| Biography | Albert Victor Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Hillsborough, KG, CH, PC was a British Labour Co-operative politician. He was three times First Lord of the Admiralty, including during the Second World War, and then Minister of Defence under Clement Attlee.
In 1920, Alexander became Parliamentary Secretary to the Co-operative Union. He directed the presentation of the Co-op's position and interests to government bodies and Member of Parliament. The Sheffield branch of the Co-operative Party invited Alexander to be their Parliamentary candidate. He was elected for Hillsborough in 1922, one of only four Co-op MPs. He was re-elected in 1923, 1924 and 1929. He would continue to represent Sheffield, with one break, until 1950.
Following the outbreak of World War II, Alexander opposed forming a coalition government under Neville Chamberlain. Alexander firmly believed that Winston Churchill should replace Chamberlain as Prime Minister. In 1940, Churchill met with Alexander, Clement Attlee and Sir Archibald Sinclair to discuss the possibilities for a coalition government. Two weeks later, on 10 May, Churchill was Prime Minister of a coalition government; after forming his War Cabinet, which included Attlee and Greenwood, he invited Alexander and Sinclair, along with Anthony Eden, to head the three service ministries. |