John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon, (28 February 1873 – 11 January 1954) was a British politician who held senior Cabinet posts from the beginning of the First World War to the end of the Second World War. He is one of three people to have served as Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer, the others being Rab Butler and James Callaghan.
He also served as Lord Chancellor, the most senior position in the British legal system. Beginning his career as a Liberal, he joined the National Government in 1931, creating the Liberal National Party in the process.
Background and education Simon was born in a terraced house on Moss Side, Manchester, the eldest child and only sonJenkins 1999, p. 369, states that he was an only child. of Edwin Simon (1843–1920) and wife Fanny Allsebrook (1846–1936). His father was a Congregationalist minister, like three of his five brothers, and was pastor of Zion Chapel in Hulme, Manchester. His mother was a farmer's daughter and a descendant of Sir Richard Pole and his wife, Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury.
Congregational ministers were expected to move about the country.Jenkins 1999, p. 369. Simon was educated at King Edward's School, Bath, as his father was President of Somerset Congregational Union. He was then a scholar of Fettes College in Edinburgh, where he was Head of School and won many prizes.Jenkins 1999, p. 370.
He failed to win a scholarship to Balliol College, Oxford, but won an open scholarship to Wadham College, Oxford. He arrived at Wadham in 1892.Dutton 1992, pp. 7–9. He achieved Seconds in Mathematics and Classical Moderations. He spoke in support of Herbert Samuel for South Oxfordshire in the 1895 election and, after two terms as Junior Treasurer, became President of the Oxford Union in Hilary Term 1896, Simon won the Barstow Law Scholarship and graduated with a first in Greats in 1896.
Simon's attendance at Wadham overlapped with those of F. E. Smith, the cricketer C. B. Fry and the journalist Francis Hirst. Smith, Fry and Simon played in the Wadham Rugby XV together.Jenkins 1999, p. 371. Simon and Smith began a rivalry that lasted throughout their legal and political careers over the next 30 years. Simon was, in David Dutton's view, a finer scholar than Smith. Although Smith thought Simon pompous, Simon, in the words of a contemporary, thought that Smith excelled at "the cheap score". A famous (although clearly untrue) malicious story had it that Smith and Simon had tossed a coin to decide which party to join.Jenkins 1999, p. 370. Jenkins states that Smith and Simon both started at Wadham on the same day in 1891, which is not supported by Dutton's more detailed biography.
Simon was briefly a trainee leader writer for the Manchester Guardian under C. P. Scott. Simon shared lodgings with Leo Amery while both were studying for the All Souls Fellowship (both were successful). He became a Fellow of All Souls in 1897.
Simon left Oxford at the end of 1898 and was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1899. He was a pupil of A. J. Ram and then of Sir Reginald Acland. Like many barristers, his career got off to a slow start: he earned a mere £27 in his first year at the bar. At first, he earned some extra money by coaching candidates for the bar exams. As a barrister, he relied on logic and reason rather than oratory and histrionics, and he excelled at simplifying complex issues. He was a brilliant advocate of complex cases before judges although rather less so before juries.Jenkins 1999, p. 367. Some of his work was done on the Western Circuit at Bristol. He worked exceptionally hard, often preparing his cases through the night several times a week. His initial lack of connections made his eventual success at the Bar all the more impressive.
Simon was widowed in 1902 and took solace in his work. He became a successful lawyer, and in 1903, he acted for the British government in the Alaska boundary dispute. Even three years after his wife's death, he spent Christmas Day 1905 alone by walking aimlessly in France.
Early political career Simon entered the House of Commons as a Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Walthamstow at the 1906 general election. In 1908, he became a KC (senior barrister) at the same time as F. E. Smith. Simon annoyed Smith by not telling his rival in advance that he was applying for silk.
In 1909, Simon spoke out strongly in parliament in support of David Lloyd George's progressive "People's Budget". He entered the government on 7 October 1910 as solicitor-general, succeeding Rufus Isaacs, and was knighted later that month, as was then usual for government law officers (Asquith brushed aside his objections).Jenkins 1999, p. 372. At 37, he was the youngest solicitor-general since the 1830s. In February 1911, he successfully prosecuted Edward Mylius for criminal libel for claiming that King George V was a bigamist. As was then required by the law, he fought a by-election after his appointment.
He was honoured with appointment as a KCVO in 1911. Asquith referred to him as "the Impeccable" for his intellectual self-assurance, but after a series of social encounters, he wrote that "The Impeccable" was becoming "The Inevitable".Jenkins 1999, p. 366.
Along with Isaacs, Simon represented the Board of Trade at the public inquiry into the sinking of the in 1912; their close questioning of witnesses helped to prepare the way for improved maritime safety measures.Dutton 1992, p. 17. Unusually for a government law officer, he was active in partisan political debate. When F. E. Smith first spoke from the Conservative front bench in 1912, Simon was put up next to oppose his old rival. He was promoted on 19 October 1913 to attorney-general, again succeeding Isaacs. Unusually for an attorney-general, he was made a full member of Cabinet, as Isaacs had been, rather than simply being invited to attend when he was required. He was already being tipped as a potential future Liberal prime minister.
