In the early hours the German army had made a lightning westward strike. Although it was anticipated, Lloyd knew that the best efforts of Allied intelligence had been unable to discover the date in advance, and the armies of those small states had been taken by surprise. Nevertheless, they were fighting back bravely.
‘That’s probably true,’ said Uncle Billy, ‘but the BBC would say it anyway.’
Prime Minister Chamberlain had called a Cabinet meeting that was going on at that very moment. However, the French army, reinforced by ten British divisions already in France, had long ago agreed a plan for dealing with such an invasion, and that plan had automatically gone into operation. Allied troops had crossed the French border into Holland and Belgium from the west and were rushing to meet the Germans.
With the momentous news heavy on their hearts, the Williams family caught the bus into the town centre and made their way to Bournemouth Pavilion, where the party conference was being held.
There they heard the news from Westminster. Chamberlain was clinging to power. Billy learned that the Prime Minister had asked Labour Party leader Clement Attlee to become a Cabinet Minister, making the government a coalition of the three main parties.
All three of them were aghast at this prospect. Chamberlain the appeaser would remain Prime Minister, and the Labour Party would be obliged to support him in a coalition government. It did not bear thinking about.
‘What did Attlee say?’ asked Lloyd.
‘That he would have to consult his National Executive Committee,’ Billy replied.
‘That’s us.’ Both Lloyd and Billy were members of the committee, which had a meeting scheduled for four o’clock that afternoon.
‘Right,’ said Ethel. ‘Let’s start canvassing, and find out how much support Chamberlain’s plan might have on our executive.’
‘None, I should think,’ said Lloyd.
‘Don’t be so sure,’ said his mother. ‘There will be some who want to keep Churchill out at any price.’
Lloyd spent the next few hours in constant political activity, talking to members of the committee and their friends and assistants, in cafes and bars in the pavilion and along the seafront. He ate no lunch, but drank so much tea that he felt he might have floated.
He was disappointed to find that not everyone shared his view of Chamberlain and Churchill. There were a few pacifists left over from the last war, who wanted peace at any price, and approved of Chamberlain’s appeasement. On the other side, Welsh MPs still thought of Churchill as the Home Secretary who sent the troops in to break a strike in Tonypandy. That had been thirty years ago, but Lloyd was learning that memories could be long in politics.
At half past three Lloyd and Billy walked along the seafront in a fresh breeze and entered the Highcliff Hotel, where the meeting was to be held. They thought that a majority of the committee were against accepting Chamberlain’s offer, but they could not be completely sure, and Lloyd was still worried about the result.
They went into the room and sat at the long table with the other committee members. Promptly at four the party leader came in.
Clem Attlee was a slim, quiet, unassuming man, neatly dressed, with a bald head and a moustache. He looked like a solicitor – which his father was – and people tended to underestimate him. In his dry, unemotional way he summarized, for the committee, the events of the last twenty- four hours, including Chamberlain’s offer of a coalition with Labour.
Then he said: ‘I have two questions to ask you. The first is: Would you serve in a coalition government with Neville Chamberlain as Prime Minister?’
There was a resounding ‘No!’ from the people around the table, more vehement than Lloyd had expected. He was thrilled. Chamberlain, friend of the Fascists, the betrayer of Spain, was finished. There was some justice in the world.
Lloyd also noted how subtly the unassertive Attlee had controlled the meeting. He had not opened the subject for general discussion. His question had not been: What shall we do? He had not given people the chance to express uncertainty or dither. In his understated way he had put them all up against the wall and made them choose. And Lloyd felt sure the answer he got was the one he had wanted.
Attlee said: ‘Then the second question is: Would you serve in a coalition under a different prime minister?’
The answer was not so vocal, but it was Yes. As Lloyd looked around the table it was clear to him that almost everyone was in favour. If there were any against, they did not bother to ask for a vote.
‘In that case,’ said Attlee, ‘I shall tell Chamberlain that our party will serve in a coalition but only if he resigns and a new prime minister is appointed.’
There was a murmur of agreement around the table.
Lloyd noted how cleverly Attlee had avoided asking who they thought the new prime minister should be.
Attlee said: ‘I shall now go and telephone Number Ten Downing Street.’
He left the room.
That evening Winston Churchill was summoned to Buckingham Palace, in accordance with tradition, and the King asked him to become Prime Minister.
Lloyd had high hopes of Churchill, even if the man was a Conservative. Over the weekend Churchill made his dispositions. He formed a five-man War Cabinet including Clem Attlee and Arthur Greenwood, respectively leader and deputy leader of the Labour Party. Union leader Ernie Bevin became Minister
