Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury

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Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 1927
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 1947

Robert Arthur James Gascoyne-Cecil, 5th Marquess of Salisbury KG PC (born August 27, 1893 in Hatfield House , Hertfordshire , † February 23, 1972 ) was a British peer and politician of the Conservative Party . From 1903 to 1947 he carried the courtesy title Viscount Cranborne .

biography

In Churchill's coalition government; (standing, third from left)

The son of James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury , and grandson of former Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury , studied at Eton College and the University of Oxford .

He began his political career in 1929 when he was elected as a candidate for the Conservative Party to the House of Commons . There he represented the interests of the constituency of South Dorset until 1935 . In 1935 he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in the Foreign Office in the government of Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin . In 1938 he resigned together with Foreign Minister Anthony Eden in protest against the appeasement policy towards Benito Mussolini .

At the beginning of the tenure of Prime Minister Winston Churchill , he was in 1940 in the war government initially Paymaster General ( Paymaster General ) and Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs , self-governing colonies of the British Empire . In 1941 he became a member of the House of Lords , when he received a subordinate title from his father as 11th Baron Cecil through Writ of Acceleration , as well as Secretary of State for the Colonies and from 1942 to 1943 Lord Seal Keeper . From 1942 to 1945 he was Leader of the House of Lords , synonymous with majority leader in the House of Lords . In April 1945 he was a member of the delegation to the San Francisco Conference that later led to the creation of the United Nations (UN) .

During the government of the Labor Party under Prime Minister Clement Attlee , he was opposition leader in the House of Lords between 1945 and 1951 and thus the counterpart to Winston Churchill, who was Leader of the opposition in the House of Commons. In this role he was instrumental in legislating for economic and political reform, especially since the Conservative Party had a majority in the House of Lords.

After the Conservative electoral victory, Prime Minister Churchill made him Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations in 1951 . A year later, however, he became Lord President of the Council in 1952 and kept this office under Prime Minister Eden, who succeeded Churchill in 1955, until 1957. At the same time, he was again Leader of the House of Lords between 1951 and 1957 and thus chairman of the government faction in the House of Lords. In this function he tried within his possibilities to implement reforms in this parliamentary chamber.

At the coronation procession in 1953 he was the bearer of the Great Sword of State , part of the crown jewels . After Eden's resignation, Salisbury (like most of the other cabinet members) voted for Harold Macmillan, Chancellor of the Exchequer , who prevailed in the follow-up dispute against Lord Seal Keeper Richard Austen Butler .

A few months later, in April 1957, he resigned from his position as Lord President in protest against the lifting of Archbishop Makarios III's exile . back from Cyprus . Salisbury then opposed Macmillan's policies, which he saw as too far left-wing. In 1961, he assumed the presidency of the Conservative Monday Club , a right-wing advocacy group that opposed decolonization and mass immigration.

From November 1951 to 1972 he was Chancellor of the University of Liverpool . He died in February 1972; his only son Robert inherited his title.

Awards

For his services he was accepted as a Knight Companion in the Order of the Garter in 1944 . From 1960 to 1972 he was chancellor of this order.

literature

  • Simon Ball: The Guardsmen: Harold Macmillan, Three Friends and the World They Made . Harper Perennial, London 2005, ISBN 978-0-00-653163-0 . (English speaking).

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Web links

predecessor Office successor
James Gascoyne-Cecil Baron Cecil
(through Writ of Acceleration)
1941–1972 		Robert Gascoyne-Cecil
James Gascoyne-Cecil Marquess of Salisbury
1947-1972 		Robert Gascoyne-Cecil
Edward Turnour Paymaster General
1940 		Maurice Hankey
Thomas Inskip Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs
1940-1942 		Clement Attlee
Walter Guinness Secretary of State for the Colonies
1942 		Oliver Stanley
Richard Stafford Cripps Lord Seal Keeper
1942–1943 		Max Aitken
Walter Guinness Leader of the House of Lords
1942-1945 		Christopher Addison
Clement Attlee Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs
1943-1945 		Christopher Addison
Richard Stokes Lord seal keeper
1951–1952 		Harry Crookshank
Christopher Addison Leader of the House of Lords
1951-1957 		Alec Douglas Home
Hastings Ismay Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations
1952 		Philip Cunliffe-Lister
Frederick Marquis Lord President of the Council
1952–1957 		Alec Douglas Home
personal data
SURNAME Gascoyne-Cecil, Robert, 5th Marquess of Salisbury
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gascoyne-Cecil, Robert Arthur James, Viscount Cranborne
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British politician, Member of the House of Commons and businessman
DATE OF BIRTH August 27, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH Hatfield House , Hertfordshire
DATE OF DEATH February 23, 1972