Simon supported social reforms related to social security.The Glasgow Herald 22 Dec 1913
He was the leader of the (unsuccessful) cabinet rebels against Winston Churchill's 1914 naval estimates. Asquith thought that Simon had organised "a conclave of malcontents" (Lloyd George, Reginald McKenna, Samuel, Charles Hobhouse and Beauchamp). He wrote to Asquith that the "loss of WC, though regrettable, is not by any means the splitting of the party". Lloyd George referred to Simon as "a kind of Robespierre".Jenkins 1999, p. 373.
Simon contemplated resigning in protest at the declaration of war in August 1914 but, in the end, changed his mind. He was accused of hypocrisy even though his position was not actually very different from that of Lloyd George. He remained in the Cabinet after Asquith reminded him of his public duty and hinted at promotion. He damaged himself in the eyes of Hobhouse (postmaster-general), Charles Masterman and the journalist C. P. Scott. Roy Jenkins believed that Simon was genuinely opposed to war.Jenkins 1999, p. 374.
Early in 1915, Asquith rated Simon as "equal seventh" in his score list of the Cabinet, after his "malaise of last autumn".
First World War On 25 May 1915, Simon became Home Secretary in Asquith's new coalition government. He declined an offer of the job of Lord Chancellor, which would have meant going to the Lords and restricting his active political career thereafter. As home secretary, he satisfied nobody. He tried to defend the Union of Democratic Control against Edward Carson's attempt to prosecute it. However, he tried to ban The Times and the Daily Mail for criticising the government's conduct of the war but failed to obtain Cabinet support.Jenkins 1999, p. 375.
He resigned in January 1916 in protest against the introduction of conscription of single men, which he thought a breach of Liberal principles. McKenna and Walter Runciman also opposed conscription but for different reasons: they thought that it would weaken British industry and wanted Britain to concentrate her war effort on the Royal Navy and supporting the other Allies with finance. In his memoirs, Simon would admit that his resignation from the Home Office had been a mistake.Jenkins 1999, p. 376.
In August 1916, Simon became chairman of the Royal Commission on the Arrest... and Subsequent Treatment of Francis Sheehy-Skeffington, Thomas Dickson and Patrick James McIntyre. The Commission published its report in September but without the evidential proceedings.The Irish Uprising, 1914-1921. Papers from the British Parliamentary Archive. [Includes the Report of the Royal Commission.. on the arrest and subsequent treatment...McIntyre]. The Stationery Office, 2000. pp.115-152. The evidential proceedings were published in the Dublin newspapers.
After Asquith's fall in December 1916, Simon remained in opposition as an Asquithian Liberal.
Simon proved his patriotism by serving as an officer on Trenchard's staff in the Royal Flying Corps for about a year, starting in the summer of 1917. His duties included purchasing supplies in Paris, where he married his second wife towards the end of 1917.Dutton 1992, p. 45. Amidst questions as to whether it was appropriate for a serving officer to do so, Simon spoke in Trenchard's defence in Parliament when Trenchard resigned as Chief of Air Staff after Trenchard had fallen out with the President of the Air Council Lord Rothermere, who soon resigned. However, Simon was attacked in the Northcliffe Press (Northcliffe was Rothermere's brother).Dutton 1992, p. 46. Dutton states erroneously that Trenchard resigned as Commander of the Royal Flying Corps, the position which Trenchard had held on the Western Front in 1916 to 1917.
Simon's Walthamstow constituency was split up at the "Coupon Election" in 1918 and he was defeated at the new Walthamstow East division by a margin of more than 4,000 votes.
1920s Out of Parliament In 1919, he attempted to return to Parliament at the Spen Valley by-election. Lloyd George put up a coalition Liberal candidate in Spen Valley to keep Simon out and was active behind the scenes trying to see him defeated.Jenkins 1999, p. 377.
Although the Coalition Liberals, who had formerly held the seat, were pushed into third place, Simon came second; in the view of Maurice Cowling (The Impact of Labour 1920-4), his defeat by Labour marked the point at which Labour began to be seen as a serious threat by the older political parties.
Deputy leader of Liberals In the early 1920s, he practised successfully at the bar before being elected for Spen Valley at the general election in 1922, and from 1922 to 1924, he served as deputy leader of the Liberal Party (under Asquith)."London Correspondence ", Glasgow Herald, 24 November 1922, p. 9.Dutton 1992, p. 59. In the early 1920s, he spoke in the House of Commons about socialism, the League of Nations, unemployment and Ireland. He may well have hoped to succeed Asquith as Liberal leader. He retired temporarily from the Bar around then.Jenkins 1999, p. 378.
In October 1924, Simon moved the amendment that brought down the first Labour government. At that year's general election, the Conservatives were returned to power, and the Liberals were reduced to a rump of just over 40 MPs. Although Asquith, who had lost his seat, remained leader of the party, Lloyd George was elected chairman of the Liberal MPs by 29 votes to 9. Simon abstained in the vote. By this time he was increasingly anti-socialist and quite friendly to the Conservative leader Stanley Baldwin and clashed increasingly with Lloyd George. He stood down as deputy leader and returned to the Bar.
General strike and Simon Commission