Douglas Houghton, Baron Houghton Of Sowerby
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Arthur Leslie Noel Douglas Houghton, Baron Houghton of Sowerby, (11 August 1898 – 2 May 1996) was a British Labour politician. He was the last British Cabinet minister born in the 19th century. After he retired in 1967, every Cabinet minister has been born since 1900. He was also the last veteran of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
to serve in the Cabinet and both Houses of Parliament.


Early life

Houghton was born in
Long Eaton Long Eaton is a town in the Borough of Erewash, Erewash district of Derbyshire, England, just north of the River Trent, about south-west of Nottingham and south-east of Derby. The town population was 37,760 at the 2011 census. It has been part ...
,
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
Obituary
The Independent, accessed 1 August 2012
and later secured a post in the
civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...
. He then fought in the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, surviving the
Battle of Passchendaele The Third Battle of Ypres (; ; ), also known as the Battle of Passchendaele ( ), was a campaign of the First World War, fought by the Allies of World War I, Allies against the German Empire. The battle took place on the Western Front (World Wa ...
.


Political career

Houghton was a great believer in equality of opportunity and campaigned for certain numbers of lower (clerical) grade civil servants to have the chance of taking an examination that could lead to previously unheard-of promotion . In 1922, he founded the Inland Revenue Staff Federation and was its leader from 1922 to 1960. He served on the General Council of the
Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union center, national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of ...
from 1952 to 1960, and as Chairman of the Staff Side Civil Service National Whitley Council from 1955 to 1957. He was a panel member of a BBC radio programme ''Can I help You?'' between 1941 and 1964. His connections with the
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
Labour movement and the Labour Party gave him the profile to become an
Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...
of the
London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...
- the forerunner of the
Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...
- from 1947–1949. After John Belcher quit the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
over accusations of minor dishonesty, Houghton was persuaded to seek nomination for the subsequent by-election. He secured this and on 16 March 1949 was elected to Parliament for the
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
constituency of Sowerby with a majority of 2,152. He was re-elected in the subsequent general elections of 1950, 1951, 1955, 1959, 1964, 1966 and 1970. His head for figures and tenacity made him a good candidate for Chairman of the
Public Accounts Committee A public accounts committee (PAC) is a committee within a legislature whose role is to study public audits, invite ministers, permanent secretaries or other ministry officials to the committee for questioning, and report on their findings subseque ...
in the House of Commons, succeeding
Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...
in this post after Wilson was elected Leader of the Labour Party in 1963. When, after 13 years in government, the Conservative Party was defeated in October 1964, Houghton became a
cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...
in Wilson's first government and was appointed a
Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...
. The post of
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. Excluding the prime minister, the chancellor is the highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the prime minister ...
after 1964 gave Houghton a position in the cabinet and special responsibility for
Social Services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...
but not an actual department over which he could preside. This made it hard to be particularly effective as a minister, and in a 1966 reshuffle, Wilson made him
Minister without Portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...
. Houghton became a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour on 5 January 1967 and was dropped from government in 1967 and became Chairman of the
Parliamentary Labour Party The Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) is the parliamentary group of the Labour Party in the British House of Commons. The group comprises the Labour members of parliament as a collective body. Commentators on the British Constitution sometimes ...
(PLP) which is a post designed to help shape and reflect the backbench Labour MPs' views but keep them in dialogue with the Labour leadership. His predecessor, Emanuel Shinwell, could be rather fiery and unpredictable. By contrast, Houghton had a tenacity and command of detail that made him a highly suitable person for the task, given there was perceived to be quite a lot of factionalism in the party at the time. He retired from the House of Commons at the February 1974 General Election and was elevated to the
House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
as Baron Houghton of Sowerby, of Sowerby in the County of
West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...
a few months later on 20 June. Shortly before he died in 1996, he was the last member of the House of Lords to have fought in the First World War, and at 97, was then its oldest serving member. A warm tribute was paid to him by Tam Dalyell, himself a former MP, in one of Britain's national newspapers. Th
Labour History Archive and Study Centre
at the
People's History Museum The People's History Museum (the National Museum of Labour History until 2001) in Manchester, England, is the United Kingdom's national centre for the collection, conservation, interpretation and study of material relating to the history of wor ...
in
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
holds the collection of Douglas Houghton, whose papers include those of the
Parliamentary Labour Party The Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) is the parliamentary group of the Labour Party in the British House of Commons. The group comprises the Labour members of parliament as a collective body. Commentators on the British Constitution sometimes ...
, animal charities and pressure groups, as well as broadcasts, speeches and correspondence.


Animal welfare

Houghton was passionate about the subject of
animal welfare Animal welfare is the quality of life and overall well-being of animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures ...
and spoke in the House of Lords on the subject a number of times. Houghton and Lord Platt proposed what became known as the Houghton/Platt Memorandum on Animal Experimentation to the Home Secretary on 4 August 1976. He also inaugurated the "Putting Animals in Politics" campaign in 1976. These led to the formation of Committee for the Reform of Animal Experimentation (CRAE) which aimed to reform the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876. The outcome was the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. Houghton was a patron of
FRAME A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...
(1987–1996). Andrew Linzey has written that Houghton "devoted the last twenty-five years of his life to animal advocacy.


Personal life

In 1939, he married Vera Houghton who also worked at Association of Officers for Taxes, before becoming a campaigner for abortion law reform and free birth control.


Arms


References

*


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Houghton, Douglas 1898 births 1996 deaths British animal welfare workers British Army personnel of World War I General secretaries of the Inland Revenue Staff Federation King's Royal Rifle Corps soldiers Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Houghton of Sowerby, Douglas Houghton, Baron London Regiment soldiers Members of London County Council Members of the Fabian Society Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970 People from Long Eaton UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 Military personnel from Derbyshire UK MPs who were granted peerages Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster Life peers created by Elizabeth II