Sir Leonard David Gammans, 1st Baronet (10 November 1895 – 8 February 1957), known as David Gammans, was a British Conservative Party politician. Gammans was educated at

Portsmouth Grammar School The Portsmouth Grammar School (PGS) is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Portsmouth, England, located in the historic part of Portsmouth. It was founded in 1732 as a Single-sex education, boys' school ...

and served with the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It was created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of the regiment, the ...

1914–1918. He was in the Colonial Service in Malaya, 1920-1934, and attached to the British Embassy in Tokyo, 1926–1928. In 1930 he toured in India, Europe and America and, on retiring from the Colonial Service, lectured in the US and Canada. he was Director and Secretary of the Land Settlement Association, 1934–1939. He was first elected to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

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 1941, following the death of the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for

Hornsey Hornsey () is a district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Haringey. It is an inner-suburban, for the most part residential, area centred north of Charing Cross. It adjoins green spaces Queen's Wood to the west and Alexand ...

Euan Wallace David Euan Wallace, MC PC (20 April 1892 – 9 February 1941) was a British Conservative politician who was an ally of Neville Chamberlain and briefly served as Minister of Transport during World War II. Early life Wallace was born on 20 Apr ...

. Gammans held the

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...

seat until his own death in 1957, aged 61. The resulting 1957 Hornsey by-election was won for the Conservatives by his wife Muriel, known as Lady Gammans. In

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, ...

's 1951–55 government, he served as

Assistant Postmaster-General The Assistant Postmaster General is a defunct junior ministerial position in the United Kingdom Government. The title of Postmaster General of the United Kingdom, Postmaster General was abolished under the Post Office Act 1969. A new public authori ...

, under

Earl De La Warr Earl De La Warr ( ) is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1761 for John West, 7th Baron De La Warr. The Earl holds the subsidiary titles of Viscount Cantelupe (1761) in the Peerage of Great Britain, Baron De La Warr (15 ...

. In 1952 there was "public outrage" that the Post Office cats had not received a pay rise since 1873. The following year, a question in the House of Commons asking Gammans, "when the allowance payable for the maintenance of cats in his department was last raised?" Gammans responded, "There is, I am afraid, a certain amount of industrial chaos in The Post Office cat world. Allowances vary in different places, possibly according to the alleged efficiency of the animals and other factors. It has proved impossible to organise any scheme for payment by results or output bonus ... there has been a general wage freeze since July 1918, but there have been no complaints!" Gammans was made a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, of

in the

County of Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the Thames in the south, the Lea to the east and the Colne to the west. A line of hi ...

on 24 January 1956. The baronetcy became extinct on his death.

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* 1895 births 1957 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Ministers in the Eden government, 1955–1957 Ministers in the third Churchill government, 1951–1955 People educated at The Portsmouth Grammar School UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1890s-stub