Niall MacDermot CBE OBE QC (10 September 1916 – 22 February 1996) was a British Labour politician. MacDermot was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

and

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th centur ...

, and served in the Intelligence Corps during the Second World War. He was first elected to the House of Commons as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for Lewisham North, at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to ...

in 1957 following the death of

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

MP Sir Austin Hudson. MacDermot lost his seat two years later at the 1959 general election, and unsuccessfully contested the equivalent seat at the

1961 London County Council election An election to the County Council of London took place on 13 April 1961. It proved to be the last election to the council, and plans for its replacement by the Greater London Council were already in process. The council was elected by First Past ...

. He returned to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

as MP for Derby North at a by-election in 1962. He was Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 1964 to 1967, and retired from the Commons at the 1970 general election. From 1970 to 1990, he was Secretary-General of the

International Commission of Jurists The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is an international human rights non-governmental organization. It is a standing group of 60 eminent jurists—including senior judges, attorneys and academics—who work to develop national and inte ...

, succeeding

Seán MacBride Seán MacBride (26 January 1904 – 15 January 1988) was an Irish Clann na Poblachta politician who served as Minister for External Affairs from 1948 to 1951, Leader of Clann na Poblachta from 1946 to 1965 and Chief of Staff of the IRA from 19 ...

. He was the grandson of Hugh Hyacinth O'Rorke MacDermot, who served as

Solicitor General for Ireland The Solicitor-General for Ireland was the holder of an Irish and then (from the Act of Union 1800) United Kingdom government office. The holder was a deputy to the Attorney-General for Ireland, and advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. On ra ...

in 1885 and 1886, and as Attorney General for Ireland in 1892. He was also the nephew of Frank MacDermot a

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil É ...

politician.

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* 1916 births 1996 deaths British people of Irish descent Financial Secretary to the Treasury Intelligence Corps officers Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Derbyshire Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge People educated at Rugby School Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century King's Counsel UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 MacDermot family Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970 {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub