Neville Chamberlain his father's parliamentary constituency. Chamberlain was made chairman of the Town Planning Committee. Under his direction, Birmingham soon adopted one of the first town planning schemes in Britain. The start of war in 1914 prevented implementation of his plans. In 1915, Chamberlain became Lord Mayor of Birmingham. Apart from his father Joseph, five of Chamberlain's uncles had also attained the chief Birmingham civic dignity: they were Joseph's brother Richard Chamberlain, William and George Kenrick, Charles Beale, who had been four times Lord Mayor and Sir Thomas Martineau. As a Lord Mayor in wartime, Chamberlain had a huge burden of work
Rise of Neville Chamberlain offices, with Austen Chamberlain writing, "The meeting today rejected our advice. Other men who have given other counsels must inherit our burden". Bonar Law was recalled from retirement to lead the Unionists as Prime Minister. Neville Chamberlain was in Canada at the time of the meeting and so was not forced to choose between supporting his brother's leadership and bringing down a Prime Minister he despised. Many frontbench Unionists refused to serve under Bonar Law, who was forced to form his Cabinet from lower-ranking party members. Liberal MP Winston Churchill, who would lose his seat in the upcoming election, dubbed