when a prime minister SACKED his cabinet!? #shorts #history #storytime

Added: 2026-05-29

[00:00:00]In July 1962, British Prime Minister Harold McMillan fired seven of his own cabinet ministers in a single night. A third of his entire government, the Chancellor, the Lord Chancellor, the education secretary, all gone just like that. Why was this? His government was collapsing in the polls, a series of by-election defeats, and his stagnant economy had turned his party against him. So, McMillan would resolve to sack the old guard to bring in a younger, more dynamic set of ministers in hopes that he could save himself and his premiership. And the press called this the night of the long knives. McMillan's approval ratings could collapse anyway.

[00:00:30]And Liberal MP Jeremy Thorpe would joke, "Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his friends for his life." And this was something that was meant to save him. Instead, it would mark the beginning of the end as McMillan would be gone within 18 months.