Donald Maclean
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the hockey player, see Donald MacLean (hockey player)
- For the British Soviet spy, see Donald Duart Maclean
Sir Donald Maclean (January 9, 1864 – June 15, 1932), was a Liberal politician in the United Kingdom.
Born in Farnworth, Bolton, Lancashire, he was the eldest son of John Maclean, a cordwainer originally of Kilmoluag, in the Inner Hebrides, and his wife Agnes Macmellin Maclean.
Maclean practised as a solicitor before becoming a Liberal Member of Parliament. He represented a number of constituencies, first Bath (1906-1910), next Peebles and Selkirk (1910-1918), Peebles and South Midlothian (1918-1922), and finally the Northern Division of Cornwall from 1929 to 1932.
He was knighted and became a Privy Councillor in 1916, and was Leader of the Liberal Parliamentary Party from 1918 to 1922, as the nominal leader of the Liberal Party, Herbert Henry Asquith had lost his seat in the House of Commons. For two years he also served as Leader of the Opposition, while Labour had no official leader and Sinn Féin refused to participate in parliamentary government.
Towards the end of his life, Maclean joined the National Government, a coalition. He served as President of the Board of Education from 1931 to 1932, when he died from cardiovascular disease at the age of sixty-eight.
Maclean is buried with his wife, Gwendolen, and his eldest son, Ian, in the churchyard of Holy Trinity Church, Penn, Buckinghamshire. Another of his four sons was the diplomat and spy, Donald Duart Maclean.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Herbert Henry Asquith | Leader of the Opposition 1918–1920 | Succeeded by: Herbert Henry Asquith |
| Preceded by: Hastings Lees-Smith | President of the Board of Education 1931–1932 | Succeeded by: The Lord Irwin |
| Leaders of the Liberal Party | ||
| 1859-1916 | House of Lords: Granville | Russell | Granville | Kimberley | Rosebery | Kimberley | Ripon | Crewe House of Commons: Palmerston | Gladstone | Hartington | Gladstone | Harcourt | Campbell-Bannerman | Asquith | |
| 1916-1988 | Asquith | Maclean | Asquith | Lloyd George | Samuel | Sinclair | Davies | Grimond | Thorpe | Grimond | Steel | |
Categories: 1864 births | 1932 deaths | Members of the United Kingdom Parliament from English constituencies | Members of the United Kingdom Parliament from Scottish constituencies | Deaths from cardiovascular disease | Presidents of the UK Liberal Party | Liberal MPs (UK) | Leaders of the British Liberal Party | People from Farnworth | British MP stubs
