View source for Iain Macleod

{{Short description|British politician (1913–1970)}}
{{Otherpeople5|Iain MacLeod (disambiguation)}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2015}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
|name             = Iain Macleod
|honorific-suffix = 
|image            = The National Archives UK - CO 1069-166-17 Macleod crop.jpg
|caption          = Macleod in 1961
|office           = [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]
|primeminister    = [[Edward Heath]]
|term_start       = 20 June 1970
|term_end         = 20 July 1970
|predecessor      = [[Roy Jenkins]]
|successor        = [[Anthony Barber]]
|office1          = [[Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer]]
|leader1          = Edward Heath
|term_start1      = 11 November 1965
|term_end1        = 20 June 1970
|predecessor1     = Edward Heath
|successor1       = Roy Jenkins
|office2          = [[Leader of the House of Commons]]
|primeminister2   = [[Harold Macmillan]]
|term_start2      = 9 October 1961
|term_end2        = 20 October 1963
|predecessor2     = [[Rab Butler]]
|successor2       = [[Selwyn Lloyd]]
|office3          = [[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]]
|primeminister3   = Harold Macmillan
|term_start3      = 9 October 1961
|term_end3        = 20 October 1963
|predecessor3     = [[Charles Hill, Baron Hill of Luton|Charles Hill]]
|successor3       = [[John Hare, 1st Viscount Blakenham|The Lord Blakenham]]
|office4          = [[Chairman of the Conservative Party]]
|leader4          = Harold Macmillan
|term_start4      = 9 October 1961
|term_end4        = 20 October 1963
|predecessor4     = Rab Butler
|successor4       = The Lord Blakenham
|office5          = [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]]
|primeminister5   = Harold Macmillan
|term_start5      = 14 October 1959
|term_end5        = 9 October 1961
|predecessor5     = [[Alan Lennox-Boyd]]
|successor5       = [[Reginald Maudling]]
|office6          = [[Secretary of State for Employment|Minister of Labour and National Service]]
|primeminister6   = [[Anthony Eden]]<br />Harold Macmillan
|term_start6      = 20 December 1955
|term_end6        = 14 October 1959
|predecessor6     = [[Walter Monckton]]
|successor6       = Edward Heath
|office7          = [[Secretary of State for Health and Social Care|Minister of Health]]
|primeminister7   = [[Winston Churchill]]<br />Anthony Eden
|term_start7      = 7 May 1952
|term_end7        = 20 December 1955
|predecessor7     = [[Harry Crookshank]]
|successor7       = [[Robin Turton]]
|office8          = Member of Parliament<br />for [[Enfield West]]
|term_start8      = 23 February 1950
|term_end8        = 20 July 1970
|predecessor8     = [[Ernest Davies (Enfield MP)|Ernest Davies]] {{small|([[Enfield (UK Parliament constituency)|Enfield]])}}
|successor8       = [[Cecil Parkinson]]
|birth_name       = Iain Norman Macleod
|birth_date       = {{birth date|1913|11|11|df=y}}
|birth_place      = [[Skipton]], United Kingdom 
|death_date       = {{death date and age|1970|7|20|1913|11|11|df=y}}
|death_place      = [[London]], United Kingdom 
|party            = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]]
|alma_mater       = [[Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]]
|spouse           = {{marriage|[[Evelyn Macleod, Baroness Macleod of Borve|Evelyn Blois]]|1941}}
|children         = 2
}}

'''Iain Norman Macleod''' (11 November 1913 – 20 July 1970) was a British [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] politician.

A playboy and professional [[Contract bridge|bridge]] player in his twenties, after war service Macleod worked for the [[Conservative Research Department]] before entering Parliament in [[1950 United Kingdom general election|1950]]. He was noted as a formidable Parliamentary debater and—later—as a platform orator. He was quickly appointed Minister of Health, later serving as Minister of Labour. He served an important term as [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]] under [[Harold Macmillan]] in the early 1960s, overseeing the independence of many African countries from British rule but earning the enmity of Conservative right-wingers, and the soubriquet that he was "too clever by half".

Macleod was unhappy with the "emergence" of Sir [[Alec Douglas-Home]] as party leader and prime minister in succession to Macmillan in 1963 (he claimed to have supported Macmillan's deputy [[Rab Butler]], although it is unclear exactly what his recommendation had been). He refused to serve in Home's government, and while serving as editor of ''[[The Spectator]]'' alleged that the succession had been stitched up by Macmillan and a "magic circle" of Old Etonians.

Macleod did not contest the [[1965 Conservative Party leadership election|first ever Conservative Party leadership election in 1965]], but endorsed the eventual winner [[Edward Heath]]. When the Conservatives returned to power in June 1970, he was appointed [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] in Heath's government, but died suddenly only a month later.

==Early life==
Iain Macleod was born at Clifford House, [[Skipton]], Yorkshire, on 11 November 1913. His father, Dr. Norman Alexander Macleod, was a well-respected general practitioner in Skipton, with a substantial [[poor-law]] practice (providing medical services for those who could not afford to pay); the young Macleod would often accompany his father on his rounds.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16">Goldsworthy 2004, pp. 810–16</ref><ref>Richard Shepherd, ''Iain Macleod'' (London: Hutchinson, 1994), pp. 6–8.</ref> His parents were from the [[Isle of Lewis]] in the [[Western Isles]] of Scotland, his father a descendant of tenant farmers on [[Pabaigh Mòr|Pabbay]] and [[Uig, Lewis|Uig]], tracing back to the early 1500s.<ref>Iain Macleod: A Biography, Robert Shepherd, Pimlico, 1995, pp. 2- 3</ref> They moved to Skipton in 1907. Macleod grew up with strong personal and cultural ties to [[Scotland]], as his parents bought in 1917 part of the [[Leverhulme]] estate on the Isle of Lewis, where they often used to stay for family holidays.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

He was educated at [[Ermysted's Grammar School]] in Skipton, followed by four years (beginning in 1923) at St Ninian's Dumfriesshire, followed by five years at the private school [[Fettes College]] in Edinburgh. Macleod showed no great academic talent, but did develop an enduring love of literature, especially poetry, which he read and memorised in great quantity.<ref name="Shepherd, pp. 17–21">Shepherd, pp. 17–21.</ref><ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> In his final year at school Macleod appears to have blossomed a little, standing for [[Oswald Mosley]]'s [[New Party (UK)|New Party]] in the mock election in [[1931 United Kingdom general election|October 1931]]; he came third, behind the Unionist and [[Ian Harvey (politician)|Ian Harvey]] who stood as a Scottish nationalist and came second. He won the School History Prize in his final year.<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 12</ref>

==Cambridge and cards==
In 1932, Macleod went up to [[Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]], where he read history.  His only recorded speech at the [[Cambridge Union Society]] was in his first term against the [[Ottawa agreement]] – his biographer comments that although not too much should be made of this, it suggests a lack of sentimental attachment to the Empire.  He took no other part in student politics, but spent much of his time reading poetry and playing bridge, both for the University (he helped to found the Cambridge University Bridge Society) and at [[Crockfords (casino)|Crockfords]] and in the West End. He graduated with a [[British undergraduate degree classification|Lower Second]] in 1935.<ref name="Shepherd, pp. 17–21"/><ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

A bridge connection with the chairman of the printing company [[De La Rue]] earned him a job offer.<ref name="Shepherd, p. 102">Shepherd, p. 102.</ref><ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> However, he devoted most of his energies to bridge and, by 1936, was an international bridge player.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> He was one of the great British [[Contract bridge|bridge]] players. He won the [[Gold Cup (bridge)|Gold Cup]] in 1937, with teammates [[Maurice Harrison-Gray]] (Capt), [[Skid Simon]], [[Jack Marx (bridge)|Jack Marx]] and [[Colin Harding]].<ref name="Shepherd, p. 102"/>

At a time when average male earnings were around £200 per annum (around £11,000 at 2016 prices) and he was earning around £150 per annum at De La Rue, Macleod sometimes made £100 in a night gambling, but on another occasion had to borrow £100 from his father to pay his debts.<ref name="Shepherd 1994, pp. 22–24">Shepherd 1994, pp. 22–24</ref> Macleod was often too tired to work in the mornings after gambling for much of the night, although he tended to perk up as the day went on; he was popular with colleagues and on at least one occasion mucked in to work overtime for a last-minute order for Chinese banknotes. His biographer comments that he "might have stayed" had he found the work more interesting, but after tolerating him for a number of years De La Rue sacked him in 1938.<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 22</ref>

