Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home

Born in the family of Charles Cospatrick Archibald Douglas-Home (known as Lord Dunglass to 30 Apr 1918, and as the 13th Earl of Home 30 Apr 1918 - 11 Jul 1951), whose family was the Scottish landowners since the 13th century; received a degree in modern history from Christ Church College, Oxford (1922-1925); was defeated in the General Election by sitting Labour MP for Coatbridge (1929); elected to Parliament as MP for Lanark (1931-1945) from the Conservative Party; served under Neville Chamberlain as Parliamentary Private Secretary, accompanying him to Munich to meet Adolf Hitler in September 1938; volunteered for military service during World War II, but was rejected on medical grounds; briefly served as Joint Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (26 May 1945 - 4 Aug 1945) in the second administration of Winston Spencer-Churchill, but he lost his office and a seat in the House of Commons following the Labour victory in the General Election; became President of the Scottish Unionist Party (1948); was returned as MP again in the 1950 General Election (MP for Lanark 1950-1951), but went to the House of Lords on the death of his father; served as Minister of State, Scottish Office (2 Nov 1951 - 7 Apr 1955); sworn in as a member of the U.K. Privy Council (14 Nov 1951); was appointed Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations (12 Apr 1955 - Jul 1960); served as Lord President of the Council (1 Apr 1957 - 23 Sep 1957, 19 Oct 1959 - 28 Jul 1960) and as Leader of the House of Lords (29 Mar 1957 - 27 Jul 1960) in the government of Harold Macmillan; assumed the office of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (28 Jul 1960 - 21 Oct 1963), criticizing the Soviet expansionism and supporting the U.S. in the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962); following the announcement of Macmillan on his plans to resign (10 Oct 1963), Douglas-Home was persuaded to stand up for the leadership as a compromise figure; acting on Macmillan's advice, Queen Elizabeth II summoned him to form a government (18 Oct 1963), but he requested time for consultations; after another audience with the Queen (19 Oct 1963), he was appointed Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury; became the first person to disclaim his peerage (23 Oct 1963) in order to be elected to the House of Commons and won a by-election becoming MP for the third time (MP for Kinross and West Pertshire, 1963-1975); was elected Leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party (11 Nov 1963 - 2 Aug 1965); was not successful as Prime Minister and his adequacy in economic affairs was questioned; failed to achieve improvements in the growth of national economy and estranged Conservative backbenchers by introducing the Resale Prices Bill aimed against price-fixing; held talks on independence of Southern Rhodesia (Jan 1964), but it proved to be inconclusive; the General Election of 1964 brought a Conservative defeat (15 Oct 1964: Labour 317, Conservative and associates 304, Liberal 9) and Douglas-Home resigned on 16 Oct 1964; tendered his resignation as party leader (22 Jul 1965) and was finally replaced with Edward Heath (2 Aug 1965) at a party conference at Westminster; when Heath became Prime Minister in 1970, Douglas-Home was appointed Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwelath Affairs (22 Jun 1970 - 5 Mar 1974); was raised to the peerage (19 Dec 1974) as Baron Home of the Hirsel; returned to the House of Lords as a life peer (1975-1995). Biography sources: [10]