Duncan Sandys

Duncan Sandys
The Lord Duncan-Sandys
PC
In office
14 January 1957 – 14 October 1959
Prime Minister Harold Macmillan
Preceded by Anthony Head
Succeeded by Harold Watkinson
In office
13 July 1962 – 16 October 1964
Prime Minister Harold Macmillan
Preceded by
Succeeded by Anthony Greenwood
In office
27 July 1960 – 13 July 1962
Prime Minister Harold Macmillan
Preceded by Succeeded by Member of Parliament
for
In office
23 February 1950 – 23 February 1974
Preceded by Sir David Robertson
Succeeded by William Shelton
Member of Parliament
for Norwood
In office
14 November 1935 – 5 July 1945
Preceded by Sir Walter Greaves-Lord
Succeeded by Ronald Chamberlain
Personal details
Born 24 January 1908(1908-01-24)
Died 26 November 1987(1987-11-26) (aged 79)
Nationality British
Political party Conservative
Spouse(s) George John Sandys (father)
Winston Churchill (father-in-law)
Children Julian (19361997)
Alma mater
Eton College
Magdalen College, Oxford
Profession Diplomat
Military service
Service/branch British Army
Years of service 19371946
Rank Lieutenant-Colonel
Unit British Expeditionary Force
Battles/wars [1] politician and a minister in successive Conservative governments in the 1950s and 1960s. He was for some years the son-in-law of Sir Winston Churchill.

Contents

Early life

Sandys was the son of George John Sandys, a Conservative member of parliament (19101918) and was educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford. He entered the diplomatic service in 1930, serving at the Foreign Office in London as well as at the embassy in Berlin.

He became Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Norwood in Diana Churchill, daughter of the future prime minister (after being opposed at Norwood by a candidate put up by [2]

The Duncan Sandys case

In 1938 Sandys asked questions in the House of Commons on matters of secret services, and threatened with prosecution under section 6 of the Official Secrets Act 1920. Sandys reported the matter to the Committee of Privileges who held that the disclosures of Parliament were not subject to the legislation though an MP could be disciplined by the House.[3] The Official Secrets Act 1939 was enacted in reaction to this incident.[4]

Wartime

In 1937 Sandys was commissioned into the 51st (London) Anti-Aircraft Brigade, Royal Artillery, Territorial Army. During World War II he fought with the British Expeditionary Force in Norway and was wounded in action in 1941, giving him a permanent limp. From this time he had a desk job as the Finance Member of the Army Council. His father-in-law gave him his first ministerial post during the wartime Coalition Government. While a Minister he was also Chairman of a War Cabinet Committee for defence against German flying bombs and rockets, where he frequently clashed with the scientist and intelligence expert RV Jones.[5] However, he lost his seat in the Post-war

Sandys was responsible for establishing the Streatham and, when the Conservatives regained power, he was appointed as Jack Charles. As Minister of Housing from 1954, he introduced the Minister of Defence in 1957 and quickly produced the 1957 Defence White Paper that proposed a radical shift in the Royal Air Force by ending the use of fighter aircraft in favour of missile technology. Though later Ministers reversed the policy, the lost orders and cuts in research were responsible for several aircraft manufacturers going out of business. As Minister of Defence he saw the rationalization (i.e. merger) of much of the British military aircraft and engine industry.

He divorced his first wife ([6]

Sandys continued as a minister at the Commonwealth Relations Office, later combining it with the Colonies Office, until the Conservative government fell from power in 1964. In this role he was responsible for granting several colonies their independence.

He remained in the Shadow Cabinet until 1966 when he was sacked by Edward Heath. He had strongly supported Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence. He was not offered a post when the Conservatives won the 1970 general election, but instead served as Leader of the United Kingdom delegation to the Council of Europe and Western European Union until 1972 when he announced his retirement. The next year he was made a Companion of Honour.

In 1974 he retired from Parliament and was awarded a life peerage. He followed the example of City of Westminster. He was an active early member of the Children

Children of Diana Churchill and Lord Duncan-Sandys:

He has another child, Laura Sandys, Conservative Member of Parliament for Interests

Among his other interests were historic architecture. He formed the Civic Trust in 1956 and was its President; the Royal Institution of British Architects made him an honorary Fellow in 1968, and the Royal Town Planning Institute made him an honorary member. He was also a trustee of the World Security Trust.

His business activities included a Directorship of the Rhodesia.[citation needed]

Notes

  1. ^ The name ^ Hansard, 2 May 1935, cols.595-598.
  2. ^ House of Commons Paper 101 (1938-1939)
  3. ^ ^ RV Jones, Most Secret War, Hamilton, 1978
  4. ^ 'Headless men' in sex scandal finally named, The Guardian, 10 August 2000

Bibliography

External links

Career summary

  • Coalition Government
    • 20 July 1941 - 7 February 1943 Financial Secretary to the War Office
    • 7 February 1943 - 21 November 1944 Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Supply
    • 21 November 1944 - 25 May 1945 Minister of Works
  • Caretaker Government
    • 25 May 1945 - 26 July 1945 Minister of Works
  • Conservative Government
    • 31 October 1951 - 18 October 1954 Minister of Supply
    • 18 October 1954 - 13 January 1957 Minister of Housing and Local Government
    • 13 January 1957 - 14 October 1959 Minister of Defence
    • 14 October 1959 - 27 July 1960 Minister of Aviation
    • 27 July 1960 - 13 July 1962 Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations
    • 13 July 1962 - 16 October 1964 Secretary of State for the Colonies and Commonwealth Relations
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Sir Walter Greaves-Lord
Member of Parliament for Norwood
1945
Succeeded by
Ronald Chamberlain
Preceded by
Sir David Robertson
Member of Parliament for 1950Succeeded by
William Shelton
Political offices
Preceded by
Antony Head
Minister of Defence
19571959
Succeeded by
Harold Watkinson
Preceded by
New creation
Minister of Aviation
1959-1960
Succeeded by
Peter Thorneycroft
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Anthony Greenwood