ALS signed “Winston S. Churchill,” one page both sides, 4.75 x 7.5, 60 Avenue d'Iéna letterhead, February 10, 1924. Handwritten letter to the French minister and deputy Louis Loucheur, inviting him to a dinner where they can "talk freely," suggesting intriguing diplomatic and political discussions. In full: "My wife & I hope to receive you & Madame Loucheur here for dinner at 8:30. It will be quieter here than at a café & we can talk freely. Crewe who was coming is unhappily forced to stay home with his wife who is slowly recovering from a sharp attack of Influenza, & has begged me to make his excuses to you. So we shall be a quatre. Short coats & Black ties. I am much looking forward to seeing you again; for I apprehend considerable change on both sides of the Channel in the near future." In fine condition.
The collapse of the Liberal Party and Lloyd George's government kept Winston Churchill out of Parliament from 1922 to 1924. Re-elected as a Conservative MP in October 1924, he became Chancellor of the Exchequer in Stanley Baldwin's government in November 1924. Here, he writes to Louis Loucheur, predicting political change in both England and France. He also mentions Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, Lord Crewe (1858–1945), then British Ambassador to France (1922–1928).
Locheur (1872–1931) had been a minister in charge of armament issues between 1916 and 1918, then minister of industrial reconstruction until 1920. He was Clemenceau's principal economic advisor at the Paris conference in January 1919 for the negotiation of the Treaty of Versailles, and intervened directly in the discussions with David Lloyd George. He subsequently held several ministerial positions from 1921 through 1931, in parallel with his career as a member of parliament for the North: Minister for Liberated Regions; Minister for Commerce, Industry, Posts and Telegraphs; Minister for Finance; again Minister for Commerce and Industry; Minister for Labor and Social Security; and Minister for the National Economy. Very involved in post-war social housing issues and conflict resolution in the world of work, he was also an art lover and collector.
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