Churchill – Typed Letter Signed to John E. Harvey, M.P.

On Chartwell letterhead paper relating to his Association Subscription for 1955 and 1956. Signed “Winston S. Churchill I shall be back for the Budget – – -”.

John Harvey, the Conservative MP, lived his political life happily in the shadow of Sir Winston Churchill. As the member for marginal Walthamstow East from 1955 to 1966, he was dependent on the old war leader’s oratory, in the neighboring constituency of Woodford, to help him win and hold his seat.

Moreover, as Churchill’s constituency chairman from 1954 to 1965, Harvey became complicit in two secrets: Churchill’s determination to stay on as prime minister for as long as possible, and his desire to remain an MP until his death. Harvey kept quiet about Churchill’s incapacitating stroke in 1953, and two years later, after the 81-year-old had finally handed over to Sir Anthony Eden, he accepted a letter from Churchill – without consulting fellow members of the constituency association – saying he was willing to continue as an MP. This resulted in the increasingly sad spectacle of Churchill being pushed in his wheelchair into the House of Commons lobby, from which he was carried by two attendants to his customary seat, where he fell asleep. It was nine years before the Woodford Tories rebelled and replaced him.

Also included is a photocopy of the two-page letter that Churchill sent to Harvey on April 6, 1955, advising him that he had tendered his resignation as Prime Minister to the Queen and Sir Anthony Eden had been invited to form a Government.

Item #1173