Editing Alec Douglas-Home (section)

==Postwar career (1950–1960)==
=== Re-election to Parliament and peerage ===
In 1950, [[Clement Attlee]], the Labour prime minister, called a general election. Dunglass was invited to stand once again as Unionist candidate for Lanark. Having been disgusted at personal attacks during the 1945 campaign by [[Tom Steele (politician)|Tom Steele]], his Labour opponent, Dunglass did not scruple to remind the voters of Lanark that Steele had warmly thanked the Communist Party and its members for helping him take the seat from the Unionists. By 1950, with the [[Cold War]] at its height, Steele's association with the communists was a crucial electoral liability.<ref>Thorpe (1997), pp. 134–135</ref> Dunglass regained the seat with one of the smallest majorities in any British constituency: 19,890 to Labour's 19,205.<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 February 1950 |title=Results of the General Election |work=The Manchester Guardian |pages=6–8}}</ref> Labour narrowly won the general election, with a majority of five.<ref name=ts245/>

[[File:Hirsel House, Coldstream - geograph.org.uk - 93665.jpg|thumb|alt=exterior of large country house|right|The Hirsel, the Douglas-Home family's principal residence]]
In July 1951 the 13th earl died. Dunglass succeeded him, inheriting the title of [[Earl of Home]] together with the extensive family estates, including the Hirsel, the Douglas-Homes' principal residence. The new Lord Home took his seat in the Lords; a by-election was called to appoint a new MP for Lanark, but it was still pending when Attlee called another general election in October 1951.{{Efn|Labour's majority of five seats was not thought large enough to sustain the party through a full five-year term in office. [[George&nbsp;VI]] was due to be absent for six months on a Commonwealth tour, and Attlee agreed that it was necessary that the King should leave behind a stable government not likely to fall in his absence. Attlee called a further election in October 1951 at a time not advantageous to his party, which was lagging behind the Conservatives in opinion polls. Labour polled more votes than the Conservatives at the election, but the British first-past-the-post electoral system nevertheless gave more seats to the Conservatives. The King's tour did not take place because of his poor health.<ref name="ts245">{{Harvp|Thomas-Symonds|2010|p=245}}</ref>}} The Unionists held Lanark, and the national result gave the Conservatives under Churchill a small but [[working majority|working]] majority of seventeen.<ref>Thorpe (1997), p. 140</ref>

=== Minister for Scotland ===
Home was appointed to the new post of Minister of State at the Scottish Office, a middle-ranking position, senior to Under-secretary but junior to [[James Stuart, 1st Viscount Stuart of Findhorn|James Stuart]], the Secretary of State, who was a member of the cabinet. Stuart, previously an influential [[chief whip]], was a confidant of Churchill, and possibly the most powerful Scottish Secretary in any government.<ref>Dutton, p. 18, and Thorpe (1997), p. 141</ref> Thorpe writes that Home owed his appointment to Stuart's advocacy rather than to any great enthusiasm on the Prime Minister's part (Churchill referred to him as "Home sweet Home").<ref name="t141">Thorpe (1997), p. 141</ref> In addition to his ministerial position Home was appointed to membership of the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]] (PC),<ref name=t141/> an honour granted only selectively to ministers below cabinet rank.<ref>[http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/QueenandGovernment/QueenandPrivyCouncil.aspx "Queen and Privy Council"], Official Website of the British Monarchy, accessed 18 April 2012</ref>

[[File:Royal Cypher of Queen Elizabeth II.svg|thumb|left|alt=Royal cypher consisting of a Crown above the initials E and R with the figure 2 (in Roman numerals) between them|100px|The royal cypher – a problem for Home and the Scottish Office]]
Throughout Churchill's second term as prime minister (1951–1955) Home remained at the Scottish Office, although both Eden at the Foreign Office and [[Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury|Lord Salisbury]] at the [[Commonwealth Relations Office]] invited him to join their ministerial teams.<ref>Dutton, p. 19</ref> Among the Scottish matters with which he dealt were hydro-electric projects, hill farming, sea transport, road transport, forestry, and the welfare of [[crofter]]s in the [[Scottish Highlands|Highlands]] and the [[Western Isles]].<ref name=p461/><ref>Thorpe (1997), p. 148</ref> These matters went largely unreported in the British press, but the question of the [[royal cypher]] on Post Office pillar boxes became front-page news. Because [[Elizabeth I]] of England was never queen of Scotland, some nationalists maintained when [[Elizabeth&nbsp;II]] came to the British throne in 1952 that in Scotland she should be styled "Elizabeth I". Churchill said in the House of Commons that considering the "greatness and splendour of Scotland", and the contribution of the Scots to British and world history, "they ought to keep their silliest people in order".<ref>{{Cite news |date=2 April 1953 |title=House of Commons |work=The Times |page=3}}</ref> Home nevertheless arranged that in Scotland new pillar boxes were decorated with the royal crown instead of the full cypher.<ref>Thorpe (1997), p. 151</ref>

=== Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs ===
==== Eden government: 1955–1957 ====
When Eden succeeded Churchill as prime minister in 1955 he promoted Home to the cabinet as [[Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations]]. At the time of this appointment Home had not been to any of the countries within his ministerial remit, and he quickly arranged to visit Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, India, Pakistan and Ceylon.<ref name="d21">Dutton, p. 21</ref> He had to deal with the sensitive subject of immigration from and between Commonwealth countries, where a delicate balance had to be struck between resistance in some quarters in Britain and Australia to non-white immigration on the one hand, and on the other the danger of sanctions in India and Pakistan against British commercial interests if discriminatory policies were pursued.<ref>Thorpe (1997), p. 169</ref> In most respects, when Home took up the appointment it seemed to be a relatively uneventful period in the history of the Commonwealth. The upheaval of Indian independence in 1947 was well in the past, and the wave of decolonising of the 1960s was yet to come.<ref>Dutton, p. 20</ref> However, it fell to Home to maintain Commonwealth unity during the [[Suez Crisis]] in 1956, described by Dutton as "the most divisive in its history to date".<ref name=d21/> Australia, New Zealand and South Africa backed the Anglo-French invasion of Egypt to regain control of the Suez Canal. Canada, Ceylon, India and Pakistan opposed it.<ref name="t178">Thorpe (1997), pp. 178–181</ref>

There appeared to be a real danger that Ceylon, India and, particularly, Pakistan might leave the Commonwealth.<ref name=t178/> Home was firm in his support of the invasion, but used his contacts with [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], [[V. K. Krishna Menon]], [[Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit|Nan Pandit]] and others to try to prevent the Commonwealth from breaking up.<ref>Thorpe (1997), p. 185</ref> His relationship with Eden was supportive and relaxed; he felt able, as others did not, to warn Eden of unease about Suez both internationally and among some members of the cabinet. Eden dismissed the latter as the "weak sisters";{{Sfnp|Wilby|2006|p=109}} the most prominent was Butler, whose perceived hesitancy over Suez on top of his support for appeasement of Hitler damaged his standing within the Conservative party.<ref>Roth, pp. 112–113</ref> When the invasion was abandoned under pressure from the US in November 1956, Home worked with the dissenting members of the Commonwealth to build the organisation into what Hurd calls "a modern multiracial Commonwealth"<ref name=dnb/> (notwithstanding the Commonwealth was already multiracial.)

====Macmillan's government: 1957–1960 ====
Eden resigned in January 1957. In 1955 he had been the obvious successor to Churchill, but this time there was no clear heir apparent. Leaders of the Conservative party were not elected by ballot of MPs or party members, but emerged after informal soundings within the party, known as "the customary processes of consultation".<ref>Roth, p. 173</ref> The chief whip, [[Edward Heath]], canvassed the views of backbench Conservative MPs, and two senior Conservative peers, the Lord President of the Council, Lord Salisbury, and the Lord Chancellor, [[Lord Kilmuir]], saw members of the cabinet individually to ascertain their preferences. Only one cabinet colleague supported Butler; the rest, including Home, opted for Macmillan. Churchill, whom the Queen consulted, did the same.<ref name="t189">Thorpe (1997), p. 189</ref> Macmillan was appointed prime minister on 10 January 1957.<ref name=t189/>

In the new government Home remained at the Commonwealth Relations Office. Much of his time was spent on matters relating to Africa, where the futures of [[Bechuanaland]] and the [[Central African Federation]] needed to be agreed. Among other matters in which he was involved were the dispute between India and Pakistan over [[Kashmir]], [[Ten Pound Poms|assisted emigration]] from Britain to Australia, and relations with [[Archbishop Makarios]] of Cyprus. The last unexpectedly led to an enhanced cabinet role for Home. Makarios, leader of the militant anti-British and pro-Greek movement, was detained in exile in the [[Seychelles]]. Macmillan, with the agreement of Home and most of the cabinet, decided that this imprisonment was doing more harm than good to Britain's position in Cyprus, and ordered Makarios's release. Lord Salisbury strongly dissented from the decision and resigned from the cabinet in March 1957. Macmillan added Salisbury's responsibilities to Home's existing duties, making him Lord President of the Council and [[Leader of the House of Lords]]. The first of these posts was largely honorific, but the leadership of the Lords put Home in charge of getting the government's business through the upper house, and brought him nearer to the centre of power.<ref>Thorpe (1997), p. 192</ref> In Hurd's phrase, "By the imperceptible process characteristic of British politics he found himself month by month, without any particular manoeuvre on his part, becoming an indispensable figure in the government."<ref name=dnb/>

[[File:Iain Macleod crop.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=middle-aged man, bald, speaking into a microphone|[[Iain Macleod]], who had a difficult relationship with Home]]
Home was generally warmly regarded by colleagues and opponents alike, and there were few politicians who did not respond well to him. One was Attlee, but as their political primes did not overlap this was of minor consequence.<ref>Thorpe (1997), p. 136</ref> More important was [[Iain Macleod]]'s prickly relationship with Home. Macleod, [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]] from 1959 to 1961, was, like Butler, on the liberal wing of the Conservative party; he was convinced, as Home was not, that Britain's colonies in Africa should have majority rule and independence as quickly as possible. Their spheres of influence overlapped in the Central African Federation.{{Efn|The federation consisted of [[Northern Rhodesia]], [[Southern Rhodesia]] and [[Nyasaland]]. The first and third were still colonies and came under Macleod's purview; Southern Rhodesia, which had self-government, was the responsibility of Home's department.<ref>Thorpe (1997), p. 196</ref>}}

Macleod wished to push ahead with majority rule and independence; Home believed in a more gradual approach to independence, accommodating both white minority and black majority opinions and interests. Macleod disagreed with those who warned that precipitate independence would lead the newly independent nations into "trouble, strife, poverty, dictatorship" and other evils.<ref name=frankel/> His reply was, "Would you want the Romans to have stayed on in Britain?"<ref name="frankel">{{Cite news |last=Frankel |first=P H. |date=23 October 1976 |title=Iain Macleod |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |page=4}}</ref> He threatened to resign unless he was allowed to release the leading [[Nyasaland]] activist [[Hastings Banda]] from prison, a move that Home and others thought unwise and liable to provoke distrust of Britain among the white minority in the federation.<ref name=macleod/> Macleod had his way, but by that time Home was no longer at the Commonwealth Relations Office.<ref>Thorpe (1997), p. 202</ref>