Charles George Percy Delacourt-Smith, Baron Delacourt-Smith PC, JP (25 April 1917 – 2 August 1972),[1] commonly known as George Delacourt-Smith was a British trade unionist and Labour Party politician.
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Born in Windsor and named after his father, he was the only son of Charles Smith and his wife Ethel.[2] He was educated at The Windsor Boys' School and went then to Wadham College, Oxford, graduating with a Master of Arts[3]
Delacourt-Smith worked as librarian for the Oxford Union Society until 1938, when he became employed at the New Fabian Research Bureau as a research assistant.[2] In 1939, he came to the Civil Service Clerical Association and was an assistant secretary until 1953.[2] Subsequently he joined the Post Office Engineering Union, serving as its general secretary for the rest of his life.[1] In 1960, he was nominated a Justice of the Peace, assigned to the County of London.[2]
Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Delacourt-Smith entered the Royal Engineers in July 1940.[2] He was commissioned in January 1943 and was transferred to the Royal Army Service Corps, where he was promoted to captain and was mentioned in despatches.[3] After the end of the war Delacourt-Smith was admitted to the British House of Commons in 1945, having been elected for Colchester.[3] He represented the constituency until 1950 and during this time was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Philip Noel-Baker in the latter's capacity as Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations.[3] In 1947, he was chosen a executive member of Labour's Research Department, a position he held for the next four years.[2]
Delacourt-Smith was created a life peer as Baron Delacourt-Smith, of New Windsor, in the Royal County of Berkshire in 1967 and thus was ennabled to a seat in the House of Lords.[4] Two years later he was appointed Minister of State for Technology and on this occasion sworn of the Privy Council.[1] In 1970, when the Conservative Party took office he was replaced as Minister.[1]
In 1939, he married Margaret, the daughter of Frederick Hando.[5] They both had two sons and a daughter.[5] Together with his family, he assumed the additional surname Delacourt by a deed poll in 1967.[6] He died at Windsor in 1972, being survived by his wife.[5] Two years after his death she received a life peerage in her own right.[7] He and his wife both held noble titles in their own right.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Oswald Lewis |
Member of Parliament for Colchester 1945–1950 |
Succeeded by Cuthbert Alport |
| Non-profit organization positions | ||
| Preceded by D. J. W. Coward |
General Secretary of the Post Office Engineering Union 1953–1972 |
Succeeded by Bryan Stanley |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Reg Prentice Joseph Mallalieu |
Minister of State for Technology 1969–1970 With: Eric Varley |
Succeeded by Sir John Eden The Earl of Bessborough |