In order to placate his father he joined the [[Inner Temple]] and went through the motions of studying to become a [[barrister]], but in the late 1930s he was essentially living the life of a playboy from his bridge earnings.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> He was winning up to £2,500 per annum tax free (around £140,000 at 2016 prices).<ref name="Shepherd 1994, pp. 22–24"/><ref name="measuringworth.com">{{Cite web |url=http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/result.php |title=Compute the Relative Value of a U.K. Pound |access-date=13 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160331194822/https://measuringworth.com/ukcompare/result.php |archive-date=31 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

He later wrote a book that contains a description of the [[Acol]] system of {{gcb|bidding}}: ''Bridge is an Easy Game'', published in 1952 by Falcon Press, London.<ref>[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/013491171 "Bridge is an easy game"]. [[WorldCat]]. Retrieved 29 May 2014. It was revised by one Peter Donovan and reissued by Ashford Press in 1988 as ''Bridge is Still an Easy Game''. {{OCLC|18324799}}.</ref> He was still earning money from playing and writing newspaper columns about bridge until 1952, when his developing political career became his priority.<ref name="Shepherd, p. 102"/><ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

==War service==
===Early war===
In September 1939, upon the outbreak of the [[Second World War]], Macleod enlisted in the [[British Army]] as a [[Private (rank)|private]] in the [[Royal Fusiliers]].<ref name="Officers of the British Army">{{cite web|url=http://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_M01.html#Macleod_IN|title=British Army officer histories|publisher=Unit Histories|access-date=2017-11-02}}</ref> On 20 April 1940, he was commissioned as an officer with the rank of [[second lieutenant]] in the [[Duke of Wellington's Regiment]] (DWR), with the [[service number]] 129352.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34837|page=2459|date=23 April 1940|supp=y}}</ref> He was posted to the 2/7th Battalion, DWR, which was then serving as part of the [[137th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|137th Infantry Brigade]] of the [[46th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|46th Infantry Division]], a second line [[Army Reserve (United Kingdom)|Territorial Army]] (TA) formation, then commanded by Major-General [[Henry Curtis (British Army officer)|Henry Curtis]]. Macleod's battalion was sent overseas to France in time to see action in the [[Battle of France]] in May, where he was injured in the leg by a flying log when a German armoured car burst through a road block which his men had just erected. He was treated in hospital in Exeter and left with a lifelong slight limp.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/><ref name="Officers of the British Army" /> In later life, besides his limp he suffered pain and reduced mobility from the spinal condition [[ankylosing spondylitis]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Nigel Fisher|title=Iain Macleod|access-date=18 December 2011|year=1973|publisher=Deutsch|isbn=0-233-96324-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/iainmacleod0000fish/page/46 46]|url=https://archive.org/details/iainmacleod0000fish/page/46|url-access=registration}}</ref>

At the age of 27, Macleod was already considered somewhat too old to be a platoon commander. Once fit for duty again, he served as a staff [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] with the 46th Division in Wye, under the Deputy Assistant Adjutant General (DAAG), Captain Dawtry.<ref>Shepherd 1994, pp. 28–29</ref><ref name="Officers of the British Army" /> In 1941, a drunk Macleod almost killed Dawtry, as the latter had retired to bed rather than play [[stud poker]] with him. He shot at his door until his revolver ran out of bullets, and then passed out after smashing down the door with a heavy piece of furniture. He demanded an apology the next morning for his refusal to play, although the two men remained friends thereafter. Dawtry later became Chief Clerk of Westminster Council.<ref name="Sandford 2005, pp. 285">Sandford 2005, pp. 285</ref><ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

===Staff College, D-Day and European campaign===
Macleod attended [[Staff College, Camberley]], in 1943,<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/><ref name="Officers of the British Army" /> and graduated early in February 1944, having for the first time had to test his abilities against other able men and found something of a purpose in life.<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 31</ref>

As a [[Major (United Kingdom)|major]],<ref name="Officers of the British Army" /> he landed in France on [[Gold Beach]] on [[D-Day]] on 6 June 1944, as Deputy Assistant [[Quartermaster general]] (DAQMG) of the [[50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division]], a first line TA formation, under the command of Major-General [[Douglas Graham (British Army officer)|Douglas Graham]].<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> Macleod embarked on 1 June ready for the invasion, which was then postponed from 5 June to 6 June. The 50th Division, a highly experienced veteran formation which had fought in [[North African campaign|North Africa]] and [[Allied invasion of Sicily|Sicily]], was tasked with capturing [[Arromanches]], where the [[Mulberry harbour|Mulberry artificial harbour]] was to be set up, and by the end of the day patrols had pushed to the outskirts of [[Bayeux]]. Macleod spent much of the day touring the [[beachhead]] area to check on progress, driving past enemy-held strongpoints, with Lieutenant Colonel "Bertie" Gibb. He later recorded that he had "a patchwork of memories" of D-Day. He could remember what he ate but not when he ate it, or that when he went to load his revolver he found his [[Batman (military)#United Kingdom|batman]] had instead filled his ammunition pouch with boiled sweets.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Macleod |first=Iain |date=2024-06-06 |title=A Spectator editor's account of the D-Day landings |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/a-spectator-editors-account-of-the-d-day-landings/ |access-date=2024-06-06 |website=The Spectator |language=en-US}}</ref> British planners had expected 40% casualties on D-Day, and Macleod later recorded that he himself had fully expected to be killed, but on realising at midnight that he had survived D-Day decided that he would survive the war and see the birth of his second child in October.<ref name="Shepherd 1994, pp. 33–34">Shepherd 1994, pp. 33–34</ref>

Contemporaries began to record him saying that autumn that he planned to enter politics and become prime minister.<ref name="Shepherd 1994, pp. 33–34"/> He continued to serve in France and the Low Countries until November 1944, when the 50th Division was, due to a highly critical shortage of manpower in the British Army at this stage of the war, ordered to return to Yorkshire to be reconstituted as a training division. Macleod ended the war as a major.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

===1945 election and final Army service===
Macleod unsuccessfully contested the [[Na h-Eileanan an Iar (UK Parliament constituency)|Western Isles]] constituency at the [[1945 United Kingdom general election|1945 general election]]. There was no Conservative Party in the seat, so Macleod advertised an inaugural meeting. He and his father, a lifelong Liberal but an admirer of [[Winston Churchill]], were the only attendees, so Macleod elected his father Association Chairman and he selected his son as Parliamentary candidate, in due course receiving a letter of endorsement from Churchill.<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 38</ref> Macleod came bottom of the poll, obtaining 2,756 votes out of 13,000.<ref>Shepherd, pp. 39–40.</ref> Macleod's father died at the start of 1947, just at the onset of the [[Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom|exceptionally bitter winter]].<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

With the 50th Division now largely disbanded, its HQ was sent to Norway after the end of hostilities in May 1945 as part of [[Operation Doomsday]], supervising the surrender of German forces and repatriation of Allied prisoners.<ref name="Officers of the British Army" /> In Norway, Macleod was in charge of setting prices for the country's stock of wine and spirits, much of which had been looted by the Germans from occupied France. In December 1945, he successfully defended a colonel at a [[court martial]], and was tipped for a career at the Bar by the presiding officer.<ref>Shepherd 1994, pp. 40–41</ref> He was demobilised from the British Army in January 1946.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

==Entry into politics==
In 1946, after an interview with David Clarke, Macleod joined the Conservative Parliamentary Secretariat, writing briefing papers for Conservative MPs on Scotland, labour (employment, in modern parlance) and health matters.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

Macleod was selected as Conservative candidate for [[Enfield (UK Parliament constituency)|Enfield]] in 1946. Forty-seven applicants were already being considered; through a bridge connection Macleod arranged a meeting with the Enfield Conservative Association chairman and persuaded him to add his [[Curriculum vitae|CV]] to the list. After interviews, he reached the final shortlist of four. Macleod came second after making a poor speech to the assembled Association at the selection meeting, but the winning candidate failed to achieve the required 10% majority. Amid accusations of skulduggery—the members had not been told of this requirement in advance and forty of them, the representatives of two branches, walked out in protest—a second meeting was scheduled, at which Macleod performed much better and won handsomely. Throughout both meetings he had been strongly supported by the local [[Young Conservatives (UK)|Young Conservatives]], who could vote on Association matters despite in some cases being not yet old enough to vote for Parliament – the 15-year-old [[Norman Tebbit]] was a branch officer for [[Ponders End]] (a working class area).<ref name="Shepherd 1994, pp. 53–54">Shepherd 1994, pp. 53–54</ref>

