages=169–70|isbn=978-0-333-32564-3}}</ref> The King abdicated on 10 December, four days after the meeting.

Soon after the abdication Baldwin announced that he would remain until shortly after the [[coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth]]. On 28 May, two weeks after the Coronation, Baldwin resigned, advising the King to send for Chamberlain.{{sfn|Macklin|2006|pp=44–45}} Austen did not live to see his brother's appointment as prime minister having died two months earlier.{{sfn|Smart|1999|p=148}}