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James Milner, 1st Baron Milner of Leeds

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For other people named James Milner, see James Milner (disambiguation).

The Right Honourable
The Lord Milner of Leeds
MC PC
Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons
Chairman of Ways and Means
In office
16 August 1945 – 7 November 1951
Speaker
Douglas Clifton Brown
William Morrison
Preceded byCharles Williams
Succeeded bySir Charles MacAndrew
In office
9 March 1943 – 30 May 1945[1]
Speaker
Douglas Clifton Brown
Preceded byDouglas Clifton Brown
Succeeded byCharles Williams
Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means
In office
21 January 1943 – 9 March 1943
Speaker
Edward FitzRoy
Preceded byDouglas Clifton Brown
Succeeded byCharles Williams
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
20 December 1951 – 16 July 1967
as a hereditary peer
Preceded byPeerage created
Succeeded byThe 2nd Baron Milner of Leeds
Member of Parliament
for Leeds South East
In office
1 August 1929 – 20 December 1951
Preceded byHenry Slesser
Succeeded byDenis Healey
Personal details
Born(1889-08-12)12 August 1889
Died16 July 1967(1967-07-16) (aged 77)
PartyLabour
University of Leeds
OccupationSolicitor

James Milner, 1st Baron Milner of Leeds, MC, PC (12 August 1889 – 16 July 1967), was a British Labour Party politician.

Early life

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Milner was educated at the University of Leeds and became a solicitor. He was a major in World War I and was wounded, awarded the Military Cross and bar for his service.

Political career

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He was a Leeds City Councillor and Deputy Lord Mayor of Leeds in 1928, and was also Chairman of Leeds Labour Party and President of Leeds Law Society. He later became deputy-lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire.

He was elected as the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds South East at a by-election in August 1929,[2] and served until 1951. He became Chairman of Ways and Means and Deputy Speaker[3] and led the British Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1945.

In 1951, the Speaker of the House of Commons, Douglas Clifton Brown, had stepped down. As Chairman of Ways and Means, Milner wanted to be Labour's first-ever Speaker. However, the Conservatives, now the majority party, nominated William Morrison. The vote went along party lines – the first time the post had been contested in the 20th century – and Milner lost.

As some compensation, he was elevated to the House of Lords as Baron Milner of Leeds, of Roundhay in the City of Leeds, on 20 December 1951.[4] Denis Healey replaced him in the subsequent by-election.

Honours

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Coat of arms of James Milner, 1st Baron Milner of Leeds
Crest
Perched on a sword with point to the dexter Proper and hilt and pommel Or an owl also Proper gorged with a collar Sable thereon three mullets Argent pendent therefrom a pair of scales and resting on the dexter claw a portcullis chained Or.
Escutcheon
Gules on a chevron Ermine between in chief two bits Or and in base a rose Argent barbed and seeded Proper a teazel Sable.
Supporters
On either side an owl Proper gorged with a collar Sable thereon three mullets Argent pendent therefrom a portcullis chained Or.
Motto
Do Right And Fear Nothing[5]

Personal life

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Milner married Lois Tinsdale Brown on 10 February 1917. They had three children:

Milner died in 1967 at the age of 77 and was succeeded in the barony by his only son, Michael. His remains and those of his daughter Zaidée are interred in the Garden of Remembrance at St John the Evangelist Church, Moor Allerton, Leeds.

References

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  1. ^ "Deputy Chairman Of Committees Scots Appointment". The Glasgow Herald. 31 May 1945. p. 5. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  2. ^ Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 164. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
  3. ^ "Chairman of Ways and Means and Deputy-Chairman". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 10 March 1943. col. 699.
  4. ^ "No. 39414". The London Gazette. 21 December 1951. p. 6650.
  5. ^ Debrett's Peerage. 2019. p. 3645.

Sources

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  • Iain Dale, ed. (2003). The Times House of Commons 1929, 1931, 1935. Politico's (reprint). ISBN 1-84275-033-X.
  • The Times House of Commons 1945. 1945.
  • The Times House of Commons 1950. 1950.
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