Sir Robert Donald Scott (13 November 1901 – 18 June 1974) was a British Conservative Party politician.

Early life and education

Scott was son of timber importer William Scott, of

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...

. He was educated at Mill Hill School and

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

. His father bought him a farm, Caistron, at

Thropton Thropton is a hamlet in Northumberland, England, located on the River Coquet, and its tributary Wreigh Burn. With a population of 458 ( 2011 census) it is situated west of the village of Rothbury connected by the B6431 near the junction of the ...

, Northumberland, which he farmed from 1926.

Political career

Scott was elected unopposed as Member of Parliament (MP) for

Wansbeck Places called Wansbeck include: *The River Wansbeck, a river in Northumberland, England *Wansbeck District—a former local government district in south-east Northumberland, through which the river flows *Wansbeck (UK Parliament constituency)—a co ...

in a by-election on 22 July 1940, but at the

1945 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1945. Africa * 1945 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1945 Indian general election Australia * 1945 Fremantle by-election Europe * 1945 Albanian parliamentary election * 1945 Bulgaria ...

he lost his seat to Labour's

Alf Robens Alfred Robens, Baron Robens of Woldingham, PC (18 December 1910 – 27 June 1999) was an English trade unionist, Labour politician and industrialist. His political ambitions, including an aspiration to become Prime Minister, were frustrated by ...

, who won with a majority of over 13,000 votes. He held office as joint Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, from May to July 1945. At the 1950 general election, he was returned to Parliament for the new constituency of

Penrith and The Border Penrith and The Border is a constituency in Cumbria represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Neil Hudson, a Conservative. History Penrith and The Border was first contested in 1950 since which it has to date been g ...

, where he was re-elected at the 1951 election. He stood down at the 1955 general election, when he was succeeded by the future Deputy Prime Minister William Whitelaw. Scott was knighted in 1955.

Personal life

Scott married Olive Anna Daphne, daughter of J. J. Russell, of Ballygasson House,

County Louth County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to the ...

. They had two daughters, (Ellenora) Maureen Russell Scott and (Rachel) Mirabel Steel Scott.

References

* 1901 births 1974 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Knights Bachelor Ministers in the Churchill caretaker government, 1945 UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1900s-stub