I remember going to see a talk by Tariq Ali about his book "Winston Churchill: his times, his crimes". He talked about how prior to his lionization by Thatcher, he was actually an intensely unpopular man. He pointed to his domestic repression and resistance to it, the existence of a revolt within the Conservative party in 1942 against him, and his reputation as a toff amongst toffs amongst working people, and as a "half breed" amongst the aristocracy. There were also other things (that I'll be honest with you, I don't remember). So my question is – how popular was Churchill throughout his career? What was this 1942 Conservative revolt? (And to those of you who have read his book – is it worth the £25?)
Tariq Ali's book was extremely-poorly-reviewed by Churchill's most recent biographer, Andrew Roberts. Ali makes basic errors of fact, but the one relevant to Churchill's popularity is his allegation that in 1943, a Gallup Poll "revealed that only one third of the population expressed satisfaction with the war cabinet, i.e. Churchill". It is complete nonsense to equate Churchill's popularity with the popularity of his Cabinet: in fact, public opinion of Churchill was consistently high. Between 1940 and May 1945, the polling company Gallup took over 30 polls on the question, "Do you approve or disapprove of Mr. Churchill as Prime Minister?". In July 1940, 88% approved versus 7% disapproved. In May 1945, 83% approved versus 14% disapproved. At its highest, in June 1943, 93% of people approved of Churchill as Prime Minister, versus 4% disapproved. At its lowest, in July 1942, 78% of people approved versus 15% disapproved. Even in the context of a devastating series of defeats in North Africa and the Far East, that's an approval rating that most modern politicians can't imagine even in their wildest dreams.
As for the "1942 Conservative revolt", I believe this refers to the motion of censure introduced by Sir John Wardlaw-Milne on 1 July 1942 in reaction to the Fall of Tobruk to the Afrika Korps. Wardlaw-Milne made the argument that an independent figure should take control of the Armed Forces, while the Prime Minister focused on domestic matters. However, his preferred military leader was the King's younger brother, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, a constitutionally-bizarre suggestion that was met with laughter in the House of Commons. Despite the memorable remark struck by the "one-man opposition" Aneurin Bevan, Labour MP for Ebbw Vale, that "the Prime Minister wins debate after debate and loses battle after battle", none of Churchill's critics landed a blow. In his response, which lasted ninety minutes, Churchill frankly recounted the catalogue of defeats Britain had suffered in the war so far, but defended the government's conduct:
"Some people assume too readily that, because a Government keeps cool and has steady nerves under reverses, its members do not feel the public misfortunes as keenly as do independent critics. On the contrary, I doubt whether anyone feels greater sorrow or pain than those who are responsible for the general conduct of our affairs."
Churchill concluded by acknowledging that he served as Prime Minister by the will of Parliament, and declared that if at any time they chose to dismiss him, he would leave office with his conscience clear. In the division, the Government won the vote by 475 to 25, with 30 abstentions.
In summary, don't waste money on Ali's book. It reads like a Redditor's post on Churchill, with the same common and easily-disprovable statements made on subjects from Tonypandy, to Churchill's attitude to fascism in the Interwar Period, to the infamous gas quote. Churchill was certainly not an unpopular figure during the war.
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