Why was Churchill out of office for so long, 1929-39?

The 1930s were a threatening period for Britain:

• Led by a ruthless and extreme dictator, Germany had emerged as a threat to European peace.
• Japan was intent on creating a new empire in the Fa East and was threatening China.
• There was civil war in Spain
• Russia was imprisoning and killing large numbers of its own people.
• Europe and the USA were suffering from the worst economic depression in history.

--> in this type of dangerous situation, it might have been expected that Churchill would thrive and be needed as a daring and imaginative political leader with massive experience of government. HOWEVER, this was not the case. He did not hold office again until 1939. He was in conflict with the bulk of his own party and its leaders. He took up a series of unpopular causes and spoke about them in an increasingly reckless way. He become a more isolated figure in British political life, relying on a group…