John Wilmot, 1st Baron Wilmot of Selmeston

John Charles Wilmot, 1st Baron Wilmot of Selmeston 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.

The Right Honourable The Lord Wilmot of Selmeston PC
Minister of Aircraft Production
In office 4 August 1945 – 1 April 1946
Prime Minister	Clement Attlee
Preceded by	Ernest Brown
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Minister of Supply
In office 3 August 1945 – 7 October 1947
Prime Minister	Clement Attlee
Preceded by	Andrew Duncan
Succeeded by	George Strauss
Member of Parliament for Deptford
In office 25 July 1945 – 30 January 1950
Preceded by	Walter Green
Succeeded by	Jack Cooper
Member of Parliament for Kennington
In office 24 May 1939 – 5 July 1945
Preceded by	George Harvey
Succeeded by	Charles Gibson
Member of Parliament for Fulham East
In office 23 October 1933 – 14 November 1935
Preceded by	Kenyon Vaughan-Morgan
Succeeded by	William Astor
Personal details
Born	John Charles Wilmot 2 April 1893 (1893-04-02) London, England
Died	22 July 1964 (1964-07-23) (aged 71) London, England
Political party	Labour
Alma mater	King's College London

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.^[1] He worked in banking and served in the Royal Naval Air Service during World War I.^[1]

Political career

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.^[1] After three previous failed attempts, he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Fulham East at a by-election in 1933, but lost his seat at the 1935 general election.^[1][2] 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 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.^[3]

Wilmot was elected as an alderman of London County Council in November 1937, remaining a member until 1945.^[4][5] He returned to the House of Commons at another by-election, in 1939 as MP for Kennington.^[6] Wilmot was re-elected to Parliament at the 1945 election for the Deptford constituency,^[7] 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 Privy Council in 1945. He retired from the House of Commons at the 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.^[8]

Personal life

Wilmot married Elsa Slate in 1928. He died at St George's Hospital on 22 July 1964, aged 71.^[1]