During its history, the United Kingdom (and previously the Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland and Kingdom of Ireland) has seen many families who have repeatedly produced notable politicians, and consequently such families have had a significant impact on politics in the British Isles.
Certain families, such as the Cecils, owe their long-standing political influence to the composition and role of the House of Lords, which was still mainly composed of hereditary legislators until the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999. Other families, such as the Longs, have had a long tradition of standing for elected office, usually in the House of Commons. Many such families were part of the landed gentry, who often exerted political control in a certain locality over many generations.
Leo Amery (1873–1955), Conservative MP for Birmingham Sparkbrook 1911–1945, Secretary of State
Julian Amery (1919–1996), Conservative MP for Preston North 1950–1966, Brighton Pavilion 1969–1992, Secretary of State for Air; son of Leo; also son-in-law of Harold Macmillan (see below)
Timothy Beaumont, Baron Beaumont of Whitley (1928–2008), clergyman, publisher and politician, son of Michael Beaumont and grandson of Joseph Albert Pease (below), Liberal, Liberal Democrat and from 1999 Green Party member of the House of Lords 1967–2008
Hon. Emily Benn (born 1989), Labour Westminster candidate for East Worthing and Shoreham in 2010 and for Croydon South in 2015; Croydon London Borough Councillor 2014–2016. Daughter of Stephen.
Sir Rowland Blennerhassett, 4th Baronet (1839–1909), Liberal MP for Galway Borough (1865–1874) and Kerry (1880–1885), great-great-great-nephew of the above.
Virginia Bottomley, Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone (1948–), South West Surrey 1984–2005 and life peer. Spouse of Peter.[1] Daughter of Barbara Garnett (Conservative member of ILEA) and niece of Peggy Jay (Labour member of GLC) and Douglas Jay MP.
Kitty Ussher (1971–), MP 1971–. Granddaughter of James, niece of Peter.[1]
Laura Bonham Carter, daughter of Violet Bonham Carter and married to Jo Grimond (1913–1983), MP for Orkney and Shetland 1950–1983, Leader of the Liberal Party 1956–1967 and created life peer (1983)
Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire (1833–1908), Liberal then Liberal Unionist MP for Lancashire North 1857–1868, Radnor 1869–1880, Lancashire Northeast 1880–1885 and Rossendale 1885–1891, later 8th Duke of Devonshire, asked three times to be prime minister. Son of 7th Duke.
James Chichester-Clark, Baron Moyola, son of James, grandson of Robert and Dehra, Stormont MP for South Londonderry 1960–1972 and Prime Minister of Northern Ireland 1969-1971
Dehra Parker (nee Kerr-Fisher, then Chichester), Stormont MP for Londonderry 1921-1929 and for South Londonderry 1933-1960, wife of Robert, mother-in-law of James LC CC, grandmother of James and Robin
Tamsin Dunwoody, Welsh Assembly Member (2003–2007), Deputy Minister for Enterprise, Innovation and Networks (January 2005 – 2007), Deputy Minister for Environment, Planning & Countryside (October 2005 – 2007) Welsh Assembly Government, their daughter
Ivor Churchill Guest, 1st Viscount Wimborne (1873–1939), Conservative MP for Plymouth, he later accompanied his cousin Winston Churchill into the Liberal Party and sat as Liberal MP for Cardiff, government minister and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 1915–1918. Son of Ivor.
Henry Guest (1874–1957), Liberal and later Liberal National MP for four different constituencies between 1910 and 1945. Son of Ivor.
Sir Henry "Chips" Channon, son-in-law of Rupert and Gwendolen Guinness, MP for Southend from 1927 to 1950 and then of Southend West, one of its successor seats, from 1950 to his death in 1958
Barnett Janner, Baron Janner (1892–1982), MP for Whitechapel and St Georges (1931–35), MP for Leicester West (1945–50), MP for Leicester North West (1950–1970), Labour life peer
All of the Longs in this list are related to each other, sharing a common ancestor. Walter, the 1st Viscount Long stated in his autobiography in 1923, that there was an unbroken line of Longs serving Parliament in the House of Commons for about 300 years. This list spans 555 years.
