Churchill left the conservatives in 1904 for the Liberal Party, after having been a Member of Parliament for four years. In 1925, after more than twenty years with the Liberals, he formally rejoined the Conservative Party, apparently noting later that ‘… anyone can rat, but it takes a certain amount of ingenuity to re-rat’.
Upon rejoining the Tories, he became Chancellor of the Exchequer and retained this post until the party was out of office in the election of 1929. He retained his seat in the House but became more and more isolated. This was the beginning of his so-called ‘Wilderness Years’.
He would carry on as a member of the party of his father, Lord Randolph, for the remainder of his life.
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