Enfield had been won by the Conservatives several times in the interwar period, but with a 12,000 Labour majority in 1945 was not regarded as an immediate prospect. In 1948, the Parliamentary boundaries were redrawn, and Macleod was unanimously selected for the new and much more winnable [[Enfield West (UK Parliament constituency)|Enfield, West]], which he would win in [[1950 United Kingdom general election|February 1950]] and hold comfortably throughout his career.<ref name="Shepherd 1994, pp. 53–54"/>

In 1948, the Secretariat merged with the [[Conservative Research Department]] under [[Rab Butler]]. Macleod was in joint, then sole, charge of Home Affairs. He drafted the Social Services section of the Conservative policy paper ''The Right Road for Britain'' (1949).<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

Along with [[Enoch Powell]], [[Angus Maude]] and [[Reginald Maudling]], Macleod was seen as a protégé of Butler at the CRD. David Clarke thought Macleod the least intellectually gifted of the three but later came to think him the most politically gifted.<ref>Jenkins 1993, p. 33</ref> All four men were elected to Parliament in February 1950, and along with [[Edward Heath]] who entered Parliament at the same time they became members of the "One Nation" group. Together with Angus Maude, Macleod wrote the pamphlet ''One Nation'' in 1950, and together with Enoch Powell he wrote ''The Social Services: Needs and Means'' which appeared in January 1952.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

Macleod and Powell were close friends at this time.<ref>[[Simon Heffer]], ''[[Like the Roman: The Life of Enoch Powell]]'' (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1998), p. 457.</ref> He was astonished when the ascetic Powell became engaged. Powell, a much more industrious man, was somewhat jealous of Macleod's promotion at the Research Department, and had difficulty being selected for a winnable seat, so Macleod coached him in interview technique.<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 53–54</ref>

==Political career==

===Minister of Health===
In [[1951 United Kingdom general election|October 1951]] Churchill again became prime minister. Macleod was not offered office but instead became Chairman of the backbench Health and Social Services Committee.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

A brilliant Commons performance made his career. On 27 March 1952, having been called fifth in the debate rather than third as originally scheduled, he spoke after former Health Minister [[Aneurin Bevan]]. Beginning his speech with the words "I wish to deal closely and with relish with the vulgar, crude and intemperate speech to which the House of Commons has just listened", he attacked Bevan with facts and figures and commented that a health debate without Bevan would be like "''[[Hamlet]]'' without the first gravedigger". Churchill, who had been getting up to leave, stayed to listen and was heard to ask the [[Chief Whip of the Conservative Party|Chief Whip]], [[Patrick Buchan-Hepburn]], who the promising young backbencher was. When summoned to 10 Downing Street on 7 May, he claimed to have been half-expecting a reprimand for his refusal to serve a second term as a British representative at the [[Council of Europe]], a job he found boring, but he was instead appointed Minister of Health, which was not a Cabinet position at that time.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

Later in 1952, Macleod announced that British clinician [[Richard Doll]] had proved the link between smoking and [[lung cancer]]. He did so at a press conference throughout which he chain-smoked.<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 91–92</ref>

Macleod became a member of [[White's Club]] in 1953, and shocked members by sitting up all night to play cards. His friend Enoch Powell was jealous at Macleod's rapid promotion, but offered Macleod the use of a room at his flat when Eve Macleod was seriously ill with polio.<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 82</ref>

Macleod consolidated rather than reformed the NHS, administered it well and defended it against Treasury attacks on its budget.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

===Minister of Labour===
In the reshuffle of December 1955, Prime Minister [[Anthony Eden]] promoted Macleod to the Cabinet as Minister of Labour and National Service. Eden regarded Macleod, still only 42 years old, as a possible future prime minister and thought the job would be valuable experience of dealing with trade unions.<ref>Shepherd 1994, pp. 102–03</ref>

====Suez crisis====
Macleod was not directly involved in the collusion with France and Israel over the [[Suez Crisis]], but although he was unhappy at the turn of events, he did not resign.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> He never publicly opposed Suez, either at the time or later. He was party to the two crucial Cabinet decisions: the first was the decision on 21 March for a policy of hostility to Nasser, who was seen as a threat to British interests in the Middle East, and of building new alliances with Jordan and Iraq; this led to the withdrawal of American and British financial aid for the [[Aswan Dam]], which in turn triggered Nasser's nationalisation of the Canal. Macleod was also party to the Cabinet decision on 27 July, the day after nationalisation the Canal, that Nasser's action should be opposed on the grounds that the Canal was an international trust and that Britain, if necessary acting alone, should use force as a last resort. Macleod was not a member of the Egypt Committee, and still less was he party to Eden and Lloyd's secret dealings with the French and the Israelis.<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 114</ref>

Macleod's duties required him to discuss the Suez Crisis with union leaders. In August 1956, he spoke to [[Vincent Tewson]], General Secretary of the [[Trades Union Congress|TUC]], and found him "very "weak-kneed"" and "ill-informed". On 20 August, Macleod and Eden met Tewson, Beard of the Engineers' Union and Geddes of the Postmen's Union, and agreed that the upcoming TUC Conference would back an equivocal resolution by Geddes.<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 115</ref>

On 25 August, the day after Monckton's "outburst" expressing doubts at the Egypt Committee, Cabinet Secretary [[Norman Brook]] sent a note to Eden listing Macleod as among those Cabinet members (the others being Butler, Monckton, [[Derick Heathcoat-Amory, 1st Viscount Amory|Derrick Heathcoat Amory]], the [[George Douglas-Hamilton, 10th Earl of Selkirk|Earls of Selkirk]] and [[David Maxwell Fyfe, 1st Earl of Kilmuir|Kilmuir]], as well as Heath who, as Chief Whip, attended Cabinet but was not technically a full member) who would want to postpone military action until all other options had been exhausted or until Nasser provided them with a better pretext, whichever came first. There were three unknowns and ten hawks—a narrow Cabinet majority in favour of military action.<ref>Kyle 1991, p. 204</ref><ref name="Shepherd 1994, p. 116">Shepherd 1994, p. 116</ref>

On 11 September, at Cabinet, Eden tasked Macleod with finding out if there would be trouble from the unions in the event of military operations in the Eastern Mediterranean. However, Norman Brook advised Macleod to "hold his hand for the moment, as this was not the appropriate time". It is unclear if this initiative came from Brook or was in response to an inquiry from Macleod himself.<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 115–16</ref>

====Suez: decision to invade====
Macleod missed the thinly-attended Cabinet on 18 October, but afterwards was sent Eden's minute that he'd told the French that every effort must be made to stop Israel attacking Jordan, whilst Eden had told Israel that Britain would ''not'' come to Egypt's aid. It is not known whether Macleod knew of the secret [[Protocol of Sèvres]]. On 23 October, Eden told the Cabinet that there had been secret talks with Israel in Paris.<ref name="Shepherd 1994, p. 116"/>

The Cabinet further considered the use of force on 24 October.<ref name="Shepherd 1994, p. 117">Shepherd 1994, p. 117</ref> On 25 October, Eden told the Cabinet that Israel would attack Egypt after all, but did not tell them about the secret Sèvres Protocol. Cabinet minutes record that Macleod was doubtful about the use of force (as were Monckton and Heathcoat Amory) because of the lack of clear UN authority and the risk of antagonising the USA. However, they did not formally dissent from the Cabinet decision to invade if Israel attacked Egypt (the Cabinet were deceived about the extent to which such an attack had already been secretly agreed – "collusion" – by Eden and Selwyn Lloyd).<ref>Kyle 1991, p. 334</ref><ref name="Shepherd 1994, p. 117"/>

At Cabinet on the morning of 30 October, Lloyd reported that the US was ready to move a motion at the UN condemning Israel, which had attacked Egypt in the Sinai the previous day, as an aggressor. Macleod and Heathcoat Amory approved of Lloyd's suggestion of postponing the attack by 24 hours (in breach, as it happens, of the secret agreement between Britain, France and Israel) in order to bring the Americans on board, although they thought it unlikely to work, but it was not adopted. Macleod was telling others of his dismay that ministers had not been fully informed of the agreement with France and Israel. Either now or at some subsequent meeting Eden apologised to the Cabinet for his reticence "in time of war", causing Macleod to snap "I was not aware that we were at war, Prime Minister!" The Anglo-French ultimatum was on the afternoon of 30 October.<ref>Shepherd 1994, pp. 117–18</ref><ref>Kyle 1991, p. 357</ref>

On 2 November, the Cabinet agreed that even in the event of a ceasefire between Egypt and Israel, Anglo-French forces should still seize the Canal in a policing role until UN forces were able to take up the baton (Macleod and Heathcoat Amory were doubtful). By the weekend of 3–4 November, fighting between Israel and Egypt had largely ceased.<ref name="Shepherd 1994, p. 118">Shepherd 1994, p. 118</ref> At Cabinet on Sunday 4 November, the Cabinet decided to go ahead with the landings (but hand over to peacekeeping duties to the UN at some future date, an option which Macleod (and Heathcoat Amory) argued was hardly compatible with use of force). The other options had been to postpone by 24 hours in the hope that Israel and Egypt might accept an Anglo-French occupation (a view supported by Butler, Kilmuir, Heathcote Amory and an "unnamed minister", presumed to be Macleod), or postpone indefinitely on the grounds that Israeli-Egyptian hostilities had already ceased (the view of Salisbury, Monckton and Buchan-Hepburn).<ref>Kyle 1991, pp. 428, 442</ref> Only Monckton had his dissent recorded, the others agreeing to accept the decision of the majority.<ref name="Shepherd 1994, p. 118"/>

[[Randolph Churchill]] alleged that Macleod almost resigned on 4 November. Nigel Fisher wrote that this was not so, but that Macleod would have resigned if Butler had done so. [[Robert Carr]], junior minister at the Ministry of Labour, wrote that Macleod had doubts but was not especially morally outraged, and saw no evidence that he planned to resign. [[William Rees-Mogg]] claimed that Butler persuaded Macleod not to resign, while a female friend of Macleod's recorded him turning up at her flat, demanding a drink, and declaring that he would have to resign having learned that Eden had deceived the Cabinet.<ref name="Shepherd 1994, p. 118"/>

Suez alienated academics, journalists and other opinion-formers from the Conservative Party.<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 121</ref> [[William Rees-Mogg]], then a Conservative candidate in the North-East, made a speech urging that Macleod be party leader.  [[David Astor]] of ''[[The Observer]]'', who on 4 November had attacked Eden for "crookedness" in an editorial, wrote to Macleod on 14 November, urging him as a younger minister to seize the party leadership so that collusion could be pinned on Eden and Lloyd, after [[Edward Boyle, Baron Boyle of Handsworth|Edward Boyle]] had told him that he was not interested and that Monckton was not up to it.  Macleod did not reply but showed the letter to Freddie Bishop, head of the Prime Minister's Private Office, and Cabinet Secretary Norman Brook for their comments; Eden, who was on the verge of a breakdown, did not regard the matter as important.  On 20 November 1956 the question of collusion was raised in Cabinet, with Eden and Lloyd (who was in New York at a United Nations meeting) both absent; Shepherd believes that it was probably Macleod who raised it.  The Cabinet agreed to stick to Lloyd's formula that Britain had not ''incited'' the Israeli attack on Egypt.<ref>Shepherd 1994, pp. 119–20</ref>

====1958 bus strike====
When Eden stepped down as prime minister in January 1957, Lord Kilmuir, formally witnessed by [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury|Lord Salisbury]], took a straw poll of the Cabinet to determine his successor; despite his closeness to Butler, Macleod, along with the overwhelming majority of his colleagues, backed [[Harold Macmillan]], regarding him as a stronger leader.<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 120</ref>

Macleod had intended at first to be a reforming Minister of Labour – he attempted, in the teeth of resistance from the [[Trades Union Congress|TUC]], to negotiate a Workers' Charter (a throwback to the [[Industrial Charter]] of the late 1940s) in return for a Contract of Service. He also hoped to take a tougher line with strikes than his predecessor [[Walter Monckton]], whose explicit remit had been to appease the unions. The unions were beginning to become more militant, under the leadership of [[Frank Cousins (British politician)|Frank Cousins]], boss of the [[TGWU]].<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

Macleod had to settle strikes in the shipbuilding and engineering industries in 1957, but in 1958 the government felt able to take a stronger line with the London bus strike.<ref>Pelling 1992, pp. 233–4</ref> Macleod initially accepted his own chief Industrial Commissioner's Investigation into the busmens' case. Macmillan, backed by the Cabinet, insisted on settling a separate railwaymen's strike, despite an arbitration award against them, as it was felt that they had more public sympathy than the busmen. On the bus issue, Macleod was overruled and forced to pick a fight with Frank Cousins on the pretext that they accept an independent arbitration award.<ref name="Jenkins 1993, pp. 40–41">Jenkins 1993, pp. 40–41</ref><ref name="Williams 1979, pp. 462–64">Williams 1979, pp. 462–64</ref>

Macmillan had picked a fight shrewdly, as the busmen had no allies amongst the other unions. [[Ernest Bevin]] or [[Arthur Deakin]] would not have allowed such a strike, but Cousins felt compelled to support it, and Opposition leader [[Hugh Gaitskell]] criticised the government in a speech at Glasgow.<ref name="Williams 1979, pp. 462–64"/> Gaitskell moved a motion of censure over Macleod's treatment of the strike.<ref name="Shepherd 1994, pp. 138–39">Shepherd 1994, pp. 138–39</ref> Macleod had recently demanded more debates on industrial relations but in his Commons speech of 8 May now criticised the opposition for demanding one.<ref name="Williams 1979, pp. 462–64"/> He moved the house to laugh at Gaitskell by quoting the line of "Mr Marx, of whom I am a devoted follower – [[Groucho]], not [[Karl Marx|Karl]]" "Sir, I never forget a face, but I will make an exception for yours". He then moved on to a blistering attack on Gaitskell, including the declaration that "I cannot conceal the scorn and contempt for the part that the Leader of the Opposition has played in this." He was discreetly congratulated afterwards by the Labour frontbencher [[Alf Robens]].<ref name="Shepherd 1994, pp. 138–39"/><ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> [[Roy Jenkins]] in 1993 described Macleod's attack on Gaitskell as "high order jugular debating", accusing Gaitskell of weak leadership in appeasing the militants of his own party and attacking him for refusing to endorse the findings of the arbitration tribunal.<ref name="Jenkins 1993, pp. 40–41"/>

Cousins wanted to call out the petrol tanker drivers, in breach of another agreement, but was blocked from doing so by the TUC. The strike ended after seven weeks, and Macmillan dated the government's recovery in the polls from this point.<ref name="Williams 1979, pp. 462–64"/> After the TUC refused to back him, Cousins had had to settle the London transport workers strike on terms which he could have obtained without striking. In October 1958 Macleod announced that he was letting the National Arbitration Tribunal go out of existence.<ref>Pelling 1992, pp. 233–4</ref> Macleod had acquired a national reputation as a tough figure.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

Macleod was on the Steering Committee to decide on political strategy in the runup to the [[1959 United Kingdom general election|1959 election]], at which the Macmillan government was re-elected.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

===Colonial Secretary===
[[File:Iain Macleod and Julius Nyerere, 1961.png|thumb|upright|left|Macleod and [[Julius Nyerere]] at the Constitutional Conference, Tanganyika, March 1961]]
Macleod was appointed [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]] in October 1959. He had never set foot in any of Britain's colonies, but the [[Hola massacre]] in [[Kenya]] had helped focus his thinking on the inevitable end of Empire. He told Peter Goldman of the Conservative Research Department that he intended to be the {{em|last}} Colonial Secretary, although he later wrote that he "telescoped events rather than creating new ones". He saw [[Nigeria]], [[British Somaliland]], [[Tanganyika (1961–1964)|Tanganyika]], [[Sierra Leone]], [[Kuwait]] and [[British Cameroon]] become independent. He made a tour of [[Sub-Saharan Africa]] in 1960. He would often find himself in conflict with the more conservative [[Duncan Sandys]], whom Macmillan had appointed [[Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations|Commonwealth Secretary]] as a counterweight to Macleod. Although Macmillan sympathised with Macleod's aspirations, he was sometimes disturbed at the speed with which he progressed matters, and did not always come down on his side in political disputes.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

The state of emergency in Kenya was lifted on 12 January 1960, followed that same month by the [[Lancaster House Conferences (Kenya)|Lancaster House Conference]], containing Africans and ''some'' European delegates, including Macleod's brother Rhoderick, which agreed to a constitution and eventual black majority rule. [[Jomo Kenyatta]] was freed in August 1961, and Kenya later became self-governing in June 1963 and fully independent on 12 December 1963.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

