View source for John Wilmot, 1st Baron Wilmot of Selmeston

{{short description|British Labour Party politician (1893–1964)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name = The Lord Wilmot of Selmeston
| honorific-suffix =  [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|PC]]
| image         =Lord Wilmot.jpg
| imagesize =
| order1 = [[Minister of Aircraft Production]]
| term_start1 = 4 August 1945
| term_end1 = 1 April 1946
| primeminister1 = [[Clement Attlee]]
| predecessor1 = [[Ernest Brown (MP)|Ernest Brown]]
| successor1 = Office abolished
| order2 = [[Minister of Supply]]
| term_start2 = 3 August 1945
| term_end2 = 7 October 1947
| primeminister2 = [[Clement Attlee]]
| predecessor2 = [[Andrew Rae Duncan]]
| successor2 = [[George Strauss]]
| birth_name = John Charles Wilmot
| birth_date = {{birth-date|2 April 1893}}
| birth_place = London, England
| death_date = {{death-date and age|22 July 1964|2 April 1893}}
| death_place = London, England
| party = [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
| alma_mater = [[King's College London]]
| spouse =
}}
'''John Charles Wilmot, 1st Baron Wilmot of Selmeston''' [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|PC]] (2 April 1893 – 22 July 1964) was a [[British Labour Party]] politician. He served under [[Clement Attlee]] as [[Minister of Aircraft Production]] from 1945 to 1946 and as [[Minister of Supply]] from 1945 to 1947.
==Early life==
Wilmot was born in [[Woolwich]] in 1893. He was educated at Hither Green central school, and went on to pursue evening classes at [[Chelsea Polytechnic]] and at [[King's College London]].<ref name = Pimlott>{{cite ODNB|title = Wilmot, John Charles, Baron Wilmot of Selmeston (1893–1964), politician|doi = 10.1093/ref:odnb/36941|last = Pimlott|first = Ben|authorlink = Ben Pimlott|date = 2004}}</ref> He worked in banking and served in the [[Royal Naval Air Service]] during [[World War I]].<ref name = Pimlott/>
==Political career==
[[File:Longines Chronicles with Lord John Wilmot 1951 ARC-96117.ogv|thumb|1951 television interview]]
Wilmot was a member of the [[Independent Labour Party]] and the [[Fabian Society]] from age sixteen, and was a founder of the [[Lewisham]] Labour Party in 1919.<ref name = Pimlott/> After three previous failed attempts, he was elected as [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Fulham East]] at [[1933 Fulham East by-election|a by-election]] in 1933, but lost his seat at the [[1935 United Kingdom general election|1935 general election]].<ref name = Pimlott/><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Fcommons.htm |title=leighrayment.com House of Commons: Fairfield to Fylde South |access-date=14 September 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911195150/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Fcommons.htm |archive-date=11 September 2018 }}</ref> His victory in the Conservative-held seat at the by-election was something of a surprise. A correspondent reporting the result in ''The [[Glasgow Herald]]'' described his victory as "an unpleasant surprise", noting that while it was not expected that his Conservative opponent would hold the seat with "a large majority, there was a confident hope that he at least would win through. Certainly a Labour majority of 4840 was not in the picture." The same report argued various factors as bringing about his victory including apathy of Conservative and Liberal voters compared to the strong support he received from Labour electors. The report also argued that Germany's [[1933 German referendum|withdrawal from the League of Nations]] and the [[World Disarmament Conference]] had caused a "War scare" which Wilmot's supporters fully exploited to win votes, particularly from female voters in the constituency.<ref name="GH27101932p10">{{cite news |title=East Fulham Election. Some Causes of the Labour Victory. Effect of International Events |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19331027&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |accessdate=31 October 2020 |work=The Glasgow Herald |date=27 October 1933 |page=10}}</ref>
