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The Right Honourable
The Lord Selwyn-Lloyd
CH CBE TD PC
File:File:Selwyn Lloyd, Speaker.png
Speaker of the House of Commons

In office
1971–1976
Monarch Elizabeth II
Prime Minister Edward Heath
Harold Wilson
Preceded by Horace King
Succeeded by George Thomas
Lord Privy Seal
Leader of the House of Commons

In office
18 October 1963 – 16 October 1964
Monarch Elizabeth II
Prime Minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home
Chancellor of the Exchequer

In office
27 July 1960 – 13 July 1962
Monarch Elizabeth II
Prime Minister Harold Macmillan
Preceded by Derick Heathcoat Amory
Succeeded by Reginald Maudling
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs

In office
20 December 1955 – 27 July 1960
Monarch Elizabeth II
Prime Minister Anthony Eden
Harold Macmillan
Preceded by Harold Macmillan
Succeeded by The Earl of Home
Minister of Defence

In office
7 April – 20 December 1955
Monarch Elizabeth II
Prime Minister Anthony Eden
Preceded by Harold Macmillan
Succeeded by Sir Walter Monckton
Personal details
Born (1904-07-28)28 July 1904
West Kirby, Wirral, Cheshire, England
Died 18 May 1978(1978-05-18) (aged 73)
Oxfordshire
Nationality British
Political party Conservative
Alma mater Fettes College
Magdalene College, Cambridge
Religion Methodist

John Selwyn Brooke Lloyd, Baron Selwyn-Lloyd CH CBE TD PC (28 July 1904 – 18 May 1978), known for most of his career as Selwyn Lloyd, was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Foreign Secretary from 1955 to 1960, then as Chancellor of the Exchequer until 1962. He was elected Speaker of the House of Commons in 1971, serving until his retirement in 1976.

Background[]

Lloyd was born in West Kirby, now in Merseyside, but then in the country of Cheshire, the son of John Wesley Lloyd, a dental surgeon, and his wife, Mary Rachel Warhurst.[1] He was educated at Fettes College and Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he was President of the Cambridge Union and the Cambridge University Liberal Club.[2]

Early career[]

He was a Liberal Parliamentary candidate at Macclesfield in the 1929 general election, coming third. After this he concentrated on a legal career having been admitted to Gray's Inn in 1926. He was called to the bar in 1930.[3]

He served as a councillor on Hoylake Urban District Council 1932–40.

World War II service[]

During the Second World War he reached the rank of brigadier and was Deputy Chief of Staff of the British Second Army.

Election to Parliament[]

He was elected to the House of Commons to represent Wirral in the 1945 general election. Originally a Liberal, he became a member of the "Young Turks" faction of the Conservative Party.

Ministerial offices[]

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs[]

When the Conservatives returned to power under Churchill in 1951, Lloyd served under Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs from 1951 to 1954.

Minister of Supply and Minister of Defence[]

He then served as Minister of Supply (1954–1955). He was subsequently Minister of Defence (1955).

Foreign Secretary[]

He became Foreign Secretary in 1955. His tenure saw the Suez Crisis, which led to the fall of the Eden government. While Foreign Secretary he was noted for not being on particularly good terms with his American counterpart, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles. He continued to serve as Foreign Secretary under Harold Macmillan until 1960.

Chancellor of the Exchequer[]

In 1960 he became Chancellor of the Exchequer (1960–1962).

Unable to cope with Britain's economic problems in the early 1960s, and a focus of public unpopularity for the "Pay Pause" of the early 1960s, he was sacked from the government during the "Night of the Long Knives" reshuffle, and returned to the backbenches. He was replaced by Reginald Maudling, then seen as a potential future leader of the Conservative Party, and whose remit was to reflate the economy going into the next General Election due by the end of 1964.

Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons[]

He was called back to the government in 1963 by Alec Douglas-Home, who made him Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons until the Conservative defeat in the general election of 1964.

Speaker of the House of Commons[]

In 1971, after the Conservatives had returned to power, Lloyd became Speaker. In a break with convention, both the Labour and Liberal Parties contested his seat in both the February 1974 and October 1974 general elections, but he retained it and continued to hold the position of speaker until 1976.

Peerage[]

In 1976 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Selwyn-Lloyd, of Wirral in the County of Merseyside.

Personal life[]

He was married in the Wirral in March 1951 to Elizabeth Marshall, known as Bae, his secretary and the daughter of Roland Marshall of West Kirby.[4] A solicitor by profession, she was born in 1928, making her 23 years his junior.[3] They had a daughter, Joanna, and divorced in 1957.[5][6]

References[]

External links[]

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Alan Crosland Graham
Member of Parliament for The Wirral
1945 – 1976
Succeeded by
David Hunt
Preceded by
Dr Horace King
Speaker of the House of Commons
1971–1976
Succeeded by
George Thomas
Political offices
Preceded by
Harold Macmillan
Minister of Defence
1955
Succeeded by
Walter Monckton
Preceded by
Harold Macmillan
Foreign Secretary
1955–1960
Succeeded by
The Earl of Home
Preceded by
Derick Heathcoat Amory
Chancellor of the Exchequer
1960–1962
Succeeded by
Reginald Maudling
Preceded by
Iain Macleod
Leader of the House of Commons
1963–1964
Succeeded by
Herbert Bowden
Preceded by
Edward Heath
Lord Privy Seal
1963–1964
Succeeded by
The Earl of Longford
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