As the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Macleod attended the [[Ugandan Constitutional Conference]] at [[Lancaster House]] in 1961 alongside then-Governor of Uganda [[Sir Frederick Crawford]] and Ugandan politician [[A. G. Mehta]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=David.|first=Mukholi|title=A complete guide to Uganda's Fourth Constitution : history, politics, and the law|date=1995|publisher=Fountain Publishers|oclc=988737164}}</ref> The conference resulted in the first [[Constitution of Uganda|Ugandan Constitution]], which took effect on 9 October 1962.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Uganda Constitutional Conference, 1961|url=https://www.newvision.co.ug/articledetails/1437232|access-date=|website=New Vision|language=en}}</ref>

In [[Nyasaland]] (later [[Malawi]]), he pushed for the release of [[Hastings Banda]], contrary to the advice of the Governor and of other politicians. He had to threaten resignation in the Cabinet to get his own way, but won Macmillan round and Banda was released in April 1960 and almost immediately invited to London for talks aimed at bringing about independence.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> During a visit to Nyasaland in 1960, he is described as having been "gratuitously and grossly offensive, extremely rude and downright unpleasant at a meeting with the Governor, the provincial commissioners and senior police officers". On the following day, according to the same report, he "lost control of himself, shouted at the non-official members of Executive Council and told one of them to 'mind his own bloody business'".<ref>Sir [[Glyn Smallwood Jones|Glyn Jones]], A Proconsul in Africa, by Colin Baker, pub. I. B. Tauris, London, 2000, p.69</ref> Elections were held in August 1961, and by 1962, the British and the [[Central African Federation]] cabinets had agreed that Nyasaland should be allowed to secede from the CAF; Banda was formally recognised as prime minister on 1 February 1963.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

Macleod described his policy over [[Northern Rhodesia]] (modern [[Zambia]]) as "incredibly devious and tortuous" but "easily the one I am most proud of". Macleod's initial plan for a Legislative Council with an African majority (16 African members to 14 Europeans) was strongly opposed by [[Roy Welensky|Sir Roy Welensky]], Prime Minister of the Central African Federation. After a long battle in the first half of 1961, and under pressure from cabinet colleagues, Macleod accepted Welensky's proposal for a council of 45 members, 15 of whom would be elected by a largely African electoral roll, 15 by a largely European roll, 14 by both rolls jointly (with a further stipulation that successful candidates had to gain at least 10% of the African votes and 10% of the European ones) and 1 by Asians.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> Macleod's role in these negotiations attracted damaging and much-remembered criticism by the party grandee, the Marquess of Salisbury, who had resigned from a senior position in the Cabinet over Cyprus in 1957. In a speech in the House of Lords on 7 March 1961, Salisbury denounced Macleod as "too clever by half" and accused him of bridge-table trickery.<ref name="Sandford 2005, pp. 285"/><ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> The new constitution, which was equally disliked by both Africans and Europeans, helped to weaken the Central African Federation, which was later wound up by Rab Butler at the Victoria Falls Conference on 5 July 1963.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

The burden of hospitality left Macleod seriously out of pocket. However, hospitality helped achieve a deal with [[Julius Nyerere]], Prime Minister of self-governing [[Tanganyika (1961–1964)|Tanganyika]]. Macleod was keen to point to a colony which was able to proceed peacefully to independence. [[Tanzania]], as it was renamed, became fully independent in December 1961.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

Macleod had no time to take any interest in the Pacific, South Arabia (modern-day Yemen and Oman), or the Mediterranean. He never met the Maltese leader [[Dom Mintoff]]. He described his lack of interest in the Caribbean Federation as "my main area of failure".<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> In his final party conference speech as Colonial Secretary, in October 1961, he declared that "I believe quite simply in the brotherhood of man – men of all races, of all colours, of all creeds".<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

Welensky accused Macleod of a "mixture of cold calculation, sudden gushes of undignified emotion and ignorance of Africa".<ref>Jenkins 1993, p. 44</ref> Historian [[Wm. Roger Louis]] wrote that "Macleod was to Africa as [[Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma|Mountbatten]] had been to India". [[Vernon Bogdanor]] has called him the greatest of Britain's colonial secretaries apart from [[Joseph Chamberlain]].<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

During his period as Colonial Secretary, Macleod ordered the systematic destruction of [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office migrated archives|colonial papers and evidence]] detailing criminal acts committed during the 1940s and 1950s, for fear that they would fall into the hands of post-independence governments. This was done partly to avoid potential embarrassment to Britain, and partly to protect natives who had cooperated with the British. Many documents related to the brutal suppression of the [[Mau Mau Uprising]] in Kenya.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Ian|first=Cobain|date=18 April 2012|title=Britain destroyed records of colonial crimes|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/apr/18/britain-destroyed-records-colonial-crimes?|access-date=11 June 2020}}</ref>

===Books===
In 1961, Macleod published a sympathetic biography of former prime minister [[Neville Chamberlain]], whose reputation then stood at a very low ebb because of recent memories of the [[Munich Agreement]]. The book was largely ghostwritten by Peter Goldman, whose own promising political career would be aborted when he lost the [[1962 Orpington by-election|Orpington by-election]] the following year.<ref>Grigg 2002, p. 212</ref> Macleod was most interested in social policy and had most input into the parts up to 1931, including Chamberlain's time as Lord Mayor of Birmingham and as Minister of Health.<ref name="Shepherd 1994, pp. 270–72">Shepherd 1994, pp. 270–72</ref> It had been intended as a potboiler to earn money for his daughter's social season, and Macleod had been reluctant to read seven boxes of papers from Chamberlain's sister Hilda (Chamberlain's letters to whom are an important primary source); it added little to the portrait painted by his official biographer [[Keith Feiling]].<ref>Dutton 2001, pp. 141–42</ref>

Macleod used government papers in breach of the "[[Fifty-year rule]]" then in operation. [[Cabinet Secretary (United Kingdom)|Cabinet Secretary]] Sir [[Norman Brook]] persuaded the Prime Minister to demand amendments to conceal the degree of Cabinet involvement in the [[Abdication of Edward VIII|abdication]] of [[King Edward VIII]] (who was still alive in 1961) and the degree to which the civil servants [[Horace Wilson (civil servant)|Horace Wilson]] and [[Warren Fisher (civil servant)|Warren Fisher]] had demanded that the former King "reorder his private life" afterwards.<ref name="Shepherd 1994, pp. 270–72"/> Former prime minister [[Anthony Eden|Lord Avon]], who cherished his (somewhat exaggerated) reputation as an opponent of "appeasement", complained that such a book by a serving Cabinet Minister might be thought to express official sympathy for Chamberlain's policies. Downing Street had to brief the press that Macleod had written purely in a personal capacity; Shepherd suggests that Macleod's loss of favour with Macmillan, who had also been an opponent of appeasement, was accelerated by this episode.<ref name="Shepherd 1994, pp. 270–72"/> [[Robert Blake, Baron Blake|Robert Blake]] wrote in his review in ''[[The Times]]'' (26 November 1961) that "when national security is at stake one does not judge a statesman by his successes at [[Slum clearance in the United Kingdom|slum clearance]]".<ref>Dutton 2001, p.7</ref> Macleod later told [[Alan Watkins]] (in ''"Brief Lives"'' 1982) "It was a bad book. I made a great mistake in writing it. It made me no money, and it has done me a lot of harm". Watkins conceded that the book "had been grudgingly and meanly reviewed".<ref name="Shepherd 1994, pp. 270–72"/> The book "sold poorly and was soon forgotten".<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

Macleod contracted to write a second book (due for September 1962, but postponed), called ''The Last Rung'', on leading politicians who had failed to achieve prime ministerial office despite being widely expected to do so. He completed chapters on [[Austen Chamberlain]], [[Lord Curzon]] and [[Lord Halifax]], and planned to write a chapter about [[Rab Butler]].<ref name="Shepherd 1994, pp. 270–72"/>

=== Leader of the House and Party Chairman, 1961–63 ===
In October 1961, to appease Conservative right-wingers and dampen down an area of political controversy, Macmillan replaced Macleod as Colonial Secretary with Reginald Maudling, a much more emollient figure. Macleod replaced his old mentor Rab Butler as Leader of the House of Commons and Chairman of the Conservative Party organisation. There was something of a conflict of interest between these two jobs as the former, which Butler would have liked to retain, required its incumbent to retain good professional relations with the Labour Party so as to keep the Parliamentary timetable running smoothly, whereas the latter required him to play a leading role in partisan campaigning.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> In order that he could have a salary he was also given the [[sinecure]] post of [[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]], a less prestigious office than the other sinecures of [[Lord Privy Seal]] or [[Lord President of the Council]].<ref name="Jenkins 1993, p. 45">Jenkins 1993, p. 45</ref>

Macleod's party chairmanship coincided with Selwyn Lloyd's tight economic policies, and poor by-election results, most notably [[1962 Orpington by-election|Orpington in March 1962]]. He impressed on Macmillan the need for a major reshuffle in 1962,<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> and recommended the dismissal of Selwyn Lloyd from the Exchequer<ref name="Dell 1997, pp. 373–75">Dell 1997, pp. 373–75</ref> although he did not have in mind anything as drastic as the "[[Night of the Long Knives (1962)|Night of the Long Knives]]" in which Macmillan sacked a third of his Cabinet. With the political scandals of 1962–63 ([[Vassall Tribunal|Vassall]], [[Profumo Scandal|Profumo]]) the Conservatives sank ever lower in the opinion polls.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

===Conservative leadership contest, 1963===
[[Harold Macmillan]] resigned as prime minister in October 1963. Despite Macleod's ability, as a result of his difficult term as Party Chairman, and memories of his time as Colonial Secretary, he was not a realistic candidate for the succession.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

Macleod believed that the Earl of Home (later Sir [[Alec Douglas-Home]] after he had [[Peerage Act 1963|disclaimed]] his peerage) had behaved with less than complete honesty. He had initially appeared to rule himself out and had offered to help sample Cabinet opinion, before announcing his own candidacy. Macleod did not initially take Home's candidacy seriously, and did not realise the degree to which Macmillan was promoting it.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> When first told by his [[Parliamentary Private Secretary|PPS]] [[Reginald Bennett]] that Home might be a candidate for the succession, Macleod snapped "Don't talk nonsense" and "absolute rot; it's not a possibility."<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 315</ref> Macleod gave his usual excellent conference speech at Blackpool on 11 October, unlike Maudling and Butler, who damaged their leadership chances by giving poor speeches, but Home's leadership bandwagon grew despite a mediocre but rapturously received speech.<ref name="Jenkins 1993, p. 45"/>

When the results of the "customary processes" became known on 17 October (the "key day" as Macleod later called it), Macleod was, along with Enoch Powell, [[Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone|Lord Hailsham]] and [[Reginald Maudling]], angered at the supposed choice of Home.<ref name="Shepherd 1994, pp. 326–27">Shepherd 1994, pp. 326–27</ref> Macleod thought the new prime minister should be a "moderniser", with views on the liberal wing of the party, and in the House of Commons.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> They attempted in vain to persuade Butler, Macmillan's deputy (who Macleod had assumed would succeed him) not to serve in any Home cabinet, in the hope that this would prevent Home from forming a government. Macleod and Powell eventually refused to serve under Home as prime minister.<ref name="Shepherd 1994, pp. 326–27"/> He wrote of Enoch Powell's decision not to serve "One does not expect to have many people with one in the last ditch".<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

[[Reginald Manningham-Buller, 1st Viscount Dilhorne|Lord Dilhorne]], who had polled the Cabinet for their preferences, had listed Macleod as "voting" for Home. Some have seen this as a mistake, others as evidence that the consultation process was heavily rigged (i.e. that anybody who expressed the slightest willingness to serve under Home as a compromise if necessary was listed as "supporting" him). Macmillan's official biographer [[Alistair Horne]] believed that Macleod's description of 17 October as "the key day" is evidence that he "changed his mind", having not previously had a particularly firm opinion. Macmillan's view was "well, you know … Macleod was a Highlander!" Others (e.g. Macmillan's biographer [[D. R. Thorpe]]) have suggested that Macleod actually ''did'' express a tactical preference for Home, in the hope of bringing about a deadlock in which he would enjoy bargaining power, or perhaps even become prime minister himself, and that his subsequent anger was a result of guilt that he had helped to bring about a Home "victory".<ref name="Shepherd 1994, pp. 326–27"/>

Butler himself observed that "Macleod was very shifty, much more so than you think". [[Nigel Lawson]], later to succeed Macleod as editor of ''The Spectator'', believed Macleod was "too clever by three quarters". "His petulant refusal to serve under Home and the extended explanation he gave for it both deprived the government of its most effective political street fighter and undermined the new prime minister's legitimacy" (''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', 3 October 2004).<ref name="Thorpe 2010, pp. 574–76">Thorpe 2010, pp. 574–76</ref> However, [[Toby Low, 1st Baron Aldington|Lord Aldington]], [[David Eccles, 1st Viscount Eccles|David Eccles]], [[Michael Fraser, Baron Fraser of Kilmorack|Sir Michael Fraser]] and Eve Macleod all rejected this interpretation of Macleod's actions. [[Ian Gilmour]] argues that Macleod's subsequent refusal to serve under Home makes it "inconceivable" that he had voted for him.<ref name="Shepherd 1994, pp. 326–27"/>

Macleod's daughter Diana nearly died from appendicitis in October 1963, and it has been suggested that this may have affected his judgement.<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 308</ref><ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> Nigel Fisher believed that Macleod had "some inner sourness" in 1963, attributable only in part to his daughter's serious illness, and largely to the fact that he himself was not being considered as a candidate. Roy Jenkins concurs.<ref name="Jenkins 1993, p. 45"/>

Had he become prime minister, Butler had planned to make Macleod Chancellor of the Exchequer and had discussed the names of economists who could be asked to advise.<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 317</ref> Butler later wrote "I cannot help thinking that a man who always held all the bridge scores in his head, who seemed to know all the numbers, and played [[Vingt-et-un]] so successfully would have been useful".<ref name="Dell 1997, pp. 373–75"/>

===''The Spectator''===
[[Ian Gilmour]] appointed him editor of ''[[The Spectator]]''. He wrote his own weekly column under the pseudonym of "Quoodle" and also sometimes wrote signed articles complaining about what the [[ODNB]] describes as his "pet hates" such as [[Harold Wilson]] or the BBC. He tolerated a range of political opinions amongst his journalists, including [[Alan Watkins]].<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

On 17 January 1964 Macleod published a candid account of the 1963 party leadership contest, claiming that it was a conspiracy by an Etonian "magic circle".<ref name="macleod19640117">{{Cite magazine |last=Macleod |first=Iain |date=1964-01-17 |title=The Tory Leadership |url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/17th-january-1964/5/the-tory-leadership |magazine=The Spectator |pages=5–7 |access-date=2020-11-17}}</ref><ref name=vernon>{{cite news|url=http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9116411/the-book-review-that-brought-down-a-government/|title=The Spectator book review that brought down Macmillan's government|author=Vernon Bogdanor|work=The Spectator|date=18 January 2014|access-date=30 June 2014}}</ref> Macleod's article was written as a review of a book by [[Randolph Churchill]], which he described as "Mr Macmillan's trailer for the screenplay of his memoirs".<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 320</ref> In his posthumously published book ''The Art of Memory'' (April 1982) Butler wrote that "every word" of the ''"Spectator"'' article "is true".<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 360</ref> Ian Gilmour also suggests that Dilhorne's refusal to speak out against Macleod in January 1964, when Macleod's credibility was at a low ebb, is strong evidence that Dilhorne knew his figures to be suspect.<ref name="Shepherd 1994, pp. 326–27"/>

Macmillan's biographer D. R. Thorpe does not accept Macleod's analysis, arguing that Home was well ahead of Butler in Cabinet preferences if Dilhorne's official figures are to be believed (although he accepts that Edward Boyle's preference was misrecorded as being for Home rather than Butler), and also criticises Macleod for only taking the preferences of the Cabinet into account, not those of junior ministers and backbenchers who were also polled.<ref name="Thorpe 2010, pp. 574–76"/>

After the ''Spectator'' article Macleod was censured by 15 votes to 14 (with 7 abstentions) by his local Conservative Association Executive Committee,<ref name="Shepherd 1994, p. 363">Shepherd 1994, p. 363</ref><ref name="Jenkins 1993, p. 47">Jenkins 1993, p. 47</ref> but survived a No Confidence vote by 29 votes to 7. [[Peregrine Worsthorne]] attacked him as a social climber who had done his best to climb into the class at which he now sneered (e.g. by becoming a member of White's Club), but his biographer comments that a Conservative politician of that era had little option but to play the game by those social rules, and that Macleod had regarded himself as "commander class" since his time at Staff College during the war.<ref name="Shepherd 1994, p. 363"/> Colleagues "cut" Macleod in the House of Commons after the article and the affair permanently damaged his chances of becoming leader.<ref name="Thorpe 2010, pp. 574–76"/> Macmillan later advised Home, if asked why the Conservatives could not find a prime minister in the Commons and had had to appoint a Lord, to retort that ''"The Spectator"'' could not find an editor from amongst the journalists' profession and had instead had to appoint Iain Macleod.<ref name="Thorpe 2010, pp. 574–76"/>

