Amory was the son of Sir Ian Murray Heathcote 2nd Bt. He was educated at Eton College and at Christ Church, Oxford. He entered the cabinet under Sir Winston Churchill in July 1954 succeeding Sir Thomas Dugdale as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. In October 1954 the Ministry merged with the Ministry of Food still in command of Heathcoat-Amory. Gwilym Lloyd George had previously been in charge of Food. He remained in the post until he became Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1958, under Harold Macmillan. He left the post and was created Viscount Amory on 1 September 1960, one of the last new hereditary peerages created for senior politicians before life peerages became the norm. In his later years, he was Chancellor of the University of Exeter. On his death, the Viscountcy became extinct.
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, MC, PC,(10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986), nicknamed "Supermac", was a British Conservative politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963.
January 1958 - DerickHeathcoatAmory succeeds Peter Thorneycroft as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
John Hare succeeds Amory as Minister of Agriculture.