Martin Richard Attlee, 2nd Earl Attlee (10 August 1927 – 27 July 1991), was a British politician and a founding member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

. He was the only son of former British Prime Minister

Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British statesman who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. At ...

Early life

Attlee suffered badly from dyslexia, and was a poor student as a child. His father chose to tackle this issue by having his son educated at

Millfield School Millfield is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding s ...

, which under its founding headmaster, the educationalist

Jack Meyer John Robert Meyer (March 23, 1932 – March 6, 1967) was an American professional baseball right-handed pitcher, who appeared in all or parts of seven Major League (MLB) seasons (1955–1961) with the Philadelphia Phillies. Early life Born in ...

, was noted for its progressive approach to reading problems. Attlee did well enough to study at the School of Navigation at University College, Southampton (now the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

), and served from 1945 to 1950 in the Merchant Navy. After a spell working for Iberian Airways, among other companies, he eventually joined

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

's Southern Region, working for a long time in its public relations department; it was this experience that prompted him to write his book ''Bluff Your Way in PR'' (1971).

Parliamentary career

Attlee inherited the earldom,Martin Richard Attlee, 2nd Earl Attlee
at thepeerage.com. which carried with it a seat in 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 ...

, on his father's death in 1967. For some fourteen years he sat on the Labour Party benches, as his father had done, but in 1981 he joined the

(SDP). After the SDP opted for a merger with the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, Attlee was one of the minority who chose to remain in the 'continuing' SDP led by

David Owen David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen, (born 2 July 1938) is a British politician and physician who served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs as a Labour Party MP under James Callaghan from 1977 to 1979, and later ...

, standing for that party in the Hampshire Central European Parliament by-election in December 1988, where he received 5,952 votes (7.7%). At the time, he commented "Some people say that my father must be turning in his grave. But if so, it would only be because of the sight of the present so-called Labour Party."

Personal life

Attlee married Anne Henderson on 16 February 1955. They had a son and a daughter before divorcing in 1988. Attlee married Margaret Gouriet the same year.

Death

Attlee died at

Southampton General Hospital Southampton General Hospital (SGH) is a large teaching hospital in Southampton, Hampshire, England run by University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital was founded in 1900 as the Southampton Union Infirmary in S ...

on 27 July 1991 at the age of 63 following a stroke. His peerage was inherited by his son

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, who takes the

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

whip.

Arms

References

1927 births 1991 deaths Children of prime ministers of the United Kingdom

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

Labour Party (UK) hereditary peers Royal Navy officers Social Democratic Party (UK) hereditary peers Social Democratic Party (UK, 1988–1990) peers People educated at Millfield

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