On the twentieth anniversary of D-Day Macleod wrote a ''Spectator'' article about his experiences (5 June 1964).<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

Macleod also became a non-executive director of [[Lombard North Central|Lombards Bank]], which allowed him a chauffeur-driven car, which he needed as his spinal disability—he was increasingly unable to move his back or neck—meant that he was no longer able to drive.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> Roy Jenkins recalled him arriving at Parliament and stepping out of his large car "like a discontented gnome" stepping out a "golden coach".<ref>Jenkins 1993, p. 46</ref>

===Shadow Chancellor===
Macleod returned to the shadow cabinet under Home following the [[1964 United Kingdom general election|1964 election]]. His remit of opposing steel nationalisation came to naught as given his tiny majority Labour Prime Minister [[Harold Wilson]] did not proceed with this measure.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> Macleod's speech opposing steel nationalisation had been trailed as his comeback to frontline politics, but in the event was a damp squib. Nigel Fisher wrote that it was the only really bad speech of his career.<ref name="Jenkins 1993, p. 47"/> Macleod did not contest the [[1965 Conservative Party leadership election|first ever Conservative Party leadership election in 1965]], but backed Edward Heath, whom he did not particularly like but thought would be a better leader than [[Reginald Maudling|Maudling]]. He expected to have received 40–45 votes had he stood.<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 400</ref>

The coinage of the word "[[stagflation]]" is attributed to him. Speaking in the House of Commons on 17 November 1965, he said: "We now have the worst of both worlds — not just inflation on the one side or stagnation on the other, but both of them together. We have a sort of 'stagflation' situation. And history, in modern terms, is indeed being made."<ref>Iain Macleod. [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1965/nov/17/economic-affairs#column_1165 Column 1165]. "Economic Affairs". House of Commons Debate 17 November 1965. ''[[Hansard]]''. Volume 720. Columns 1155–284. Retrieved 7 October 2009.</ref>

Macleod opposed the death penalty and supported legalisation of abortion and homosexuality; this did not help his acceptance by the more right-wing elements of his own party at the time. Macleod established good personal relations with several of his Labour opposite numbers, including both Bevan and [[James Callaghan]], even though he clashed with Callaghan numerous times at the [[despatch box]] while serving as Shadow Chancellor in the 1960s (by contrast, he did not get on with Callaghan's successor as chancellor, [[Roy Jenkins]], considering him vain and arrogant).<ref>Shepherd 1994, pp. 454–55</ref>

As Shadow Chancellor he concentrated on tax reform.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> Jenkins, Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time, wrote that he was never intimidated by him, and that Macleod concentrated on opposition rather than constructive proposals. Macleod planned to abolish [[Selective Employment Tax]] and to cut personal income tax, but not to increase indirect taxes, trusting that economic growth would make up the shortfall in revenue. He proposed a national lottery then opposed Jenkins when he proposed one; on another occasion he required Conservative MPs, to the irritation of some of them, to walk out of a select committee meeting in protest.<ref>Jenkins 1993, pp. 36, 47–48</ref> Jenkins later recorded that Macleod was not "an amiable "shadow" ... no doubt he was in pain ... Perhaps he also had a premonition that time was running out for him."<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

As Shadow Chancellor in 1967 Iain Macleod helped to found the homeless charity [[Crisis (charity)|Crisis]].<ref>[http://www.crisis.org.uk/pages/crisis-history.html "Crisis history"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091007200641/http://www.crisis.org.uk/pages/crisis-history.html |date=7 October 2009 }}. Crisis (crisis.org.uk).</ref> In 1968 Macleod defied a decision of the Shadow Cabinet by voting against the Labour Government's [[Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968|Commonwealth Immigration Bill]], believing it to be a breach of promises made by the Conservative Government to the Kenyan Asians.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> He fell out with his former friend Enoch Powell over the latter's 1968 [[Rivers of Blood speech]], after which Macleod refused to speak to Powell again. Macleod's subsequent dealings with him were, Powell said, as if he was a pariah though Macleod 'knew what I said was not motivated by what is crudely called racialism, but he behaved as if he did not know'.<ref>Simon Heffer, ''Like the Roman: The Life of Enoch Powell'' (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1998), p. 457.</ref> Powell's speech generated huge public support and Macleod was horrified at the open racism of many of the members of the public who wrote to him on the topic, likening them to the disgusting creatures which are revealed when one overturns a stone.<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 501</ref>

During this period Macleod was noted for his attacks on Wilson. He used to refer to Wilson as "the little man" even though Wilson was actually slightly taller than him. Some of Wilson's entourage used to refer to Macleod as "the poison dwarf" but Wilson had, in the words of Macleod's biographer, a "wary respect" for him.<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 356</ref> In the late 1960s he attacked Wilson in a public speech for accusing the Conservatives of being unpatriotic.<ref>Shepherd 1994, pp. 516–17</ref> He called Wilson "a man whose vision is limited to tomorrow's headline" and, in an oft-quoted line, that whereas [[President Kennedy]] had called himself "an idealist without illusions" Wilson was "an illusionist without ideals".<ref>Jenkins 1993, p. 48</ref>

On 14 May 1970, in the House of Commons just before the [[1970 United Kingdom general election|General Election]], when Wilson claimed that Conservative transport policies might result in an increase in children's road deaths (Labour had recently introduced the [[breathalyzer]]), he attacked him for trying to make political capital from such a topic, and was rebuked by the Speaker for shouting abuse (the exact words are not recorded in ''[[Hansard]]''; according to another MP he shouted "swine!") at Wilson across the despatch box.<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 520</ref>

===Chancellor of the Exchequer and death===
[[File:Iain Macleod.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Macleod campaigning in 1970]]
On 20 June 1970, two days after the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party's]] [[1970 United Kingdom general election|unexpected election victory]], Macleod was appointed [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] by the new prime minister, Heath.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=45137 |date=26 June 1970 |page=7103}}</ref> Despite being in pain, he made his one and only major speech on the economy as chancellor on 7 July 1970.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> In the speech Macleod bemoaned the high level of inflation and, at the same time, the highest level of unemployment since 1940.<ref name="Dell 1997, pp. 373–75"/> Later that day he was rushed to hospital with what was thought at first to be [[appendicitis]], but was in fact a pelvic [[diverticulum]];<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 553</ref> He was discharged 11 days later. At 10.30&nbsp;pm on 20 July, while in [[11 Downing Street]], he suffered a heart attack and died at 11.35&nbsp;pm.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

There seems little doubt that Macleod's wartime injury had combined with his smoking and overwork to shorten his life. Newspaper boss [[Cecil Harmsworth King|Cecil King]] wrote in ''The Cecil King Diary 1970–1974'' that Macleod had been stricken during the 1960s by terminal cancer which had begun to affect his spine. However, Macleod's own doctor, a Dr Forster, said there was no evidence that Macleod was suffering from cancer at the time of his death. At the [[1970 Enfield West by-election|subsequent by-election]], Macleod was succeeded by [[Cecil Parkinson]].

Macleod relied on [[Peter Walker, Baron Walker of Worcester|Peter Walker]] for advice; Walker described him as not "at ease on economics". He planned to hold down nationalised industry prices in an attempt to control inflation.<ref name="Dell 1997, pp. 373–75"/> Macleod bequeathed his successors a detailed plan for tax reform, much of which was put into action. He also left behind him an outline budget which some observers found surprisingly [[hard-line]] in its proposals for control of [[public spending]]. This included the proposal to abolish [[Education Act 1944#free school milk|free school milk]] in primary schools, which new [[Secretary of State for Education and Skills#Secretary of State for Education and Science|Education Secretary]] and future prime minister, [[Margaret Thatcher]] was able to partially reverse, reaching the compromise of only applying the cut to older primary school children; even so, she would come to be known as "Margaret Thatcher, Milk Snatcher".<ref>{{cite magazine| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,905853,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100419181722/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,905853,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=19 April 2010 | magazine=TIME | title=Education: The Milk Snatcher | date=28 February 1972}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/7932963/How-Margaret-Thatcher-became-known-as-Milk-Snatcher.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100827031631/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/7932963/How-Margaret-Thatcher-became-known-as-Milk-Snatcher.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=27 August 2010 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph | first=Rebecca | last=Smith | title=How Margaret Thatcher became known as 'Milk Snatcher' | date=8 August 2010}}</ref>

