Sir Rodney Graham Page (30 June 1911 – 1 October 1981) was a British solicitor, businessman and Conservative Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Crosby from 1953 until his death.

Background

Page was born in

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a Ford (crossing), ford on ...

to Frank Page, a lieutenant colonel, and Margaret Page (née Farley). He was educated at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

, and the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, where he received a

bachelor of laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degree, and then became a solicitor. During World War II, he was a flight lieutenant within the

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF) in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force ( ...

. He was named an MBE in 1944. Page was a Privy Council appeal agent and a company and

building society A building society is a financial institution owned by its members as a mutual organization, which offers banking institution, banking and related financial services, especially savings and mortgage loan, mortgage lending. They exist in the Unit ...

director.

Political career

Page was the unsuccessful Conservative candidate for

Islington North Islington North is a United Kingdom constituencies, constituency in Greater London established for 1885 United Kingdom general election, the 1885 general election. It has been represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of C ...

in 1950 and 1951. He was elected an MP at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

in 1953, for Crosby. As an MP, he chaired the Select committee on Statutory Instruments from 1964 to 1966. He was appointed a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

in 1972. Page was the Minister of State for Local Government and Development from June to October 1970, and then became the Minister of State for Housing and Local Government in the

Department of the Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

from then until the Conservative Government lost the February 1974 general election. He took a particular interest in government administration and played a significant part in the reorganisation of local government and water authorities in the early 1970s. When he was re-elected for the second time in 1974, he had a majority of over 19,000 votes. Page won his last

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

victory at the 1979 general election, and was knighted the following year. He intended to stand down in the following general election, but he died in office before then. With W. J. Leaper, Page wrote a book called ''Rent Act 1965'' in 1966. He corresponded with

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

and

Enoch Powell John Enoch Powell (16 June 19128 February 1998) was a British politician, scholar and writer. He served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Wolverhampton South West for the Conservative Party (UK), Conserv ...

. He was a governor of St. Thomas's Hospital,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and a treasurer of the Pedestrians' Association.

Personal life and death

Page married his wife, Hilda, in 1934, and they had two children. He died from a heart attack in London on 1 October 1981, at the age of 70. In the subsequent by-election for Crosby, the seat was won by former Labour minister

Shirley Williams Shirley Vivian Teresa Brittain Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby (''née'' Catlin; 27 July 1930 – 12 April 2021) was a British politician and academic. Originally a Labour Party (UK), Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP), she served in ...

, who became the first person elected to Parliament as a member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

References

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons'', 1966, 1979 and 1983 editions *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Page, Graham 1911 births 1981 deaths 20th-century British businesspeople 20th-century British lawyers Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Alumni of the University of London British businesspeople in real estate British solicitors Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Knights Bachelor Members of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers of state for housing of the United Kingdom Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983