The position was campaigned for by many sceptics of the foreign policy of the National Government in the 1930s before ultimately being created in 1939.
When W. A. Robotham was Chief Engineer of Tank Design in the Ministry of Supply, he demanded sound manganese steel castings for tank tracks, as a broken track could be a death warrant for the crew.
The Beaver "rightly" accused him of holding up production, and took a poor view of Robotham's observation "that they had enough unreliable tanks to last us the rest of the war!".
In July 1941, 25% of British tanks were immobilised from mechanical failure, although there was no enemy action in the theatres of war!
In the post-war governments, the Ministry became increasingly unpopular with economy-minded Conservatives, who objected to it as a redundant middle-man.