Winston Churchill (1874-1965) was the son of Lord Randolph Churchill. He entered Parliament initially as a Conservative Unionist in 1900, but crossed to the Liberals in 1903 in opposition to Joseph Chamberlain's tariff reform proposals. He rose in the Liberal party to be home Secretary by 1910 and in the wartime coalition he held a variety of ministerial positions. Returning to the Conservative party in 1924, he was made chancellor of the exchequer in Baldwin's 1924-29 government, but his objections to the policy of the national government on India meant that he remained out of office until 1939. On Neville Chamberlain's resignation in 1940 Churchill seemed to be the obvious choice for his replacement and he was appointed prime minister at the head of a national government. In 1942 Churchill appointed Stafford Cripps as the Leader of the House of Commons, while he remained prime minister.