Herbert Butcher

Who was Herbert Butcher?

Sir Herbert Walter Butcher, 1st Baronet was an English Conservative and National Liberal politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1937 to 1966.

Butcher was the son of Frank Butcher. He was educated at a London County Council elementary school, and served in the Royal Navy during World War I, from 1916 to 1919. He was as a Hackney Borough Councillor from 1928 to 1961, serving as Mayor of Hackney in from 1935 to 1937.

He was elected as the Member of Parliament for Holland with Boston at a by-election in June 1937, after the death of the National Liberal MP Sir James Blindell. He held the seat at the next six general elections until his retirement at the 1966 general election, when Richard Body was elected as his successor.

From 1950 to 1951, Butcher was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Civil Lord of the Admiralty, Walter "Stoker" Edwards. after serving as a Lord of the Treasury from 1951 to 1953. In 1958, he advised his friend and parliamentary colleague John Poulson to set up a servicing company to win business for his architect's practice. After 29 years as an MP, Butcher died less than two months after his retirement.