Harold Watkinson, 1st Viscount Watkinson

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Harold Arthur Watkinson, 1st Viscount Watkinson PC CH (* 25. January 1910 ; † 19th December 1995 ) was a British politician of the Conservative Party .

Life

After attending Queen's College Taunton, Watkinson completed a degree in mechanical engineering and engineering from King's College London . He then worked as an engineer and managed a machine tool factory as director. During the Second World War he served in the Naval Reserve between 1939 and 1945, where he was last promoted to Lieutenant Commander and was a lecturer at a naval anti-aircraft school in this rank.

He was first elected as a member of the House of Commons in the general election of February 23, 1950 , and represented the constituency of Woking until June 26, 1964 . After the Conservative Party won the general election on October 25, 1951 , he was first Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation in the government of Prime Minister Winston Churchill and then from 1952 to 1955 Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry of Labor and National Service.

During the subsequent governments of Prime Ministers Anthony Eden and Harold Macmillan , he was Minister for Transport and Civil Aviation from December 1955 to October 1959, before he was last Minister of Defense in the Macmillan government between October 1959 and July 1962.

After leaving the House of Commons, he was raised to hereditary nobility in 1964 as Viscount Watkinson , of Woking in the County of Surrey , and was a member of the House of Lords until his death . He also took on a number of positions in the private sector , including only managing director from 1963 to 1969 and chairman of the board of directors of Cadbury Schweppes, Ltd. from 1969 to 1974 . and between 1976 and 1977 President of the British Confederation of British Industry (CBI). On his death his title of nobility expired because he only had two daughters.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ London Gazette . No. 43367, HMSO, London, June 26, 1964, p. 5539 ( PDF , English).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Watkinson, Harold, 1st Viscount Watkinson
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Watkinson, Harold Arthur, 1st Viscount Watkinson (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Conservative Party politician, Member of the House of Commons
DATE OF BIRTH January 25, 1910
DATE OF DEATH December 19, 1995