15 April 2020updated 26 Jul 2021 7:28am

In sickness and in power: the lessons from Anthony Eden’s illness during the Suez crisis

As Boris Johnson recuperates from Covid-19, we should revisit how the government acted during a previous PM’s absence.

British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden gives a television and radio speech about the Suez Canal crisis in London on August 9, 1956. - An Anglo-French intervention was launched after Egypt's President Nasser nationalized the Suez canal 26 July 1956. End of December diplomatic action by the USA and the USSR forced Britain and France to withdraw and Israel to relinquish Sinaï which they invaded in October. (Photo by - / INTERCONTINENTALE / AFP) (Photo credit should read -/AFP via Getty Images)

A prime minister away for three weeks, and in his absence a cabinet forced to make hard decisions about the economy and the future direction of the country. It’s a scenario Downing Street plays down, but there is a precedent: in November 1956 at the height of the Suez crisis. A seriously ill Anthony Eden sought rest and recuperation in the Caribbean just as United Nations troops were arriving in Egypt to enforce the ceasefire agreed to by Britain and France.

With a prime minister near incommunicado in Jamaica, and with the eyes of the world on them, the cabinet took necessary action, not least the restoration of good relations with the United States; the Eisenhower administration would only help stabilise the British economy if Anglo-French forces withdrew.