Sir Thomas Dugdale, an unremarkable Conservative member of parliament, reached the pinnacle of his career as minister of agriculture in Winston Churchill’s last government. He resigned in 1954 when an inquiry revealed persistent maladministration by his department in the disposal of land at Crichel Down. The inquiry concluded that he personally knew nothing of the affair, although government papers published 30 years later suggested his hands were less clean, and his civil servants less culpable, than appeared at the time.
作为一位不甚出名的保守党议员，托马斯•达格代尔爵士(Sir Thomas Dugdale)受命在温斯顿•丘吉尔(Winston Churchill)的最后一任政府中担任农业大臣，由此登上了他职业生涯的顶峰。1954年，一项调查发现，达格代尔执掌的农业部在克里切尔高地(Crichel Down)土地处置问题上存在长时间的行政行为失当，在此情形下，达格代尔辞去了农业大臣职务。当时调查得出的结论是，达格代尔本人对该事件毫不知情——尽管该事件发生30年后，政府公布的文件显示，达格代尔其实并不像当时人们认为的那样“无辜”，过错也不该都记在他的属下头上。