ENGLISH CHANCELLOR OF EXCHEQUER PRESENTS BUDGET TO HOUSE OF COMMONS - An original 24 May 1928 press photograph of Chancellor of the Exchequer Winston S. Churchill walking to the House of Commons to deliver his annual speech presenting the budget.
Washington, DC: Henry Miller News Picture Service, 24 May 1928. Photograph. This original press photograph captures Winston S. Churchill on 24 April 1928, on his way to the House of Commons to deliver his fourth annual Budget speech as Chancellor of the Exchequer. The image captures then-53-year old Churchill striding and smiling, hat in his right hand.
The gelatin silver print on glossy photo paper measures 8 x 6 inches. Condition is very good overall, the photo clean and substantially complete, with just a small loss entirely within the white border margins at the upper left corner. The original printed caption, affixed to the verso, folds over the lower part of the image and is headed “WATCH YOUR CREDIT LINE. (C) HENRY MILLER NEWS PICTURE SERVICE, INC." Below the title “ENGLISH CHANCELLOR OF EXCHEQUER PRESENTS BUDGET TO HOUSE OF COMMONS.” the full caption reads: “Winston Churchill, chancellor of the exchequer of England, photographed while on his way to the House of Commons to present his budget to that august body. 5328 SP”. The verso of the photograph features the blue copyright ink stamp of “HENRY MILLER, NEWS PICTURE SERVICE” of “WASHINGTON D.C.” and the admonition “NOT TO BE LOANED, SYNDICATED OR USED FOR ADVERTISING WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION.” An additional red ink stamp is dated “MAY – 1928”.
Winston Churchill served as Britain’s powerful Chancellor of the Exchequer from November 1924 to June 1929. Among the responsibilities of this post, traditionally second only in power and influence to that of the prime minister, was the annual presentation of the Government’s Budget to the House of Commons.
“On April 23 [1928] Churchill returned to Chartwell where… he put the final touches to his Budget speech. On the morning of April 24 he returned to London, and that same afternoon, accompanied by his daughter Diana [behind and mostly obscured by her father] and Robert Boothby [smiling, behind Churchill’s right shoulder], walked from 11 Downing street to the House of Commons to deliver his fourth budget.” Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin reported to the King, “Every public gallery was crammed, while in the Peers’ Gallery Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Gloucester were seen to take their places.” Churchill spoke for three and a half hours. Baldwin told the King that there was “a vein of seriousness which was eminently suited to the introduction of a Budget epoch-making in its effects… The House became intensely interested in watching a master in the art of oratory and of tantalizing the imagination unfold his ideas in a speech packed with detail, yet so simple and clear that there could be no possible misunderstanding.” Baldwin told the King that the speech was “almost the most remarkable oratorical achievement of Mr. Churchill’s career.” Lord Derby wrote to Churchill “It is not the budget of an electioneer but of a statesman.” (Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill, Volume V)
How remarkable to consider that from this apex, Churchill would soon fall into his decade-long “Wilderness years”. In May of 1929, Baldwin’s government was defeated in a General Election and Churchill subsequently resigned his post. He would spend the 1930s out of power and out of favor, frequently at odds with both his own Conservative Party and prevailing public sentiment. When Stanley Baldwin returned to the premiership, he did not include Churchill in his Government. Not until the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 would Churchill return to the Cabinet. Soon thereafter he became wartime prime minister, amply demonstrating that, though impressive, his 1928 Budget speech was certainly not “the most remarkable oratorical achievement” of his storied career. Item #008944
Price: $200.00