Godfrey Collins
British politician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sir Godfrey Pattison Collins, KBE, CMG, PC (26 June 1875 – 13 October 1936) was a Scottish Liberal Party (and later National Liberal Party) politician.
Stanley Baldwin
Sir Godfrey Collins | |
|---|---|
| |
| Secretary of State for Scotland | |
| In office 28 September 1932 – 29 October 1936 | |
| Prime Minister | Ramsay MacDonald Stanley Baldwin |
| Preceded by | Archibald Sinclair |
| Succeeded by | Walter Elliot |
| Chief Whip of the Liberal Party | |
| In office 8 November 1924 – 4 November 1926 | |
| Deputy | Robert Hutchison |
| Leader | H. H. Asquith |
| Preceded by | Vivian Phillipps |
| Succeeded by | Robert Hutchison |
| Lord Commissioner of the Treasury | |
| In office 8 August 1919 – 10 February 1920 | |
| Prime Minister | David Lloyd George |
| Preceded by | John Pratt |
| Succeeded by | William Sutherland |
| Member of Parliament for Greenock | |
| In office 15 January 1910 – 13 October 1936 | |
| Preceded by | Halley Stewart |
| Succeeded by | Robert Gibson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Godfrey Pattison Collins 26 June 1875 |
| Died | 13 October 1936 (aged 61) |
| Party | National Liberal (1931–1936) |
Other political affiliations | Liberal (Before 1916, 1921–1931) Coalition Liberal (1916–1921)[1] |
Early life and career
He entered the Royal Navy in 1888 and was a midshipman, East Indian Station from 1890 to 1893.
Political career
He was elected as Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Greenock in 1910 and sat for the constituency until his death (from 1931 as a Liberal National).
He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to J. B. Seely, as Secretary of State for War from 1910 to 1914, and to J. W. Gulland, Chief Liberal Whip from 1915. He served in Egypt, Gallipoli, and Mesopotamia from 1915 to 1917, and was appointed a lieutenant-colonel in September 1916. He was a Junior Lord of the Treasury from 1919 to 1920 and Chief Liberal Whip from November 1924[2] to 1926.[3] From 1932 to 1936 he served as Secretary of State for Scotland.
As Secretary of State, he was responsible for over thirty Bills affecting Scotland, chiefly: a scheme for the creation of smallholdings, the Herring Industry Act of 1935 (establishing the Herring Industry Board), the Illegal Trawling (Scotland) Act, the Education (Scotland) Bill of 1936, which sought to raise the school leaving age to fifteen from 1939, and the Housing (Scotland) Act of 1935, which laid down a statutory standard of overcrowding and sought to effect widespread slum clearances and the building of low-rent accommodation for low-wage earners.
Elections contested
UK Parliament elections
| Date of election | Constituency | Party | Votes | % | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1910 (Jan) | Greenock | Liberal | 4,233 | 61.7 | Elected | |
| 1910 (Dec) | Greenock | Liberal | 4,338 | 59.8 | Elected | |
| 1918 | Greenock | Coalition Liberal | 10,933 | 48.0 | Elected[4] | |
| 1922 | Greenock | Liberal | 10,520 | 36.6 | Elected[4] | |
| 1923 | Greenock | Liberal | 16,337 | 61.3 | Elected[4] | |
| 1924 | Greenock | Liberal | 12,752 | 48.6 | Elected[4] | |
| 1929 | Greenock | Liberal | 11,190 | 32.5 | Elected[4] | |
| 1931 | Greenock | Liberal National | 18,013 | 51.1 | Elected[4] | |
| 1935 | Greenock | Liberal National | 20,299 | 52.7 | Elected[4] | |
Personal life
He was appointed a CMG in 1917, KBE in 1919 and a Privy Counsellor in 1932.