| Biography | Sir Richard Stafford Cripps (24 April 1889 21 April 1952) was a British Labour politician of the first half of the 20th century. During World War II he served in a number of positions in the wartime coalition, including Ambassador to the Soviet Union and Minister of Aircraft Production. After the war he served in the Attlee Ministry, firstly as President of the Board of Trade and between 1947 and 1950 as Chancellor of the Exchequer. In the latter position, Cripps was responsible for laying the foundations of Britains post-war economic prosperity, and was, according to the historian Eric Shaw, the real architect of the rapidly improving economic picture and growing affluence from 1952 onwards. |