Harold Macmillan

Harold MacMillan was born in London in 1894, the grandson of publisher Daniel MacMillan.

Educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford, he joined the Grenadier Guards in 1914.

Serving on the Western front, he was present at the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

In 1924 he stood as Conservative candidate for Stockton-on-Tees, Co. Durham, and won.

Although he lost his seat in 1929, he returned in 1931. His left-wing politics were unpopular with Prime Ministers Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain, but MacMillan managed to rise to senior government posts.

British Minister of Defense (19 October 1954 to 7 April 1955).

British Foreign Secretary (7 April 1955 to 20 December 1955).

As Chancellor of the Exchequer he opposed publishing a report linking cigarette smoking to lung cancer in 1956. The report was not published until 1964.

In 1957, upon the enforced resignation of Sir Anthony Eden, MacMillan became Prime Minister.

In 1984 he was given the first hereditary peerage in over 20 years, and became known as the Earl of Stockton. His son Maurice Victor was briefly known as Viscount MacMillan of Ovenden, but died the same year.

His term of office was plagued by the Profumo scandal (as seen in the film Scandal (1989)), and he resigned in 1963 due to ill health. He was replaced by Sir Alec Douglas-Home. In later years MacMillan was a fierce critic of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her right-wing domestic and foreign policies, as well as her stance on European integration.

He is the subject of the play 'Never So Good' by Howard Brenton which premiered at the National Theatre in London, UK in March 2008. In the original production he was portrayed by Jeremy Irons.