The Rebel MPs in the ‘Norway Debate’ Division of 8 May 1940

The vote in the house of commons on 8 May 1940 was the most significant ever held there due to its consequences for Britain and the world, as it caused the resignation of Neville Chamberlain and his replacement as prime minister by Winston Churchill. Given its significance, it is surprising that historians have given a variety of different figures, ranging from 33 to 44, for the number of National Government MPs who rebelled. The first section of this article identifies the 39 government MPs who voted against it. Previous discussions of the rebellion have concentrated almost entirely on the pre‐war opponents of appeasement in the groups around Winston Churchill and Anthony Eden. However, they account for only 14 of the rebels, who on their own would not have had a significant impact (and without the other rebels, it is likely they would have only abstained). The other 25 MPs were the essential factor in the government's majority falling to an extent that made Chamberlain's resignation inevitable, but they have been mostly neglected in the historiography. The article will redress this by examining their pre‐war parliamentary records and exploring their paths to rebellion. It concludes with a comparison between the 39 rebel MPs and the government's supporters.