George Buchanan (politician)

For other people named George Buchanan, see George Buchanan (disambiguation).

The Right Honourable George Buchanan
Buchanan in 1921
Minister of Pensions
In office 7 October 1947 – 2 July 1948
Monarch	George VI
Prime Minister	Clement Attlee
Preceded by	John Burns Hynd
Succeeded by	Hilary Marquand
Under-Secretary of State for Scotland
In office 4 August 1945 – 7 October 1947 Served with Tom Fraser
Monarch	George VI
Prime Minister	Clement Attlee
Sec. of State	Joseph Westwood
Chairman of the National Assistance Board
In office 1948–1953
Member of Parliament for Glasgow Gorbals
In office 15 November 1922 – 2 July 1948
Preceded by	George Barnes
Succeeded by	Alice Cullen
Personal details
Born	30 November 1890 (1890-11-30) Cairo, Egypt
Died	28 June 1955 (1955-06-29) (aged 64) Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Political party	Labour
Other political affiliations	Independent Labour Party

George Buchanan (30 November 1890 – 28 June 1955) was a Scottish patternmaker, trade union activist and Member of Parliament.

Buchanan was born in Glasgow, Scotland. A committed socialist, he joined the Independent Labour Party (ILP).

Buchanan was Vice-Chairman of Glasgow Trades Council and sat on the City Council from 1919 to 1923. At the 1922 general election, he was elected to the House of Commons as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow Gorbals.

In 1932, Buchanan became Chairman of the United Patternmakers Association of Great Britain, which he held for 16 years. He initially agreed with James Maxton's moving the ILP out of the mainstream Labour Party but decided to leave it to rejoin Labour in 1939.

At the 1945 general election, Buchanan retained the seat of Glasgow Gorbals and attained the largest increase in percentage of voters in recorded UK history. After the election, the new prime minister, Clement Attlee, appointed Buchanan as Under-Secretary of State for Scotland. Buchanan also later served as Minister of Pensions.

Buchanan resigned from Parliament in 1948 to take up the position of Chairman of the National Assistance Board and was succeeded by Alice Cullen, who had already succeeded him as the candidate for Glasgow Gorbals.

He died in 1955, at 64.

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs