Harold Watkinson, 1st Viscount Watkinson

Harold Arthur Watkinson, 1st Viscount Watkinson PC CH ( * January 25, 1910, † 19 December 1995) was a British politician of the Conservative Party.

Life

After the visit of the Queen's College, Taunton Watkinson graduated in the fields of mechanical engineering and engineering science at King's College London. He then worked as an engineer and served as director of a machine tool factory. During the Second World War he served between 1939 and 1945 in the Naval Reserve, was there last promoted to Lieutenant Commander and was in this rank lecturer at a naval air defense school.

He was first elected as an MP in the House of Commons at the general election of 23 February 1950 and represented in this until 26 June 1964 Woking constituency. After the electoral victory of the Conservative Party in the general election on 25 October 1951, he was first Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, and then from 1952 to 1955 Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and National Service in the government of Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

During the subsequent governments of Prime Minister Anthony Eden and Harold Macmillan, he was from December 1955 to October 1959 Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, before he was defense minister in the 1962 government Macmillan last between October 1959 and July.

After retiring from the House, he was raised in 1964 as 1st Viscount Watkinson of Woking, in the County of Surrey in the peerage and thus belonged to until his death in the House of Lords. In addition, he participated in several positions in the private sector and was among other things, only from 1963 to 1969 and Managing Director from 1969 to 1974 chairman of Cadbury Schweppes, Ltd.. and 1976-1977 President of Confederation of British Industry Confederation of British Industry (CBI ). After his death his peerage fell, as he had only two daughters.