His death was a blow to the Heath government. [[Robert Carr]] described him as "our trumpeter … any government needs a great trumpeter."<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> Edmund Dell wrote: "His death was a tragedy for the Conservative Party and possibly for the country. He was a man of considerable intellectual brilliance and one of the finest debaters in the House of Commons. He was the first professional gambler to become Chancellor…"<ref name="Dell 1997, pp. 373–75"/> His successor [[Anthony Barber]] was much less of a political heavyweight, and Heath was able to dictate economic policy.<ref name="Dell 1997, pp. 373–75"/>

His opponent, Roy Jenkins, believed that he would not have been a great chancellor – with youthful memories of the unemployment of the 1930s and adult experience of the lower levels of the postwar era, Macleod thought unemployment higher than 300,000 was too high, and so would have had trouble adjusting to the new economic realities of the 1970s – but still would have been a better chancellor than Barber. He was already ill and old for his years, so would probably not have succeeded Heath as party leader, but might have prevented [[1975 Conservative Party leadership election|Thatcher from doing so]].<ref>Jenkins 1993, p. 49</ref>

==Oratory, personality and political views==
Many Conservative politicians of generations following Macleod recalled him as a highly effective speaker. His bald head and piercing gaze gave him a striking physical presence, and he was one of the most powerful platform speakers of his generation, in the league of Churchill or Aneurin Bevan. He was also a superb negotiator with a grasp of detail.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> Never one to suffer fools, by middle age his disability made him very short-tempered and impatient with people.<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 47</ref>

His political opponent Roy Jenkins later wrote that Macleod seemed to prefer to focus his attacks on more moderate Labour figures who might dispute the ownership of the centre ground with him. He wrote that Macleod had "some quality of self-destructiveness in him".<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> He wrote that there was a "calculated coldness" about his partisan attacks.<ref>Jenkins 1993, p. 40</ref> Jenkins wrote that Macleod had "a darting crossword-puzzle mind fortified by a phenomenal memory" adding that "I am not convinced that he was a particularly nice man, but he had insight and insolence". Jenkins likens him to [[Benjamin Disraeli]] or to [[George Canning]], who by attracting the admiration of a clique of younger men left a legend out of all proportion to their actual achievements.<ref>Jenkins 1993, p. 35</ref>

He commented about Labour parliamentarians under [[Hugh Gaitskell]] (opposition leader 1955–63) that, when offered their choice of weapons, they invariably chose boomerangs. It is said{{by whom |date=September 2016}} that Macleod was the only Conservative debater whom Harold Wilson, Gaitskell's successor as Labour leader, was afraid of. Wilson declared "they'll never have the sense to choose him [as leader]."<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> He compared Wilson to a kipper, which has two faces. [[John Major]] specifically cited Macleod's example on taking office.

Macleod believed that his political views were a mixture of those of his Liberal father and Conservative mother.<ref>Shepherd 1994, pp. 7–8</ref> He almost always called himself a "Tory" rather than a "Conservative". He believed in equality of opportunity rather than of outcome, and wrote that his ideal was "to see that men had an equal chance to make themselves unequal".<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

He is credited with inventing the term "the [[nanny state]]".<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/><ref>[http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/3rd-december-1965/11/70-mph ''70 m.p.h.''], ''[[The Spectator]]'', 3 December 1965, page 11</ref>

==Family==
[[File:Gargrave churchyard.jpg|thumb|Plaque in [[Gargrave]] churchyard]]
Macleod met [[Evelyn Macleod, Baroness Macleod of Borve|Evelyn Hester Mason]], ''née'' Blois, (1915–1999) in September 1939 whilst he was waiting to be called up for army service and she interviewed him for a job as an ambulance driver.<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 25</ref> Evelyn was daughter of Rev. Gervase Vanneck Blois, rector of [[Hanbury, Worcestershire]] – himself son of [[Blois_baronets#Blois_baronets,_of_Grundisburgh_and_Cockfield_Hall_(1686)|Sir John Blois, 8th Baronet]]- and his wife Hester, whose father was [[Baron_Hampton#Baron_Hampton_(1874)|Herbert Pakington, 3rd Baron Hampton]].<ref>Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 1, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 402</ref> [[Alan Watkins]], in ''Brief Lives'' (1982) observed in his portrait of Macleod that he "was always quite proud of his wife's comparatively exalted social connection"<ref>Brief Lives with some memoirs, Alan Watkins, Hamish Hamilton, 1982, pp. 111- 112</ref> After her first husband was killed in the war, they married on 25 January 1941. The Macleods had a son and a daughter, Torquil and Diana, who were born in 1942 and 1944 respectively.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> They had a somewhat stormy marriage in which they retained a strong bond despite Macleod conducting a number of what his biographer describes as "romances" with other women (he quotes love letters written by Macleod but does not specifically say they went as far as sexual affairs). As was common for MPs' wives of the era, Eve looked after constituency matters whilst her husband concentrated on his career at Westminster.<ref>Shepherd 1994, p. 104</ref>

Evelyn Macleod was struck down in June 1952 with [[meningitis]] and [[polio]], but subsequently managed to walk again with the aid of sticks and worked hard to support her husband's career. After her husband's death she accepted a peerage in 1971 and took her seat in the [[House of Lords]] as Baroness Macleod of Borve.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/> Macleod's daughter Diana Heimann was a [[UK Independence Party]] candidate at [[Banbury (UK Parliament constituency)|Banbury]] in the [[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005 general election]].

Macleod is buried in the churchyard of [[Gargrave]] Church in [[North Yorkshire]], near his mother who had died seven weeks earlier.<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/>

His estate was valued for probate at £18,201 (around £250,000 at 2016 prices).<ref name="Matthew 2004, pp. 810–16"/><ref name="measuringworth.com"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* The Macleods – The Genealogy of a Clan, Section Four by Alick Morrison, M.A., by Associated Clan Macleod Societies, Edinburgh, 1974
* The MacLeods – The Genealogy of a Clan, Section Four by The Late Major Loudoun Hector Davenport MacLeod, RM, 1988
* {{cite book|last1=Dell|first1=Edmund|author-link1=Edmund Dell|year=1997|title=The Chancellors: A History of the Chancellors of the Exchequer, 1945–90|location=London|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-006-38418-2}}
* {{cite book |last = Dutton |first = David|year = 2001|title = Neville Chamberlain (Reputations) | publisher = Hodder Arnold| isbn = 978-0-340-70627-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Goldsworthy |first=David |chapter=Macleod, Iain Norman |editor-last = Matthew|editor-first = Colin| editor-link = Colin Matthew| year = 2004| title = Dictionary of National Biography|volume = 35| location = Oxford| publisher = Oxford University Press| isbn = 978-0198614111}}
* Grigg ''Lloyd George: War Leader '' (Allen Lane, London, 2002) {{ISBN|0-7139-9343-X}}
* {{cite book |last = Kyle |first = Keith|year = 2011|orig-year = 1991|title = Suez: Britain's End of Empire in the Middle East | publisher = I B Tauris| isbn = 978-1-448-20321-5}}
* {{cite book |last = Jenkins |first = Roy|year = 2012|orig-year = 1993|title = Portraits and Miniatures | publisher = Bloomsbury| isbn = 978-1-848-85533-5}}
* {{cite book|last1=Pelling|first1=Henry|author-link1=Henry Pelling|year=1992|orig-date=1963|title= A History of British Trade Unionism |location=London|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-0-14-013640-1}}
* {{cite book |last = Shepherd |first = Robert|year = 1994|title = Iain Macleod | publisher = Hutchinson| isbn = 978-0-091-78567-3}}
* {{cite book|last = Thorpe|first = D. R.| author-link = D. R. Thorpe|year = 2010|title = Supermac: The Life of Harold Macmillan|edition = Kindle|location = London|publisher = Chatto & Windus|isbn = 978-1844135417}}
* {{cite book|last = Williams|first = Philip Maynard| year = 1985|orig-year=1979|title = Hugh Gaitskell|location = London|publisher = Jonathan Cape Ltd|isbn = 978-0-224-01451-9}}

==External links==
*[http://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_M01.html#Macleod_IN British Army Officers 1939−1945]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140530003340/http://www.totalpolitics.com/history/363527/the-tragic-loss-of-iain-macleod.thtml "The tragic loss of Iain Macleod"], [[Douglas Hurd]], ''[[Total Politics]]'', 21 February 2013
{{Commons category}}
*{{Hansard-contribs | mr-iain-macleod | Iain Macleod }}

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