The Minister of Supply was the minister in the British Government responsible for the Ministry of Supply, which existed to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to the national armed forces. The position was campaigned for by many sceptics of the foreign policy of the National Government

UK National Government

In the United Kingdom the term National Government is an abstract concept referring to a coalition of some or all major political parties. In a historical sense it usually refers primarily to the governments of Ramsay MacDonald, Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain which held office from 1931...

 in the 1930s before finally being created in 1939.

In the post-war governments, the Ministry became increasingly unpopular with economy-minded Conservatives, who objected to it as a redundant middle-man. This point of view was shared by Reginald Maudling

Reginald Maudling

Reginald Maudling was a British politician who held several Cabinet posts, including Chancellor of the Exchequer. He had been spoken of as a prospective Conservative leader since 1955, and was twice seriously considered for the post; he was Edward Heath's chief rival in 1965...

, who served as the Minister under Anthony Eden

Anthony Eden

Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, KG, MC, PC was a British Conservative politician, who was Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957...

 and refused to continue in office under Harold Macmillan

Harold Macmillan

Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC was Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....

; unfortunately for Maudling, Macmillan had served in a junior role in the Ministry and believed in it. Nevertheless, he agreed to wind up the Ministry in 1959.

Minister of Supply 1939-1959

Name		Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Political party
	Leslie Burgin Leslie Burgin Edward Leslie Burgin was a British Liberal and later Liberal National politician in the 1930s.Burgin trained as a solicitor specialising in international law and served as principal and director of legal studies to the Law Society...		14 July 1939	12 May 1940	Liberal National National Liberal Party (UK, 1931) The National Liberal Party, known until 1948 as the Liberal National Party, was a liberal political party in the United Kingdom from 1931 to 1968...
	Herbert Stanley Morrison Herbert Morrison Herbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth, CH, PC was a British Labour politician; he held a various number of senior positions in the Cabinet, including Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister.-Early life:Morrison was the son of a police constable and was born in...		12 May 1940	3 October 1940	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	Sir Andrew Duncan		3 October 1940	29 June 1941	National
	Lord Beaverbrook Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook William Maxwell "Max" Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, Bt, PC, was a Canadian-British business tycoon, politician, and writer.-Early career in Canada:...		29 June 1941	4 February 1942	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
	Sir Andrew Duncan		4 February 1942	26 July 1945	National
	John Wilmot John Wilmot, 1st Baron Wilmot of Selmeston John Charles Wilmot, 1st Baron Wilmot of Selmeston PC was a British Labour Party politician. He served under Clement Attlee as Minister of Aircraft Production from 1945 to 1946 and as Minister of Supply from 1945 to 1947....		3 August 1945	7 October 1947	Labour
	George Strauss George Strauss George Russell Strauss, Baron Strauss PC was a long-serving British Labour Party politician, who was a Member of Parliament for 46 years and was Father of the House of Commons from 1974 to 1979....		7 October 1947	26 October 1951	Labour
	Duncan Sandys Duncan Sandys Edwin Duncan Sandys, Baron Duncan-Sandys CH PC was a British politician and a minister in successive Conservative governments in the 1950s and 1960s...		31 October 1951	18 October 1954	Conservative
	Selwyn Lloyd Selwyn Lloyd John Selwyn Brooke Lloyd, Baron Selwyn-Lloyd CH PC CBE TD , known for most of his career as Selwyn Lloyd, was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Foreign Secretary from 1955 to 1960, then as Chancellor of the Exchequer until 1962...		18 October 1954	7 April 1955	Conservative
	Reginald Maudling Reginald Maudling Reginald Maudling was a British politician who held several Cabinet posts, including Chancellor of the Exchequer. He had been spoken of as a prospective Conservative leader since 1955, and was twice seriously considered for the post; he was Edward Heath's chief rival in 1965...		7 April 1955	16 January 1957	Conservative
	Aubrey Jones Aubrey Jones Aubrey Jones was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom.At the 1950 general election, he was elected as the first Member of Parliament for the new constituency of Birmingham Hall Green. He was Minister of Fuel and Power from 1955 to 1957, and the last Minister of Supply from 1957...		16 January 1957	22 October 1959	Conservative