Patrick Gordon Walker
Shadow Foreign Secretary | |
---|---|
In office 14 February 1963 – 16 October 1964 | |
Leader | Harold Wilson |
Preceded by | Harold Wilson |
Succeeded by | Rab Butler |
Shadow Home Secretary | |
In office 13 May 1957 – 12 March 1962 | |
Leader | Hugh Gaitskell |
Preceded by | Kenneth Younger |
Succeeded by | George Brown |
Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations | |
In office 28 February 1950 – 26 October 1951 | |
Prime Minister | Clement Attlee |
Preceded by | Philip Noel-Baker |
Succeeded by | The Lord Ismay |
Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations | |
In office 7 October 1947 – 28 February 1950 | |
Prime Minister | Clement Attlee |
Preceded by | Arthur Bottomley |
Succeeded by | Angus Holden |
Member of Parliament for Leyton | |
In office 31 March 1966 – 8 February 1974 | |
Preceded by | Ronald Buxton |
Succeeded by | Bryan Magee |
Member of Parliament for Smethwick | |
In office 1 October 1945 – 25 September 1964 | |
Preceded by | Alfred Dobbs |
Succeeded by | Peter Griffiths |
Personal details | |
Born | Patrick Chrestien Gordon Walker 7 April 1907 Worthing, Sussex, England |
Died | 2 December 1980 London, England | (aged 73)
Political party | Labour |
Spouse |
Audrey Muriel Rudolf
(m. 1934) |
Children | 5 |
Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
Patrick Chrestien Gordon Walker, Baron Gordon-Walker,
Early life
Born in
From 1940 to 1944, Gordon Walker worked for the
From 1946 to 1948, he was chairman of the British Film Institute.[6]
Political career
He first stood for parliament at the 1935 general election, when he was unsuccessful in the Conservative-held Oxford constituency.[4]
In 1938, he was selected to stand again in the
Gordon Walker did not contest the 1945 general election, but was elected later in 1945 as member of parliament (MP) for Smethwick in a by-election on 1 October 1945 after Labour's Alfred Dobbs was killed in a car accident the day after winning the seat at the 1945 general election.[4] After the by-election, Gordon Walker's support in the constituency gradually declined.
Once in parliament, Gordon Walker was promoted rapidly through the ranks of
As Commonwealth secretary in 1950, Gordon Walker persuaded the cabinet to agree to prevent
Khama had been brought to Britain by the government under false pretences, ostensibly to talk about his future, and at Gordon Walker's behest he was then prevented from returning to his homeland for five years, subsequently increased to a lifetime ban (although eventually rescinded by a later, Conservative, government). Khama said the unexpected and earth shattering news of his exile was given to him by Gordon Walker in an "unemotional" and "unfeeling" manner. "I doubt that any man has been asked to give up his birthright in such cold, calculating terms," he said.[10]
After the
Although Labour did win that election to end 13 years of Conservative rule, Gordon Walker was
Despite, therefore, not being an MP or peer able to answer to Parliament, Gordon Walker was appointed to the
Gordon Walker retired from the
Personal life
In 1934 he married Audrey Muriel Rudolf. They subsequently had twin sons and three daughters. Lord Gordon-Walker died in London in 1980, aged 73.[4]
Bibliography
- Gordon Walker, P. C. (1937). "Capitalism and the Reformation". Economic History Review.
- Gordon Walker, P. C. (1939). An Outline of Man's History. London: N.C.L.C. Publishing Society.
- Restatement of Liberty. London: Hutchinson. 1951.
- The Lid Lifts: An Account of the Author's Experiences During Two Visits to Occupied Germany in the Spring of 1945. London: Victor Gollancz Ltd. 1945.
- The Commonwealth. London: Secker & Warburg. 1962.
- The Cabinet. London: Cape. 1970. ISBN 0-224-61819-9.
- Robert Pearce, ed. (c. 1991). Patrick Gordon Walker: Political Diaries 1932–1971. London: Historians' Press. ISBN 1-872273-05-X.
References
- ^ Oxford University Calendar 1932, Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1932, pg.268, 817.
- ^ Oxford University Calendar 1932, Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1932, pg.541.
- ^ The Times, 3 December 1980, p.19 col.6
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Pearce (2004)
- ISBN 9781442615700.
- ^ BFI Annual Reports, London: BFI
- ^ Liberal History, spring 2002 Archived 24 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ By-Elections in British Politics
- ISBN 0-333-94968-4.
- ^ Williams, Susan. 2006. Colour Bar. Allen Lane. p 125-126
- . Retrieved 22 April 2024.
- ^ "No. 46352". The London Gazette. 24 September 1974. p. 7918.
Sources
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
- ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
- Griffiths, P. (1966). A Question of Colour. The Smethwick Election of 1964. London: Leslie Frewin.
- Pearce, R. (2004) "Gordon Walker, Patrick Chrestien, Baron Gordon-Walker (1907–1980)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, accessed 26 August 2007 (subscription or UK public library membershiprequired)
- Prem, D. R. (1965). Parliamentary Leper: A History of Colour Prejudice in Britain. Metric Publications/Aligarh University Press.