James Milner, 1st Baron Milner of Leeds

James Milner, 1st Baron Milner of Leeds, (12 August 1889 – 16 July 1967), was a British Labour Party politician.

Early life Milner was educated at the University of Leeds and became a solicitor. He was a major in World War I and was wounded, awarded the Military Cross and bar for his service.

Political career He was a Leeds City Councillor and Deputy Lord Mayor of Leeds in 1928, and was also Chairman of Leeds Labour Party and President of Leeds Law Society. He later became deputy-lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire.

He was elected as the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds South East at a by-election in August 1929, and served until 1951. He became Chairman of Ways and Means and Deputy Speaker and led the British Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1945.

In 1951, the Speaker of the House of Commons, Douglas Clifton Brown, had stepped down. As Chairman of Ways and Means, Milner wanted to be Labour's first-ever Speaker. However, the Conservatives, now the majority party, nominated William Morrison. The vote went along party lines – the first time the post had been contested in the 20th century – and Milner lost.

As some compensation, he was elevated to the House of Lords as Baron Milner of Leeds, of Roundhay in the City of Leeds, on 20 December 1951. Denis Healey replaced him in the subsequent by-election.

Honours Military Cross and Bar (MC) 1914–15 Star British War Medal WWI Victory Medal Member of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council (PC) (1945) Freedom of the City of Leeds (1967)

Personal life Milner married Lois Tinsdale Brown on 10 February 1917. They had three children:

Hon. (Lois Elizabeth Florence) Zaidée Milner (born 9 January 1919, died 1980) (Arthur James) Michael Milner, 2nd Baron Milner of Leeds (born 12 September 1923, died 20 August 2003) Hon. Shelagh Mary Margaret Milner (born 8 March 1925)

Milner died in 1967 at the age of 77 and was succeeded in the barony by his only son, Michael. His remains and those of his daughter Zaidée are interred in the Garden of Remembrance at St John the Evangelist Church, Moor Allerton, Leeds.