Andrew Duncan (businessman)

British businessman and government minister (1882–1952) For other people named Andrew Duncan, see Andrew Duncan (disambiguation).

The Right HonourableSir Andrew DuncanGBE


President of the Board of Trade
In office 5 January 1940 – 3 October 1940
Prime Minister	Neville Chamberlain Winston Churchill
Preceded by	Oliver Stanley
Succeeded by	Oliver Lyttelton
In office 29 June 1941 – 4 February 1942
Prime Minister	Winston Churchill
Preceded by	Oliver Lyttelton
Succeeded by	John Jestyn Llewellin
Minister of Supply
In office 3 October 1940 – 29 June 1941
Prime Minister	Winston Churchill
Preceded by	Herbert Morrison
Succeeded by	Max Aitken
In office 4 February 1942 – 26 July 1945
Prime Minister	Winston Churchill
Preceded by	Max Aitken
Succeeded by	John Wilmot

Personal details
Born	Andrew Rae Duncan 3 June 1884 Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland
Died	30 March 1952 (aged 67) Westminster, London, England

Sir Andrew Rae Duncan (3 June 1884 – 30 March 1952) was a British businessman who was brought into government during World War II, serving twice as both President of the Board of Trade and Minister of Supply.

Duncan was a Director of the Bank of England and of Imperial Chemical Industries. He was chairman of the Central Electricity Board from 1927 to 1935, and chairman of the British Iron and Steel Federation from 1935 until 1945. He was elected as a "National" Member of Parliament (MP) for the City of London in a 1940 by-election and was made a member of the Cabinet and a Privy Counsellor. He was re-elected at the 1945 election, and stepped down at the 1950 general election.

During his time in the ministerial office, there was some concern that someone so closely involved with the iron, steel and chemical industries was in charge of their regulation. However, wartime pressures kept Duncan in the post and he was undamaged. He returned to the Iron and Steel Federation after the war, working to resist the Labour government's nationalisation plans with Aubrey Jones, his assistant, later a Conservative minister.

He was knighted in 1921 and appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in 1938. He was also awarded the Italian Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus.

In addition to his service in the United Kingdom, Duncan was appointed in 1926 by Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King in response to the Maritime Rights Movement to chair the Royal Commission on Maritime Claims, which was thus nicknamed the "Duncan Commission".

In 1916, he married Anne Jordan. They had two sons, one of whom was killed in action in 1940. He died in his sleep on 30 March 1952, aged 67.

References

^ "Obituary: Sir Andrew Duncan". The Times. 31 March 1952. p. 8.
Burke, Sir Bernard, ed. (1939). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (97th ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 2765.

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Andrew Rae Duncan
Newspaper clippings about Andrew Duncan in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

Honorary titles
Preceded byClaude Hope Hope-Morley	High Sheriff of the County of London 1939–1940	Succeeded byBasil Catterns
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded byAlan Anderson George Broadbridge	Member of Parliament for The City of London 1940–1950 With: George Broadbridge 1940–1945 Ralph Assheton 1945–1950	Constituency abolished
Political offices
Preceded byOliver Stanley	President of the Board of Trade 1940	Succeeded byOliver Lyttelton
Preceded byHerbert Morrison	Minister of Supply 1940–1941	Succeeded byThe Lord Beaverbrook
Preceded byOliver Lyttelton	President of the Board of Trade 1941–1942	Succeeded byJohn Llewellin
Preceded byThe Lord Beaverbrook	Minister of Supply 1942–1945	Succeeded byJohn Wilmot

v t e Presidents of the Board of Trade
Shaftesbury Bridgewater Stamford Weymouth Stamford Winchilsea Guilford Berkeley Suffolk Holderness FitzWalter Monson Halifax Sandys Townshend Shelburne Hillsborough Dartmouth Hillsborough Nugent Hillsborough Dartmouth Sackville Carlisle Grantham Sydney Liverpool Montrose Auckland Bathurst Clancarty Robinson Huskisson Grant Vesey-Fitzgerald Herries Auckland Thomson Baring Thomson Labouchere Ripon Gladstone Dalhousie Clarendon Labouchere Henley Cardwell Stanley Henley Donoughmore Gibson Northcote Richmond Bright Parkinson-Fortescue Adderley Sandon Chamberlain Richmond Stanhope Mundella Stanley Hicks Beach Mundella Bryce Ritchie Balfour Salisbury Lloyd George Churchill Buxton Burns Runciman Stanley Geddes Horne Baldwin Cunliffe-Lister Graham Cunliffe-Lister Runciman Stanley Duncan Lyttelton Duncan Llewellin Dalton Lyttelton Cripps Wilson Shawcross Thorneycroft Eccles Maulding Erroll Heath Jay Crosland Mason Noble Davies Walker Benn Varley Joseph Jenkin Shore Dell Smith Nott Biffen Cockfield Parkinson Tebbit Brittan Channon Young Ridley Lilley Heseltine Lang Beckett Mandelson Byers Hewitt Johnson Darling Hutton Mandelson Cable Javid Clark Fox Truss Trevelyan Badenoch Reynolds

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