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Edward Turnour, 6th Earl Winterton




He was first elected for Horsham in a by-election in 1904 at the age of just 21, the youngest MP in the Commons, and remain an MP for the next 47 years. Sitting as a Conservative , Winterton would slowly rise through the ranks, later achieving ministerial office as Parliamentary Under-Secretary Of State for India in 1921 . In 1924 he was sworn of the Privy Council , but it was not until 1937 when he achieved full ministerial office, and even then as Chancellor Of The Duchy Of Lancaster . In 1938 he was promoted to the Cabinet and given the job of speaking in the House of Commons of behalf of the Secretary Of State For Air Viscount Swinton . However in this role he proved a noted failure, especially in a heated debate in May 1938 which led to Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain concluding that the Secretary of State for Air must be an MP. Winterton was increasingly sidelined and the following year he was dropped from the Cabinet and served in the marginal post of Paymaster-General before leaving the government altogether.

Winterton remained a Member Of Parliament until 1951 , by which time he was the MP with the longest continuous service. Since Winterton was an Irish peer, he was not entitled to an automatic seat in the House Of Lords , however, in 1952 he was created Baron Turnour in the Peerage Of The United Kingdom to allow him to sit in that body. This peerage became extinct upon his death, but his Irish peerage was able to pass to more distant relatives.