Christopher Addison, 1st Viscount Addison

Christopher Addison, 1st Viscount Addison, KG, PC (19 June 1869 – 11 December 1951) was a British medical doctor and politician. By turns a liberal and a socialist, he served as Minister of Munitions during the first World War, and was later Minister of Health under David Lloyd George and Leader of the House of Lords under Clement Attlee.

Background
Christopher Addison was born in the rural parish of Hogsthorpe in Lincolnshire. His family had owned and run a farm for several generations and he maintained a strong interest in agriculture and rural matters throughout his life. He attended Trinity College, Harrogate, from the age of thirteen. He trained in medicine at Sheffield School of Medicine and Saint Bartholomew's Hospital in London. His education was expensive for his family, and he insisted on re-paying his parents once he had begun his career.

In 1892, Addison graduated from the University of London as a Bachelor of Medicine and Science with honours in forensic medicine. A year later he qualified as a Medical Doctor and two years after that he was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. He combined private practice with academic research, and taught anatomy at Sheffield School of Medicine. In 1896 he became professor of anatomy at the newly-formed University College of Sheffield, and edited the Quarterly Medical Journal from 1898 to 1901. In 1901, he moved to London again, teaching at Charing Cross Hospital. He published his research on anatomy and became Hunterian professor with the Royal College of Surgeons. In 1902 he married Isobel Gray. They had two daughters and three sons. Isobel, the daughter of a wealthy Scottish businessman and shipping agent, supported her husband morally and financially when he embarked upon a career in politics.

Political career
Motivated by concern for the treatment of the poor, and that the effects of poverty on health could only be fought by governments not doctors, Addison entered politics. He was adopted as Liberal candidate for Hoxton, Shoreditch, in 1907, and was duly elected in the January 1910 General Election.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George, noted Addison's medical background and asked him to speak in support of the 1911 National Insurance Bill, both in Parliament and with the British Medical Association. In August 1914, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education, under Jack Pease. His work here was largely concerned with improving the health and welfare of children, but was cut short following the outbreak of the first World War. Addison became Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Munitions in May 1915. Addison introduced a degree of intervention in the free market known as ’War Socialism’ to prompt faster munitions production. Private enterprise in key sectors was brought under government control, which erected its own factories, and great care was taken to improve the welfare of the munitions workers, both male and female. Ammunition supply-lines dictated the tempo of the war, especially in the first year of fighting, so stability and productivity within this industry were of the utmost importance. The government subsidised housing estates, such as Vickerstown on Walney Island (now in Cumbria) with integral religious, social and recreational amenities, to enable pools of munitions workers and their families to move next to expanded armament factories. Raymond Unwin an influential civil servant from this time injected some of the late Victorian/utopian/Fabian philosophy of garden suburbs and ideals from the cheap cottages movement launched in 1905. With hindsight this may be seen as something of a prototype of the municipal housing that followed in the post-war period and the beginnings of town planning as an accepted concern of the state. Fellow idealists might well have regretted the design, layout and landscaping compromises inevitably struck in the pursuit of rapid construction to support homeland defence as an over-riding priority. Improved dimensions of kitchens, bathrooms and gardens for working-class houses might also be seen as a response to a more equal valuation of women as competent industrial workers and a political force.

The Ministry of Munitions was a new Ministry, created and headed by Lloyd George to rapidly improve and increase production of munitions. Working conditions were improved in the new, state-owned industry, and Addison created and implemented schemes that greatly increased the efficiency of production. He became a Privy Councillor and was promoted to Minister of Munitions when Lloyd George became Minister of War in July 1916. He supported Lloyd George against the Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith, at the end of 1916, and continued into the new coalition cabinet. In July 1917, he became a Minister Without Portfolio with responsibility for analysing the problems that Britain would face after the war and preparing plans for reconstruction. He worked with Arthur Greenwood to develop programmes for sweeping social reforms. Perhaps Addison’s greatest achievement was the establishment of a costing system which by the end of the war had saved an estimated £440 million.

Addison's Hoxton constituency was abolished for the 1918 general election, when he was elected for the new Shoreditch constituency.

Although Lloyd George was increasingly influenced by the Conservative members of his coalition government, Addison's plans formed the basis of much post-war legislation. Addison became President of the Local Government Board in January 1919, with the goal of transforming it into a Ministry of Health. He became the first Minister of Health in June. He was responsible for a great deal of social legislation, including the first Housing and Town Planning Act, under which the state built low-rent homes (council houses) for the working-class. Addison also reviewed and increased the provisions of the National Insurance system, and introduced programmes to improve healthcare and training. However, he presided over large increases in public spending and this raised the ire of Conservatives in the government. He was moved from the Ministry of Health in April 1921, becoming Minister Without Portfolio, and dropped from the Government altogether three months later.

Joining Labour
Addison lost his seat in the 1922 General Election. Since the end of the war, he had found himself increasingly detached from both warring factions of the Liberal Party. His belief in social reform and progressive policies brought him close to the socialism of the Labour Party, and he campaigned for Labour candidates at the 1923 General Election.

During this time he returned to his family farm and published a number of books, including The Betrayal of the Slums, on the link between poor housing and poor health, and Practical Socialism. He stood unsuccessfully as Labour's candidate in the constituency of South Hammersmith for the 1924 General Election, before winning a by-election in Swindon, Wiltshire, in 1925. Ramsay Macdonald appointed Addison as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture in 1929. He served under Noel Buxton, and succeeded him as Minister of Agriculture in June 1930. He worked with Clement Attlee, future leader of the Labour party with whom he formed a close relationship and was an active member of the Socialist Medical Association.

Facing economic crisis in 1931, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Phillip Snowden, proposed swingeing cuts to public spending, particularly to unemployment benefit. Addison voted against these cuts in cabinet and went into Opposition when Macdonald formed a coalition with the Conservatives and Liberals. Addison lost his seat at the 1931 General Election. His wife Isobel died in 1934. That same year, he regained his Swindon seat in a by-election, but lost it a second time at the 1935 General Election. He helped organise medical aid to Spain during the Spanish Civil War.

In the Lords
In May 1937, Addison joined the Labour party's meagre caucus in the House of Lords, being raised to the peerage as Baron Addison of Stallingborough, County Lincoln. He re-married that year. He was Chairman of the Buckinghamshire War Agricultural Committee during the second World War, co-ordinating agricultural production and supply in that county. Attlee appointed Addison to be Labour's leader in the Lords in 1940, after Harry Snell stepped down for health reasons. Addison retained this position until his death, serving as Leader of the House of Lords following Labour's victory in the 1945 General Election. He was created Viscount Addison of Stallingborough, county Lincoln, in July 1945.

As Leader of the House of Lords, Addison had the key responsibility of steering government legislation through the upper chamber. He formed a good relationship with the leader of the Conservative opposition in the Lords, the Marquess of Salisbury. Through general consultation, Addison developed new guidelines for peers, particularly with regard to declaration of interests. He was also Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs in Attlee's first cabinet, directing the transformation of the Dominion Affairs Office into the Office of Commonwealth Relations and playing an instrumental role in Labour's early anti-imperialist policies and the strengthening of the Commonwealth. In 1946, he became the first Labour politician to be made a Knight of the Garter. As his health began to deteriorate he withdrew from foreign affairs in 1947, subsequently holding a number of sinecure positions in combination with his leadership of the Lords. Labour lost office in October 1951, and Addison died two months later.

Christopher Addison, 1. Viscount Addison