Wilmot was elected as an [[alderman]] of [[London County Council]] in November 1937, remaining a member until 1945.<ref>{{cite news|title=L.C.C. Estate at Tulse Hill|date=24 November 1937|work=[[The Times]]|page=11}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor=Stuart Ball|title=Parliament and politics in the age of Churchill and Attlee: the Headlam diaries, 1935–1951|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z8g5HdscI2kC&q=wilmot+London+County+Council&pg=PA432|series=Camden Fifth Series|year=1999|publisher=[[Royal Historical Society]] and [[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-0-521-66143-0|page=432}}</ref> He returned to the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] at another by-election, in 1939 as MP for [[Kennington (UK Parliament constituency)|Kennington]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Kcommons1.htm |title=leighrayment.com House of Commons: Keighley to Kilkenny |access-date=14 September 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002190829/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Kcommons1.htm |archive-date=2 October 2018 }}</ref> Wilmot was re-elected to Parliament at the [[1945 United Kingdom general election|1945 election]] for the [[Deptford (UK Parliament constituency)|Deptford constituency]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Dcommons1.htm |title=leighrayment.com House of Commons: Dagenham to Deritend |access-date=14 September 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003160938/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Dcommons1.htm |archive-date=3 October 2011 }}</ref> and served in [[Clement Attlee]]'s post-war government as [[Minister of Aircraft Production]] from 1945 to 1946, when that office was abolished, and as [[Minister of Supply]] from 1945 to 1947. He was admitted to the [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|Privy Council]] in 1945. He retired from the House of Commons at the [[1950 United Kingdom general election|1950 general election]] and was raised to the peerage as '''Baron Wilmot of Selmeston''', of Selmeston in the County of Sussex, on 30 January 1950.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=38841 |date=14 February 1950 |page=786 }}</ref>
==Personal life==
Wilmot married Elsa Slate in 1928. He died at [[St George's Hospital]] on 22 July 1964, aged 71.<ref name = Pimlott/>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-john-wilmot | John Wilmot }}
* {{Internet Archive film clip|id=gov.archives.arc.96117|description="Longines Chronoscope with Lord John Wilmot"}}
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{{s-par|uk}}
{{succession box
| title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Fulham East]]
| years  = [[1933 Fulham East by-election|1933]]–[[1935 United Kingdom general election|1935]]
| before = [[Kenyon Vaughan-Morgan|Sir Kenyon Vaughan-Morgan]]
| after  = [[William Astor, 3rd Viscount Astor|Hon. William Astor]]
}}
{{succession box
| title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Kennington (UK Parliament constituency)|Kennington]]
| years  = [[1939 Kennington by-election|1939]]–[[1945 United Kingdom general election|1945]]
| before = [[George Harvey (UK politician)|Sir George Harvey]]
| after  = [[Charles Gibson (British politician)|Charles Gibson]]
}}
{{succession box
| title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Deptford (UK Parliament constituency)|Deptford]]
| years  = [[1945 United Kingdom general election|1945]]–[[1950 United Kingdom general election|1950]]
| before = [[Walter Green (politician)|Walter Green]]
| after  = [[Jack Cooper, Baron Cooper of Stockton Heath|Jack Cooper]]
}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Ernest Brown (MP)|Ernest Brown]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Minister of Aircraft Production]] | years=1945–1946}}
{{s-non|reason=Office abolished}}
{{succession box
| title  = [[Minister of Supply]]
| years  = 1945–1947
| before = [[Andrew Rae Duncan|Andrew Duncan]]
| after  = [[George Strauss]]
}}
{{s-reg|uk}}
{{s-new | creation }}
{{s-ttl
| title  = [[Baron Wilmot of Selmeston]]
| years  = 1950–1964
}}
{{s-non | reason = Extinct }}
{{S-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilmot, John 1st Baron Wilmot of Selmeston}}
[[Category:1893 births|Wilmot, John Charles]]
[[Category:1964 deaths|Wilmot, John Charles]]
[[Category:Alumni of King's College London|Wilmot, John Charles]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Barons created by George VI]]
[[Category:Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies|Wilmot, John Charles]]
[[Category:Labour Party (UK) hereditary peers]]
[[Category:Members of London County Council]]
[[Category:Members of the Fabian Society]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Wilmot, John Charles]]
[[Category:Ministers in the Attlee governments, 1945–1951]]
[[Category:Ministers in the Churchill wartime government, 1940–1945]]
[[Category:Ministers of Supply]]
[[Category:People from Wealden District]]
[[Category:Royal Naval Air Service personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1931–1935|Wilmot, John Charles]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1935–1945|Wilmot, John Charles]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1945–1950|Wilmot, John Charles]]
[[Category:UK MPs who were granted peerages]]
[[Category:Military personnel from the Royal Borough of Greenwich]]
[[Category:People from Woolwich]]