1496 John Seely

Constituency  : Isle of Wight  1900-04  ( Conservative ), 1904-06,  Liverpool  Abercromby  1906-10, Ilkeston  1910-22, Isle of Wight 1923-24

John  quickly  followed  Churchill's  example  although  in  his  case  he'd  put   himself  up  for  re-election earlier  in  the  year  as  an  "Independent  Conservative ". The  Tories  had  declined  the  challenge  and  he'd  been  returned  unopposed.

John   was  the  brother  of  the  Liberal  Unionist  MP  Charles  Seely. He  was  educated  at  Harrow  and  Cambridge. He  met  Churchill  at  Harrow  and  they  became  lifelong  friends. He  became  a barrister. He was  a  keen  Volunteer  and  was  commissioned  as  a  captain  in  the  Imperial  Yeomanry  when  the  Boer  War  broke  out. He  won  a  by-election  at  the  Isle  of  Wight  while  serving  in  South  Africa  and  then  retained  it  in  the  general  election, again  as  an  absentee  candidate. He  won the  D.S.O. that  year. |He  fell  out  with  the  Conservatives  over  tariff  reform  and  the  use  of  Chinese  labour  in  South  Africa.

John  switched  seats  to  Liverpool Abercromby  in  1906. He  was  appointed  Under-Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies  by  Asquith  in  1909. He  helped  establish  the  Union  of  South  Africa  that  year. He  strongly  supported  the  People's  Budget.

John  was  defeated  in  January  1910  but  was  returned  for  Ilkeston  in  December. In  1911 he  became  Under-Secretary  of  State  for  War. In  1912  he  was  promoted  to  Secretary  of  State. He  was  responsible  for  developing  the  Expeditionary  Force  and establishing  a  Flying  Corps. His  tenure  came  to  an  end  when  Asquith  demanded  his  resignation  for  amending  a  Cabinet  document  in  response  to  the  Curragh  Incident.

John  had  little  time  to  brood  on  his  misfortune  as  he  was  called  up  to  serve  as  a  special  services  officer  on  the  Western  Front.  John  won  more  medals  for  his  conduct  and  was  promoted  to  Colonel  and  put  in  charge  of  the  Canadian  Cavalry  Brigade. John  acquired  the  nickname  "Galloping  Jack"  and  his  cavalry  horse,  "Warrior",  became  famous. He  returned to  London  in  1918  suffering  from  exposure  to  gas  and  Lloyd  George  made  him  Parliamentary  Secretary  to  the  Ministry  of  Munitions  i.e  Churchill's  deputy.

In  1919  John  was  moved  to  Under  Secretary  of  State  for  Air, again  serving  under  Churchill. He  resigned   later  that  year   over  Lloyd  George's  refusal  to  create  a  Secretary  of  State  for  Air.

In  1922  John  lost  his  seat  to  Labour. He  returned  to  the  Isle  of  Wight  and  held  the  seat  for  the  Liberals  in  1923  by  90  votes.  Churchill  told  Baldwin  that  John  would  vote  against  the  Labour  government  and  probably  come  over  to  the  Conservatives .However  John  was  defeated  by  the  Unionists  in  1924.

In  1926,  John  was  appointed  chairman  of  the  National  Savings  Committee, a  post  he  held  until  1943. In  1933  he  was  created  Baron  Mottistone.

In  1935  John  parted  company  from  Churchill  by  lavishly  praising  Hitler  and  became  a  strong  supporter  of  appeasement.

John  wrote  a  number  of  books  but  was  a  little  cavalier  with  the  truth.

He  died  in  1947  aged  79.