Frank Russell, 2nd Earl Russell - Political Career

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 containing the words political and/or career:

    It is the genius of our Constitution that under its shelter of enduring institutions and rooted principles there is ample room for the rich fertility of American political invention.
    Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)

    My ambition in life: to become successful enough to resume my career as a neurasthenic.
    Mason Cooley (b. 1927)