Sir James Hutchison, 1st Baronet

Sir James Riley Holt Hutchison, 1st Baronet, DSO, TD, JP (10 April 1893 – 24 February 1979) was a British army officer, company director and politician. He was the son of a Scottish shipowner and spent his commercial life in the same field and as a director of shipbuilders, but fought in both World Wars during a long military career. He distinguished himself as the principal British liaison officer with the French Resistance during the Second World War in which he needed plastic surgery to disguise his appearance from the Germans; he was nicknamed the "Pimpernel of the Maquis". At the end of the Second World War he was elected as a Unionist Member of Parliament in Glasgow, and although the city was turning against his party he enjoyed a 14-year Parliamentary career.

First World War service Hutchison's father, Thomas Holt Hutchison (1861-1918), was a shipowner and Glasgow magistrate who had a love of the sea and the shipping business; he was to pass on the same attitudes to his son. He was sent to Stanmore Park Preparatory School followed by Harrow School for his education, followed by some study in France, before joining the family firm at the age of 19 in 1912. He was still learning the trade when the outbreak of the First World War led him to obtain a commission in the Lanarkshire Yeomanry. Hutchison was later attached to the 19th Lancers (Fane's Horse) in France and in 1917 to the 17th Cavalry of the Indian Army in India, and served throughout the war. Hutchison kept up his connections with the Lanarkshire Yeomanry and three decades later was appointed as the regiment's honorary colonel. and became chairman of the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company, Hutchison and Craft Ltd, and Grampian Holdings, and also a Director of the Tayside Floorcloth Company Ltd. In the circumstances of the election (where the Conservatives lost 180 seats), Hutchison did well to win by 1,516 although the swing in Glasgow was much less than elsewhere.

Without delay Hutchison made his maiden speech in the debate on the King's Speech, lauding the United Kingdom for leading the progress of the peoples of the world along the road of social improvement, and calling for a minimum wage and maximum working day to be imposed on the defeated nations. In the crunch vote in December 1945 on whether to accept the Anglo-American loan, Hutchison abstained, explaining in a letter to The Times that the legislation was "disgracefully rushed" and there was too little time for examination and debate.

Attitude to nationalisation Hutchison was concerned by the Government's Civil Aviation Bill, particularly in its effect on Prestwick Airport which he feared would be "[chucked] overboard". In July 1946 Hutchison reminded Prime Minister Clement Attlee that there were hundreds of ex-officers who had trained with the resistance movements, and suggested using some to help defeat terrorism in Palestine by both Arabs and Jews. He was an instinctive opponent of nationalisation, particularly of the electricity generation industry which he regarded as efficient and prudent.

Industry When the Government announced the end of the British mandate in Palestine, Hutchison thought the territory would be dynamite, and foresaw an impossible position with a Jewish police in Tel Aviv and an Arab police force in Jaffa. He was an active opponent of the nationalisation of Iron and Steel, serving on the Standing Committee examining the Iron and Steel Bill where he unsuccessfully pressed for a requirement that one member of the corporation running the industry should be from Scotland and one from Wales.

Hutchison had concentrated on industrial matters during his time in Parliament, opposing regulations which restricted business freedom on matters such as price control. He insisted that these Orders were "full of vice" and questioned their legality. He had continued his business career and was National President of the Incorporated Sales Managers' Association from 1949.

Defeat and quick return At the 1950 general election, Hutchison found his undersized constituency expanded to the east, taking in mostly Labour voters, but he was thought to be in much more difficulty from the abolition of the vote for business premises. Hutchison ended up losing by 3,004 votes.

In August 1950, Sir Arthur Young, Unionist MP for the Scotstoun division in the north-west of Glasgow, died. Hutchison was selected to follow him in defending a majority of 239. After a close contest, Hutchison held the seat with an increased majority of 1,319. He pitched back into partisan debate, arguing at the 1951 budget that the Government would not have had to increase income tax if it had been able to collect all the taxes which were due. He later insisted that enterprise and commercial courage were threatened by the budget.

War Office Although his majority was reduced to 625 in the 1951 general election, With his post he was ex-officio Vice-Chairman of the Army Council Hutchison supported the controversial move to German rearmament in 1952, arguing that Germany should bear some of the burden of providing her own defence.

In 1953 Hutchison initiated a reorganisation of British Anti-Aircraft Command, which reduced the number of heavy anti-aircraft units, and transferred some Territorial Army anti-aircraft units to the field force. He left office in October 1954, succeeded by fellow Scottish military officer Fitzroy Maclean. After his return to the backbenches, Hutchison resumed making partisan speeches; in December 1954 he attacked Labour MPs for politicising military subjects in order to seek political kudos. In March 1955, after a report about the activities of some British Communists in Korea, he urged their prosecution for treason.

Death penalty After a narrow re-election in the 1955 general election in which he had a majority of 428, Hutchison became President of the UK Council of the European Movement. In early 1956 he tabled a motion to retain the death penalty for murderers of police officers.

Cold war incidents In the New Years' Honours list of 1956, Hutchison was awarded a baronetcy. In December 1956 Hutchison was elected as chairman of the Scottish Unionist members' committee.

In January 1957, Hutchison was the first British MP to visit Hungary after the uprising the previous year was put down. On his return he praised the Hungarian people, saying that they were determined not to back the Kádár régime. After some years as a delegate, in May 1957 Hutchison became President of the Assembly of the Western European Union. His efforts saw success in May 1958 when the Government announced that a technical collaboration agreement with Euratom would be negotiated. The agreement was signed in February 1959. Hutchison was one of the sponsors of a Conservative backbench motion which rejected unilateral nuclear disarmament, which attracted over 100 signatories.

Later business career

In 1958 Hutchison announced that he would not seek re-election, and left Parliament at the 1959 general election. He became deputy president of Associated British Chambers of Commerce that year, and stepped up to be president from 1960 to 1962. He also served as a member of the Export Council for Europe from 1960. Hutchison was president of the Westminster Chamber of Commerce in 1963.

Hutchison's work was honoured when he was made an Officer of the Venerable Order of Saint John in 1972, and he received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Glasgow in 1973.

Hutchison is buried with his parents east of the summit in the Glasgow Necropolis.