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Archibald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso
(22 October 1890 – 15 June 1970) was a Scottish politician and leader of the
Liberal Party
. After an education at the
Royal Military College, Sandhurst
, Sinclair served on the
Western Front
during the
First World War
, rising to the rank of
Major
and working under
J. E. B. Seely
and
Winston Churchill
. After the war he worked with Churchill again when the latter was
Secretary of State for War
and
Secretary of State for the Colonies
. Sinclair entered the
House of Commons
as a Liberal MP in 1922, rising to become the party's
Chief Whip
by 1930. When the Liberal Party joined the
National Government of Ramsay MacDonald
in 1931, Sinclair was appointed
Secretary of State for Scotland
, holding the post until his party resigned from the government in 1932. He took over as Liberal Party leader in 1935 after incumbent
Herbert Samuel
lost his seat in the election. Sinclair returned to government as
Secretary of State for Air
in 1940, under Churchill's
all-party Second World War coalition government
. In this role he worked with the
Royal Air Force
(RAF) to plan the
Battle of Britain
. Sinclair remained a minister until the end of the coalition in 1945, but then lost his seat in
the 1945 general election
. He was elevated to the
House of Lords
in 1952. This portrait of Sinclair was taken by the RAF official photographer during the Second World War.
Photograph credit:
Royal Air Force
official photographer
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