Stafford Cripps
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The Right Honourable Sir Stafford Cripps CH FRS |
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| Chancellor of the Exchequer | |
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In office 13 November 1947 – 19 October 1950 |
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| Prime Minister | Clement Attlee |
| Preceded by | Hugh Dalton |
| Succeeded by | Hugh Gaitskell |
| Minister for Economic Affairs | |
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In office 29 September 1947 – 13 November 1947 |
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| Prime Minister | Clement Attlee |
| Preceded by | New creation |
| Succeeded by | Post abolished (Trial post) |
| President of the Board of Trade | |
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In office 27 July 1945 – 29 September 1947 |
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| Prime Minister | Clement Attlee |
| Preceded by | Oliver Lyttelton |
| Succeeded by | Harold Wilson |
| Minister of Aircraft Production | |
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In office 22 November 1942 – 25 May 1945 |
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| Prime Minister | Winston Churchill |
| Preceded by | John Llewellin |
| Succeeded by | Ernest Brown |
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Leader of the House of Commons Lord Privy Seal |
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In office 19 February 1942 – 22 November 1942 |
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| Prime Minister | Winston Churchill |
| Preceded by |
Winston Churchill (as Leader of the House of Commons) Clement Attlee (as Lord Privy Seal) |
| Succeeded by |
Anthony Eden (as Leader of the House of Commons) Robert Gascoyne-Cecil (as Lord Privy Seal) |
| Solicitor General for England and Wales | |
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In office 22 October 1930 – 24 August 1931 |
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| Prime Minister | James Ramsay MacDonald |
| Preceded by | James Melville |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Inskip |
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Member of Parliament for Bristol South East Bristol East (1931–1950) |
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In office 16 January 1931 – 25 October 1950 |
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| Preceded by | Walter John Baker |
| Succeeded by | Tony Benn |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Richard Stafford Cripps 24 April 1889 London, England |
| Died | 21 April 1952 (aged 62) Zurich, Switzerland |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse(s) | Dame Isobel Cripps |
| Alma mater | University College London |
Sir Richard Stafford Cripps,CH, PC, FRS (24 April 1889 – 21 April 1952) was a British Labour politician of the first half of the 20th century.
A wealthy barrister by background, he entered Parliament at a by-election in 1931, and was one of a handful of Labour front-benchers to retain his seat in the general election that autumn. He became a leading spokesman for the left and cooperation in a Popular Front with Communists before 1939, in which year he was expelled from the Labour Party. During World War II he served as Ambassador to the USSR (1940–42), during which time he grew wary of the Soviet Union, but achieved great public popularity because of the entry of the USSR into the war, causing him to be seen in 1942 as a potential rival to Churchill for the premiership. He became a member of the War Cabinet of the wartime coalition, but failed in his efforts (the "Cripps Mission") to resolve the wartime crisis in India, where his proposals were too radical for Churchill and the cabinet, and too conservative for Gandhi and other Indian leaders. He later served as Minister of Aircraft Production, an important post but outside the inner War Cabinet.
Rejoining the Labour Party in 1945, after the war he served in the Attlee Ministry, firstly as President of the Board of Trade and between 1947 and 1950 as Chancellor of the Exchequer. In the latter position, Cripps was responsible for laying the foundations of Britain’s post-war economic prosperity, and was, according to historian Kenneth O. Morgan, “the real architect of the rapidly improving economic picture and growing affluence from 1952 onwards.” The economy improved after 1947, benefiting from the American money given through the Marshall Plan, but was hurt by the forced devaluation of the pound in 1949. He kept rationing in place to hold down consumption during an "age of austerity," promoted exports, and maintained full employment with static wages. The public especially respected "his integrity, competence, and Christian principles."
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