Night of The Long Knives (1962) - 12/13 July

12/13 July

Macmillan intended to carry out the reshuffle in autumn 1962 after parliament returned from its summer recess. Events overtook him when, on 11 July, Butler lunched with Lord Rothermere, proprietor of several newspapers, including the Daily Mail. Butler let slip the details of the impending reshuffle, and the following day the Daily Mail broke the plans to the public with the headline "Mac's Master Plan". A horrified Macmillan, suspecting that the plans were deliberately leaked by Butler to further his political career, felt compelled to act. He summoned Lloyd to a meeting that evening and informed him that he was to be replaced as Chancellor. He attempted to mollify Lloyd by suggesting that he consider a career in the city as chairman of Martins Bank, and hinted at the possibility of a peerage. Lloyd refused both. The remaining six officeholders were informed the following day, 13 July. Mills, Maclay and Watkinson were reported to have gone quietly, as did Hill, though he expressed his disapproval on the way the reshuffle was handled. Eccles and Kilmuir were the most disappointed, Eccles having hoped to succeed as Chancellor, and Kilmuir later writing that Macmillan appeared to have lost his 'nerve and judgement'. The reshuffle was completed three days later with the removal of nine junior ministers.

Macmillan suggested on several occasions, including at his meeting with Lloyd to dismiss him as Chancellor, that he felt there was a conspiracy within the party to replace him as Prime Minister. While the run of poor Conservative results led to informal talk among party MPs and ministers, no such conspiracy existed. His intimations of party disloyalty and the speed and surprise of the sackings were particularly hurtful to Lloyd, who was loyal to Macmillan, and remained so even after his dismissal.