Sir Robert Long, 1st Baronet MP for Devizes in 1626 and 1628–29, for Midhurst in 1640, for Tewkesbury in 1659 and Boroughbridge from 1661 to 1673. Also Secretary of State and Auditor of the Exchequer to Charles II.
Sir James Long, 5th Baronet MP for Chippenham in 1705, 1707, 1708, and 1710, and MP for Wootton Bassett in 1714. Grandson of Sir James, 2nd Bt.
Sir Robert Long, 6th Baronet MP for Wootton Bassett in 1734, and MP for Wiltshire in 1741. Son of Sir James, 5th Bt.
Richard Godolphin Long MP for Wiltshire 1806–18. Grandson of Richard Long (MP 1734–1741).
Walter Long Member for North Wiltshire from 1835 to 1865. Son of Richard Godolphin Long.
Richard Penruddocke Long MP for Chippenham 1859–65 and MP for North Wiltshire 1865–68. Son of Walter above.
Walter Long, 1st Viscount Long MP for North Wiltshire 1880–85, MP for Devizes 1885–92, MP for Liverpool West Derby 1893–1900, MP for Bristol South 1900–06, MP for South Dublin 1906–10, MP for Strand 1910–18, and MP for St George's 1918–21. Also served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board, President of the Board of Agriculture, President of the Local Government Board, Chief Secretary for Ireland, leader of the Irish Unionist Parliamentary Party, First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire. Son of R.P Long above.
David Cunliffe-Lister, 2nd Earl of Swinton Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Lords under Margaret Thatcher 1982–1986. Government spokesman on agriculture and education 1983–1986. Great-great-great-grandson of Richard Godolphin Long.
Harold Macmillan (1894–1986), MP for Stockton-on-Tees 1924–29, 1931–45, Bromley 1945–64, Prime Minister 1957–63, later Earl of Stockton. Married Dorothy Cavendish, daughter of Victor.
Maurice Macmillan (1921–1984), MP for Halifax 1955–64, Farnham 1966–83, South West Surrey 1983–84, Secretary of State; son of Harold
Herbert Morrison (1888–1965), Labour MP 1920s – 1950s, held various senior positions including Chair of the Labour Party and Leader of London County Council, later Cabinet Minister 1940–1951, as Deputy Prime Minister 1945–1951 and spells as variously Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons
Peter Mandelson (born 1953), Labour MP for Hartlepool (1992–2004), Cabinet Minister 1998 and as Northern Ireland Secretary 1999–2001, European Commissioner for Trade 2004–2008, Cabinet Minister 2008 – 10; grandson of Herbert Morrison
Edmund Backhouse (1824–1906), Quaker banker, second cousin, wife's nephew, and business associate of Joseph Pease, Liberal MP for Darlington, 1867–1880
Sir Theodore Fry, first baronet (1836–1912), Quaker industrialist, married to Sophia Pease (niece of Joseph and Henry Pease), Liberal MP for Darlington, 1880–1895
Arthur Pease (1837–1898), coal and ironstone mine-owner, son of Joseph Pease, Liberal MP for Whitby, 1880–1885 and for Darlington, 1895–1898
Sir Alfred Edward Pease, second baronet (1857–1939), politician and sportsman, elder son of Sir Joseph Whitwell Pease, Liberal MP for York, 1885–1892 and for the Cleveland division of the North Riding from 1897 to 1902
Herbert Pike Pease first Baron Daryngton (1867–1949), son of Arthur Pease, MP for Darlington, sitting as a Liberal Unionist and then a Unionist 1898–1910, as a Conservative 1910–1923, and in the House of Lords 1923–1949.
