Harcourt Johnstone - Minister

Minister

Although little known today, Johnstone was the most prominent Liberal member of the wartime coalition government after Sir Archie Sinclair, who was Liberal leader from 1935 to 1945. He was a key figure in the Liberal Party Organisation between the two World Wars and was Secretary of the influential Liberal Candidates Association. He was a leading supporter of H H Asquith in the party split with David Lloyd George and used a lot of his own personal wealth to support the ailing Liberal party. During the National Government after 1931 he remained a faithful member of the Samuelite Liberals, always supporting the traditional policy of Free Trade against protectionism. After 1935, again out of Parliament, he gave close support to Sinclair and, despite the animosities of earlier years, endorsed Sinclair’s attempts to reunite the Liberal party with the Lloyd George family group of MPs. Despite any temptations to defect from the party during these difficult years – and plenty did – he remained a constant Liberal.

Johnstone’s unexpected return to government and Parliament in 1940 came about mainly as a result of his closeness to Sinclair and his friendship with Churchill. Johnstone had been a member and one-time co-secretary with Brendan Bracken of the Other Club since the early 1930s. The Other Club was a political dining club founded by Churchill and F.E. Smith in 1911. This fitted with Johnstone’s reputation for enjoying the good life. In his diaries, "Chips", Sir Henry Channon said that Harcourt "dug his own grave with his teeth". He was known as a lover of books, furniture and pictures, being good fun and good company and not being a great exponent of taking exercise.