biography
| name: |
Cripps, Sir (Richard) Stafford
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1889–1952)
|
| biography:
| British statesman, born in London, UK. He studied at London University, was called to the bar in 1913, and made a fortune in patent and compensation cases. In 1930 he was appointed solicitor general in the second Labour government, and became an MP in 1931. During the 1930s he was associated with several extreme left-wing movements, and was expelled from the Labour Party in 1939 for his ‘popular front’ opposing Chamberlain's policy of appeasement. He sat as an independent MP during World War 2, was ambassador to the Soviet Union (1940–2), and in 1942 became Lord Privy Seal, and later minister of aircraft production. In the 1945 Labour government, he was readmitted to the Party and appointed President of the Board of Trade. In 1947 he became minister of economic affairs and then Chancellor of the Exchequer, introducing a successful austerity policy. In 1950 he resigned due to illness. |
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