Timothy Beaumont, Baron Beaumont of Whitley (1928–2008), clergyman, publisher and politician, grandson of Joseph Albert Pease, Liberal, Liberal Democrat and from 1999 Green Party member of the House of Lords 1967–2008
Spencer Perceval MP for Northampton 1796–1812, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1807–1812, Leader of the House of Commons 1807–1812, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1807–1812, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1809–1812. Son of John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont.
John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford (1766–1839), younger son of the Marquess of Tavistock. Whig politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1806–1807
Lord John Russell, 1st Earl Russell (1792–1878), 1st Earl Russell, third son of the 6th Duke of Bedford. Whig and Liberal Prime Minister (1846–1852, 1865–1866) and Foreign Secretary (1852–1853, 1859–1865)
Frank Russell, 2nd Earl Russell (1865–1931), 2nd Earl Russell, eldest grandson of PM Lord John Russell, brother of Bertrand Russell. First peer to join the Labour Party and Labour's Leader in the House of Lords. He was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport and Under-Secretary of State for India in Ramsay MacDonald's government 1929–1931
Conrad Russell, 5th Earl Russell (1937–2004), second son of Bertrand Russell. He was the first parliamentarian to take his seat as a Liberal Democrat (in the House of Lords), shortly after the party was formed in 1988 from a merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party. Lord Russell was elected at the top of his party's list of hereditary peers to retain their seats after all but 92 hereditary peers were removed from the House of Lords in 1999.
Francis Russell, 7th Duke of Bedford (1788–1861), eldest son of the 6th Duke of Bedford. Whig MP for Peterborough (1809–1812) and Bedfordshire (1812–1832)
John Archibald Sinclair, 3rd Viscount Thurso, known as John Thurso (b. 1953), grandson of the 1st Viscount. Scottish Liberal Democrat MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross 2001–2015. The first British hereditary peer allowed to sit in the Commons without first disclaiming his title (possible because of the exclusion of hereditary peers from the House of Lords in 1999). Excepted hereditary peer.
Veronica Linklater (b. 1943), Baroness Linklater of Butterstone, granddaughter of the 1st Viscount. Liberal Democrat life peer since 1997.
Smiles
Sir Walter Smiles, Conservative MP for Blackburn 1931–45, Ulster Unionist MP for Down, then North Down 1945–53
Sir William Spring, 1st Baronet of Pakenham (1613–1654), MP for Bury St Edmunds (1646–8) and Suffolk (1654), High Sheriff of Suffolk (1641). Son of William.[67]
Thomas Spring of Castlemaine (died 1597), High Sheriff of Kerry (1592). Uncle of William through his brother Thomas.
Thomas Spring Rice, 1st Baron Monteagle of Brandon (1790–1866), Whig politician, MP for Limerick City (1820–32), MP for Cambridge (1832–39), Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (1834), Chancellor of the Exchequer (1835–39), great-great-grandson of Thomas Spring of Castlemaine
Sir Stephen de Vere, 4th Baronet (1812–1904), MP for County Limerick (1854–1859), High Sheriff of County Limerick (1870), nephew of the 1st Baron
William Brownlow (1921–1998), Unionist politician, MP for North Down (1959–62), brother-in-law of the 6th Baron
Sir Cecil Spring Rice (1859–1918), British Ambassador to the United States (1912–1918), grandson of 1st Baron Monteagle of Brandon
Sir Francis Spring (1849–1933), British colonial civil servant and politician, Member of the Madras Legislative Council
Sir Thomas Spring (1822–1905), Unionist politician, High Sheriff of Tipperary (1890)
Richard Spring, Baron Risby (born 1946), Conservative MP for Bury St Edmunds (1983–1997) and West Suffolk (1997–2010), Trade Envoy to Algeria (2012–present), Conservative peer, great-grandson of Sir Thomas Spring
1 2 Crowley, Francis Keble (1988). "Smith, Sir Gerard (1839–1920)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol.11. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
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