Geoffrey Fitz Clarence, 5th Earl of Munster - Political Career

Political Career

Munster succeeded his uncle as fifth Earl of Munster in 1928 and took his seat on the Conservative benches in the House of Lords. In 1934 he was appointed a Lord-in-Waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) in the National Government of Ramsay Macdonald, a post he held until 1938, the last three years under the premiership firstly of Stanley Baldwin and secondly of Neville Chamberlain. In June 1938 Chamberlain appointed Munster Paymaster-General, an office he held until January 1939, when he was made Under-Secretary of State for War. He remained in this position until September 1939.

Munster returned to the government in January 1943 when Winston Churchill appointed him Parliamentary Secretary for India and Burma, a post he held until October 1944, and then served as Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department until July 1945 when Labour came to power. When Churchill became Prime Minister for a second time in 1951 Munster was appointed Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, an office he retained until 1954, and was then Minister without Portfolio between 1954 and 1957. In 1954 he was admitted to the Privy Council. Apart from his political career he was also Lord Lieutenant of Surrey from 1957 to 1973. In 1957 he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE).