George Buchanan

George Buchanan PC (November 30 1890 – June 28 1955) was born in Glasgow, Scotland. A committed democratic socialist, he joined the Independent Labour Party (ILP). Buchanan was vice-chairman of Glasgow Trades Council and sat on the city council from 1919 to 1923. He was elected as a Member of Parliament in the 1922 general election to represent the Gorbals constituency in the House of Commons. In 1932 Buchanan became chairman of the United Patternmakers Association of Great Britain, a position he held for sixteen years. He initially agreed with James Maxton's moving the ILP out of the mainstream Labour Party, but decided to leave them to rejoin Labour in 1939. Following the 1945 general election, the new prime minister, Clement Attlee, appointed Buchanan as Under-Secretary of State for Scotland. He also later served as Minister of Pensions. Buchanan retired from Parliament in 1948 and died in 1955.