George Strauss

George Russell Strauss, Baron Strauss PC (18 July 1901 – 5 June 1993) was a long-serving British Labour Party politician, who was a Member of Parliament (MP) for 46 years and was Father of the House of Commons from 1974 to 1979.

The Right Honourable George Strauss PC
Minister of Supply
In office 7 October 1947 – 26 October 1951
Prime Minister	Clement Attlee
Preceded by	John Wilmot
Succeeded by	Duncan Sandys
Member of Parliament for Vauxhall
In office 23 February 1950 – 7 April 1979
Preceded by	New constituency
Succeeded by	Stuart Holland
Member of Parliament for Lambeth North
In office 14 November 1935 – 3 February 1950
Preceded by	Frank Briant
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
In office 30 May 1929 – 27 October 1931
Preceded by	Frank Briant
Succeeded by	Frank Briant
Personal details
Born	18 July 1901
Died	5 June 1993 (aged 91)
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Patricia O'Flynn ​ ​ (m. 1932; died 1987)​ Benita Armstrong ​ (m. 1987)​
Parents	Arthur Strauss Minna Cohen

Early life

Strauss was the son of the Conservative (and previously a Liberal Unionist) MP Arthur Strauss (1847–1920), who later joined the Labour Party. George Strauss was educated at Rugby School, where the hostile treatment experienced by him and other Jewish boys left him as a vehement supporter of racial equality. He became a metal merchant and a leading member of the London County Council, on which his wife Patricia also served.[1]

Political career

Strauss' first parliamentary contest was in Lambeth North in 1924, when he lost by just 29 votes; however, he gained the seat in 1929. He lost it in Labour's landslide defeat of 1931, but regained it in a 1934 by-election. In 1939 Strauss was expelled from the Labour Party for seven months for supporting the 'Popular Front' movement of Stafford Cripps, whom he had served as Parliamentary Private Secretary.

Strauss was parliamentary secretary at the Ministry of Transport 1945–47 and was the Minister of Supply from 1947 to 1951. After boundary changes, he became MP for Vauxhall in 1950, which he represented until 1979. On 9 July 1979 he was created a life peer as Baron Strauss, of Vauxhall in the London Borough of Lambeth.[2]

References

1. Dalyell, Tam (9 June 1993). "Obituary: Lord Strauss". The Independent. Retrieved 21 April 2009.
2. "No. 47901". The London Gazette. 12 July 1979. p. 8777.

Bibliography

• Times Guide to the House of Commons October 1974
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

External links

• George Strauss on Schoolnet
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by George Strauss