Dalton published his Principles of public finance in 1923 . By this time, he had entered the world of politics and he was elected M.P. for Peckham in 1924 . He changed his constituency to Bishop Auckland which he won in 1929 . He was Chairman of the Labour Party in 1936-37 . During World War II he was appointed Minister of Economic Warfare and he was responsible for creating the Special Operations Executive , an organisation to strengthen internal resistance in the countries occupied by the Germans . Dalton was moved to the Board of Trade in 1942 and his efforts there led to the setting up of the Ministry of Fuel and Power and the National Coal Board . He prepared for peacetime by steering industry to depressed areas. After the Labour victory in 1945 , Dalton became Chancellor of the Exchequer and he appointed J.M. Keynes as his personal adviser . Despite a number of achievements, his time as Chancellor was disappointing, on the whole, and it came to a sudden end when, at a weak moment, he revealed some of the contents of the 1947 Budget as he was on his way to the House to deliver his speech. By this time, Dalton was one of the leading figures in the Labour Party . He was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in 1948 . Dalton did not stand at the 1959 election and he was given a life peerage in 1960 . He m. Ruth , daughter of Thomas Hamilton Fox , in 1914 and they had one daughter who died in early childhood. Dalton d. on 13 Feb. 1962 .