View source for James Milner, 1st Baron Milner of Leeds

{{Short description|British Labour Party politician}}
{{other people|James Milner}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
 | honorific-prefix = [[Major (rank)|Major]] [[The Right Honourable]]
 | name             = The Lord Milner of Leeds
 | honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MC|PC}} 
 | office1          = [[Chairman of Ways and Means|Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons<br>Chairman of Ways and Means]]
 | term_start1      = 10 March 1943
 | term_end1        = 20 December 1951
 | predecessor1     = [[Douglas Clifton Brown]]
 | successor1       = [[Charles MacAndrew, 1st Baron MacAndrew|Sir Charles MacAndrew]]
 | office2          = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for<br />[[Leeds South East (UK Parliament constituency)|Leeds South East]]
 | term_start2      = 1 August 1929
 | term_end2        = 20 December 1951
 | predecessor2     = [[Henry Slesser]]
 | successor2       = [[Denis Healey]]
 | office3          = [[List of members of the House of Lords|Member of the House of Lords]]<br>[[Lords Temporal|Lord Temporal]]
 | term_start3      = 20 December 1951
 | term_end3        = 16 July 1967<br>as a [[hereditary peer]]
 | predecessor3     = ''[[Baron Milner of Leeds|Peerage created]]''
 | successor3       = [[Michael Milner, 2nd Baron Milner of Leeds|The 2nd Baron Milner of Leeds]]
 | birth_date       = {{birth date|1889|8|12|df=y}}
 | death_date       = {{death date and age|1967|7|16|1889|8|12|df=y}}
}}

'''James Milner, 1st Baron Milner of Leeds''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|commas=on|MC|PC}} (12 August 1889 – 16 July 1967), was a British [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] politician.

==Biography==
Milner was educated at the [[University of Leeds]] and became a [[solicitor]]. He was a major in [[World War I]] and was wounded, awarded the [[Military Cross]] and bar for his service. He was a [[Leeds City Council]]lor and Deputy Lord Mayor of [[Leeds]] in 1928, and was also Chairman of Leeds Labour Party and President of Leeds Law Society. He later became [[Deputy Lieutenant|deputy-lieutenant]] of the [[West Riding of Yorkshire]].

He was elected as the Labour [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Leeds South East (UK Parliament constituency)|Leeds South East]] at a [[by-election]] in August 1929,<ref name="craig1918-1949">{{cite book
 |last=Craig
 |first=F. W. S.
 |author-link= F. W. S. Craig
 |title=British parliamentary election results 1918–1949
 |orig-year=1969
 |edition=3rd
 |year=1983
 |publisher= Parliamentary Research Services
 |location=Chichester
 |isbn= 0-900178-06-X
 |page = 164
}}</ref> and served until 1951. He became [[Chairman of Ways and Means]] and Deputy Speaker<ref>{{Cite Hansard|house=House of Commons |title=Chairman of Ways and Means and Deputy-Chairman |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1943/mar/10/chairman-of-ways-and-means-and-deputy |date=10 March 1943 |column=699}}</ref> and led the British Group of the [[Inter-Parliamentary Union]]. He was made a [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Counsellor]] in 1945.

In 1951, the [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the House of Commons]], [[Douglas Clifton Brown]], had stepped down. As Chairman of Ways and Means, Milner wanted to be Labour's first-ever Speaker. However, the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]], now the majority party, nominated [[William Morrison, 1st Viscount Dunrossil|William Morrison]]. The [[1951 Speaker of the British House of Commons election|vote]] went along party lines – the first time the post had been contested in the 20th century – and Milner lost.
As some compensation, he was elevated to the [[House of Lords]] as '''Baron Milner of Leeds''', of [[Roundhay]] in the [[City of Leeds]], on 20 December 1951.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=39414 |date=21 December 1951 |page=6650}}</ref> [[Denis Healey]] replaced him in the subsequent by-election.

==Honours==
* [[Military Cross]] and [[Medal bar|Bar]] (MC)
* [[1914–15 Star]]
* [[British War Medal]]
* [[Victory Medal (United Kingdom)|WWI Victory Medal]]
* [[Privy Council (United Kingdom)|Member of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council]] (PC) (1945)
* [[Freedom of the City]] of [[Leeds]] (1967)

{{Infobox COA wide
|escutcheon = Gules on a chevron Ermine between in chief two bits Or and in base a rose Argent barbed and seeded Proper a teazel Sable.
|crest = Perched on a sword with point to the dexter Proper and hilt and pommel Or an owl also Proper gorged with a collar Sable thereon three mullets Argent pendent therefrom a pair of scales and resting on the dexter claw a portcullis chained Or.
|supporters = On either side an owl Proper gorged with a collar Sable thereon three mullets Argent pendent therefrom a portcullis chained Or.
|motto = Do Right And Fear Nothing<ref>{{cite book|title=Debrett's Peerage |date=2019 |page=3645}}</ref>}}

==Personal life==
Milner married Lois Tinsdale Brown on 10 February 1917. They had three children:<ref>[http://thepeerage.com/p51340.htm#i513391 The peerage.com, entry for 1st Lord Milner of Leeds]</ref>

* [[The Honourable|Hon.]] (Lois Elizabeth Florence) Zaidée Milner (born 9 January 1919, died 1980)
* [[Michael Milner, 2nd Baron Milner of Leeds|(Arthur James) Michael Milner, 2nd Baron Milner of Leeds]] (born 12 September 1923, died 20 August 2003)
* Hon. Shelagh Mary Margaret Milner (born 8 March 1925)

Milner died in 1967 at the age of 77 and was succeeded in the barony by his only son, Michael. His remains are interred in the Garden of Remembrance at St John the Evangelist Church, [[Moor Allerton]], Leeds.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Sources ==
*{{cite book | title=The Times House of Commons 1929, 1931, 1935 | publisher=Politico's (reprint) | year=2003 | editor=Iain Dale | isbn=1-84275-033-X }}
*{{cite book | title=The Times House of Commons 1945 | year=1945 }}
*{{cite book | title=The Times House of Commons 1950 | year=1950 }}

== External links ==
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-james-milner| James Milner}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Henry Slesser|Sir Henry Slesser]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Leeds South East (UK Parliament constituency)|Leeds South East]]|years=[[1929 Leeds South East by-election|1929]]–[[1952 Leeds South East by-election|1951]]}}<!-- vacated seat in 1951, by-eln in 1952 -->
{{s-aft|after=[[Denis Healey]]}}
{{s-reg|uk}}
{{s-new|creation}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Baron Milner of Leeds]]|years=1951–1967|lords=1951–1967}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Michael Milner, 2nd Baron Milner of Leeds|Michael Milner]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Chairmen of Ways and Means}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milner of Leeds, James Milner, 1st Baron}}
[[Category:1889 births]]
[[Category:1967 deaths]]
[[Category:Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies|Milner, James]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1929–1931|Milner, James]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1931–1935|Milner, James]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1935–1945|Milner, James]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1945–1950|Milner, James]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1950–1951|Milner, James]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1951–1955|Milner, James]]
[[Category:UK MPs who were granted peerages|Milner, James]]
[[Category:Politics of Leeds]]
[[Category:Councillors in Leeds]]
[[Category:Labour Party (UK) hereditary peers]]
[[Category:Barons created by George VI]]
[[Category:Barons Milner of Leeds|1]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Leeds]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Devonshire Regiment officers]]
[[Category:Royal Army Service Corps officers]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Military Cross]]
[[Category:British solicitors]]
[[Category:Place of birth missing]]