Peter Macdonald

Who was Peter Macdonald?

Sir Peter Drummond Macdonald was a Canadian-born Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was Member of Parliament for the Isle of Wight from 1924 to 1959.

The son of Ronald A MacDonald, he was born in Nova Scotia and attended Dalhousie College in Halifax. He then travelled to the United Kingdom where he completed his education at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. During the First World War he served in France, reaching the rank of captain.

At the 1923 general election he was chosen by the Conservatives to contest the Isle of Wight constituency, and narrowly failed to unseat the sitting Liberal MP, J. E. B. Seely. Seely held the seat with a majority of 90 votes in a three-way contest, with the Labour Party candidate coming a distant third. When a further general election was called in 1924, MacDonald faced Seely in a straight fight. There was a marked swing to the Conservatives who secured a large majority, and MacDonald was comfortably elected to the House of Commons. He was parliamentary private secretary to Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister, President of the Board of Trade from 1928-1929.

During the Second World War, MacDonald saw service in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, reaching the rank of squadron leader.