Joseph Westwood

Joseph Westwood (11 February 1884 – 17 July 1948) was a Scottish Labour Party politician who was a Member of Parliament from 1922 until his death, and served as Secretary of State for Scotland from 1945 to 1947.

Background Westwood was born in Stourbridge, but grew up in Fife. He was educated at Buckhaven Higher Grade School, he worked as a draper's apprentice, messenger boy and miner. In addition to his personal indecision, Westwood was disadvantaged by the fact that the Attlee ministry of which he was a Cabinet member was highly centralised in pursuing its objectives, and appeals that were specifically Scottish (or Welsh, or of a particular English region) were distrusted and generally disregarded by the Government. Consequently, Westwood struggled to secure Cabinet backing for specifically Scottish measures in a way that his recent predecessors, most notably Tom Johnston, did not.

Personal life and death In 1906, he married Frances Scarlett, and they had eight children. He and his wife died in a car accident in Strathmiglo, Fife, on 17 July 1948, and they were buried at Dysart Cemetery.