William Sutherland

Who was William Sutherland?

Sir William Sutherland, KCB PC was a Scottish civil servant, Liberal Party politician and colliery owner. He was closely associated with Prime Minister David Lloyd George serving as his private and press secretary and later as his Parliamentary Private Secretary. He was one of Lloyd George’s go-betweens in the sale of honours for the Lloyd George Fund. In his dealings with the press he would certainly have been labelled a spin doctor if that phrase had had currency in the early twentieth century, indeed he has recently been described as "the first of the modern spin doctors".