Political Career
Despite his conviction for bigamy and complicated marital history, Russell became the first peer to join the Labour Party and was Labour's Leader in the House of Lords. He was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport and Under-Secretary of State for India in Ramsay MacDonald's government 1929-1931.
As Under-Secretary of State for Transport, he introduced the highway code and abolished speed limits. He went on to become Secretary of State for India. The MacDonald government later reintroduced speed limits, but waited until Russell had died.
Russell spoke for reform of the divorce laws, but his efforts to obtain such reforms starting in 1902 were partly negated by his own personal history.
Read more about this topic: Frank Russell, 2nd Earl Russell
Famous quotes related to political career:
“No wonder that, when a political career is so precarious, men of worth and capacity hesitate to embrace it. They cannot afford to be thrown out of their life’s course by a mere accident.”
—James Bryce (1838–1922)