Joseph Bradshaw Godber, Baron Godber of Willington, (17 March 1914 – 25 August 1980) was a British
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
politician and cabinet minister.
Background
Godber was educated at
Bedford School
:''Bedford School is not to be confused with Bedford Girls' School, Bedford High School, Bedford Modern School, Old Bedford School in Bedford, Texas or Bedford Academy in Bedford, Nova Scotia.''
Bedford School is a public school (English indep ...
, between 1922 and 1931, and became a nurseryman. He became chairman of the county glasshouse section of the
National Farmers Union and of the publicity and parliamentary committee. He was a member of the Tomato and Cucumber
Marketing Board.
Political career
Godber was a
Bedfordshire County Council
Bedfordshire County Council was the county council of the non-metropolitan county of Bedfordshire in England. It was established on 24 January 1889 and was abolished on 1 April 2009. The county council was based in Bedford.
In 1997 Luton Borough ...
lor from 1946 until 1952.
He was elected
Member of Parliament for
Grantham in 1951, a seat he held until 1979. He served under
Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as "Supermac", he ...
as
from 1957 to 1960, as
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 1960 to 1961, as
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs from 1961 to 1963 and as
Secretary of State for War
The Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The Secretary of State for War headed the War Office and ...
in 1963, under
Sir Alec Douglas-Home as
Minister of Labour from 1963 to 1964 and under
Edward Heath as
Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
The minister of state for international environment is a junior ministerial position in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is currently held by The Lord Benyon.
Responsibilities
The minister’s responsibilities include ...
from 1970 to 1972 and as
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from 1972–1974. Godber was appointed a
Privy Counsellor in 1963 and in 1979 he was made a
life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...
as Baron Godber of Willington, of
Willington in the County of
Bedfordshire.
Personal life
Lord Godber of Willington died in August 1980, aged 66. In 1936, he married Miriam Sanders in Bedford. They had two sons (including one born in 1938 and the other in 1944). He has 5 grandchildren (Amanda Varley, James R B Godber, Joe Godber, Victoria Bell and Pete Godber) and 9 great grandchildren (Lucy Varley, Naomi Godber, Jude Godber, Noah Godber, Ruby-Rose Godber, Emily Godber, Tom Godber, Edward Bell and Jack Bell)
References
*
Times Guide to the House of Commons 1979
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Godber, Joseph
1914 births
1980 deaths
British Secretaries of State
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Councillors in Bedfordshire
Godber of Willington
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Agriculture ministers of the United Kingdom
People educated at Bedford School
Secretaries of State for War (UK)
UK MPs 1951–1955
UK MPs 1955–1959
UK MPs 1959–1964
UK MPs 1964–1966
UK MPs 1966–1970
UK MPs 1970–1974
UK MPs 1974
UK MPs 1974–1979
Politics of Grantham
Joseph
Ministers in the Macmillan and Douglas-Home governments, 1957–1964