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William Graham PC (29 July 1887 – 8 January 1932) was a Scottish Labour politician. Born in
Peebles Peebles ( gd, Na Pùballan) is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in June 2018 wa ...
, he was educated at Peebles Public School and
George Heriot's School George Heriot's School is a Scottish independent primary and secondary day school on Lauriston Place in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the early 21st century, it has more than 1600 pupils, 155 teaching staff, and 80 non-teaching staff. ...
,
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. After a time as a junior clerk in the
War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...
, he became a journalist. He joined the
Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...
in 1906, and was elected to Edinburgh Town Council in 1913. He gained an MA from
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1 ...
in 1915, and was later awarded an honorary LLD by the university in 1927. He served as Labour MP for Edinburgh Central from 1918 until 1931. Early in his parliamentary career he found himself at odds with many Labour MPs and contemplated joining the Liberals. He held office as
Financial Secretary to the Treasury The financial secretary to the Treasury is a mid-level ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after the first lord of the Treasury, the chancellor of the Excheq ...
in 1924 (when he was sworn as a
Privy Councillor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...
) and as
President of the Board of Trade The president of the Board of Trade is head of the Board of Trade. This is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, first established as a temporary committee of inquiry in the 17th century, that evolved gradually into a government ...
from 1929 to 1931. He was responsible for the Coal-Mines Bill, several overseas missions, and industrial inquiries. He was appointed a
Privy Counsellor The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of ei ...
in 1924. He also served on the Royal Commissions on income-tax in 1919, and Oxford and Cambridge in 1920–1921, and was a Member of the Speaker's Conference on Devolution in 1919–1920. He was also a Member of the Medical Research Council from 1920 to 1928. He was joint Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1931 until his death from
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...
in 1932.


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* 1887 births 1932 deaths Councillors in Edinburgh Scottish Labour MPs UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People from Peebles People educated at George Heriot's School Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Edinburgh constituencies Presidents of the Board of Trade Deaths from pneumonia in England {{Scotland-Labour-UK-MP-stub