George Ward, 1st Viscount Ward of Witley

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George Reginald Ward, 1st Viscount Ward of Witley, PC (20 November 1907-15 June 1988), was a British Conservative politician. He served as Secretary of State for Air from 1957 to 1960.

Ward was the fourth and youngest son of William Humble Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley, and Rachel Gurney. He was educated at Lancing College and then New College, Oxford. He served in the Second World War as an RAF Group Captain. In 1945 he was elected to the House of Commons for Worcester, a seat he held until 1960, and served under Winston Churchill and Anthony Eden as Under-Secretary of State for Air from 1952 to 1955 and as Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty from 1955 to 1957. When Harold Macmillan became Prime Minister in January 1957 he was appointed Secretary of State for Air, which he remained until October 1960. Ward was admitted to the Privy Council in 1957 and in 1960 he was raised to the peerage as Viscount Ward of Witley, of Great Witley in the County of Worcester.

Lord Ward of Whitley married firstly Anne Diana France Aysham Capell, daughter of Arthur Edward Capell, in 1940. They had two children, one son and one daughter, but were divorced in 1951. He married secondly Barbara Mary Colonsay McNeill, daughter of Ronald Frank Rous McNeill, in 1962. Lord Ward of Witley died in June 1988, aged 80. His only son Anthony Giles Humble Ward had predeceased him and as a result his title became extinct on his death.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by William Pomeroyd Crawford Greene	Member of Parliament for Worcester 1945–1960	Succeeded by Peter Walker
Political offices
Preceded by Nigel Birch	Under-Secretary of State for Air 1952–1955	Succeeded by Christopher Soames
Preceded by Allan Noble	Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty 1955–1957	Succeeded by Christopher Soames
Preceded by Nigel Birch	Secretary of State for Air 1957–1960	Succeeded by Julian Amery
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by New Creation	Viscount Ward of Witley 1960–1988	Succeeded by Extinct