Leo Amery

Leo Amery
First Lord of the Admiralty
In office
31 October 1922 – 28 January 1924
MonarchGeorge V
Prime Minister
Preceded byThe Lord Lee of Fareham
Succeeded byThe Lord Chelmsford
Secretary of State for the Colonies
In office
6 November 1924 – 4 June 1929
MonarchGeorge V
Prime MinisterStanley Baldwin
Preceded byJ. H. Thomas
Succeeded byThe Lord Passfield
Secretary of State for India and Burma
In office
13 May 1940 – 26 July 1945
MonarchGeorge VI
Prime MinisterWinston Churchill
Preceded byThe Lord Zetland
Succeeded byThe Lord Pethick-Lawrence
Personal details
Born
Leopold Charles Maurice Stennett Amery

(1873-11-22)22 November 1873
Gorakhpur, North-Western Provinces, British India
Died16 September 1955(1955-09-16) (aged 81)
London, England
Political partyConservative
ChildrenJulian, Baron Amery
John Amery
EducationHarrow School
Alma mater
OccupationPolitician and journalist

Leopold Charles Maurice[1] Stennett Amery CH (22 November 1873 – 16 September 1955), also known as L. S. Amery, was a British Conservative politician and journalist. During his career, he was known for his interest in military preparedness, British India and the British Empire and for his opposition to appeasement. After his retirement and death, he was perhaps best known for the remarks he made in the House of Commons on 7 May 1940 during the Norway Debate.

In these remarks, Amery attacked the Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, for incompetence in the fight against Hitler's Germany. Many of Amery's Parliamentary contemporaries pointed to this speech as one of the key drivers in the division of the House on the following day, 8 May, which led to Chamberlain being forced out of office and his replacement by Winston Churchill.

  1. ^ At some stage in his youth, Amery began using the name Maurice in place of his previous name Moritz. He did this so consistently that almost all sources give his name as Maurice. Rubinstein, p. 181.

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