Joseph Ball (British public servant) facts for kids

Sir George Joseph Ball (1885–1961) was a British barrister (a type of lawyer), an intelligence officer, and someone who worked in politics and business. He was known for his important roles behind the scenes in British government and politics.

Early Years

George Joseph Ball first trained to be a barrister, which is a lawyer who argues cases in court.

Working with MI5

In 1915, soon after World War I started, Joseph Ball joined MI5, which is Britain's security intelligence agency. He worked in important roles there until 1927. He is thought to have played a big part in creating the fake Zinoviev Letter in 1924. This letter caused a lot of trouble and led to the defeat of the British Labour Party government, which was led by Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald.

Working for the Conservative Party

Ball was a strong supporter of the British Conservative Party. Because of his work at MI5, the leaders of the Conservative Party noticed him. In 1927, he left MI5 to manage the Propaganda Department at the Conservative Party Central Office. This department was in charge of spreading information to support the party.

In 1930, he became the head of the Conservative Research Department, where he stayed until World War II began in 1939. During the 1930s, he worked with young people like Guy Burgess. Ball's group also gathered information on the British Labour Party.

Political Influence

During the 1930s and into the early years of World War II, George Ball built many connections with Britons who supported Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. He also set up secret ways to communicate with important leaders in those countries. He was involved in secret money operations that helped fund Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's policy of trying to avoid war, known as appeasement.

During World War II

When World War II started, Ball was hired by the Ministry of Information to be in charge of films. However, he quickly lost this job due to pressure from the film industry.

Ball was a strong supporter of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who became prime minister in 1937. From the mid-1930s, Ball secretly worked against Conservative politicians, like Winston Churchill, who were against the far-right governments in Europe. He also worked against those in the Liberal and Labour Parties who opposed these regimes.

Just as Chamberlain resigned in May 1940 and Churchill became prime minister, Ball was given a very powerful job as Deputy of the Security Executive. This position put him above both MI5 and MI6. Ball was very affected by Chamberlain's fall from power and his death later in 1940. Ball stayed in the Security Executive role for two years, until 1942.

From the mid-1930s to the early 1940s, Ball secretly directed the weekly newspaper Truth. This paper supported pro-fascist ideas. The paper criticized Leslie Hore Belisha, who was the only Jewish cabinet minister, and he later resigned in 1940.

Later Life and Legacy

Later in his life, Ball joined Lonrho, a gold mining company in South Africa and Rhodesia that started in 1909. He took on a leadership role there. Shortly before his death in 1961, he brought in Tiny Rowland to run the company. Some of the people who worked for Lonrho eventually became part of the Rio Tinto Group, which is now one of the world's biggest mining companies.

George Ball was also a very skilled fly fisherman and enjoyed debating the best fishing techniques.

Even though Ball tried hard to destroy his papers from the Conservative Central Office and his personal notes, some documents survived. These papers have been kept at the Bodleian Library at Oxford University since 2000. Since 1990, historians and writers have published more and more information about Ball's life and career.

The character "Joseph Balcombe" in the 2009 film Glorious 39, made by Stephen Poliakoff, is based closely on George Ball. The actor Jeremy Northam played this role.