Macmillan, (Maurice) Harold

British Conservative politician, prime minister 1957–63; foreign secretary 1955 and chancellor of the Exchequer 1955–57. In 1963 he attempted to negotiate British entry into the European Economic Community (EEC), but was blocked by the French president Charles de Gaulle. Much of his career as prime minister was spent defending the UK's retention of a nuclear weapon, and he was responsible for the purchase of US Polaris missiles in 1962.

Macmillan was MP for Stockton 1924–29 and 1931–45, and for Bromley 1945–64. As minister of housing 1951–54 he achieved the construction of 300,000 new houses a year. He became prime minister on the resignation of Anthony Eden after the Suez Crisis, and led the Conservative Party to victory in the 1959 elections on the slogan ‘You've never had it so good’ (the phrase was borrowed from a US election campaign). Internationally, his realization of the ‘wind of change’ in Africa advanced the independence of former colonies. Macmillan's nickname Supermac was coined by the cartoonist Vicky.