Tom Williams, Baron Williams of Barnburgh

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Lord Williams

Thomas Williams, Baron Williams of Barnburgh,

coal miner who became a Labour Party politician.[2]

Career

Born in

.

He was elected at the 1922 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Don Valley,[1][4][5] and held the seat until he stepped down at the 1959 general election.[6]

In Parliament

In the

Second Labour Government from 1929 to 1931, he was PPS to the Minister of Labour, Margaret Bondfield.[2]

Williams first held ministerial office in

Labour government, he was Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from 1945 to 1951,[2] most notably steering the Agriculture Act 1947 through the House of Commons.[8] After Labour lost the 1951 general election he was the opposition spokesperson on Agriculture until 1959.[2]

After his retirement from the House of Commons in 1959, he was created a life peer on 2 February 1961 taking the title Baron Williams of Barnburgh, of Barnburgh in the West Riding of the County of York.[9][10]

His autobiography, in which he gives an account of his life since childhood, was published in 1965 with a foreword by Clement Attlee.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 2)
  2. ^ .
  3. ^
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36930. Retrieved 8 August 2010. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)(subscription required)
  4. .
  5. ^ "No. 32775". The London Gazette. 8 December 1922. p. 8712.
  6. ^ "62 M.P.S Not To Stand Again For Election: Four Not Readopted". The Times. 30 July 1959. p. 4.
  7. ^ "Privy Counsellors 1915–1968". Leigh Rayment's peerage pages. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008. Retrieved 8 August 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. .
  9. ^ "No. 42231". The London Gazette (Supplement). 27 December 1960. p. 8889.
  10. ^ "No. 42272". The London Gazette. 7 February 1961. p. 933.
  11. ^ Williams, Thomas (1965). Digging for Britain. The Autobiography of Lord Williams of Barnburgh. London: Hutchinsons of London.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Don Valley
19221959
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries
(with The Lord Moyne, to 1941;
The Duke of Norfolk
), 1941–1945

1940–1945
Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries
1945–1951
Succeeded by