Background
Henry Brooke was born on 9 April 1903, the younger son of Leonard Leslie Brooke, an author and illustrator of children’s books, and his wife, Sybil Diana.
Henry Brooke was born on 9 April 1903, the younger son of Leonard Leslie Brooke, an author and illustrator of children’s books, and his wife, Sybil Diana.
He was educated at Marlborough College and Balliol College, Oxford, and declined a fellowship at Balliol.
In 1927 and 1928 he worked at a Quaker settlement for the unemployed in the Rhondda Valley, in South Wales. He joined the staff of the Economist in 1929 and was a member of the Conservative Party’s Research Department between 1930 and 1938. He also edited the journal Truth for a short time.
Brooke was a member of the London County Council in the 1930s and entered Parliament after winning a parliamentary by-election at Lewisham West in 1938, retaining the seat until 1945. From 1946 to 1948, he was the last deputy chairman of the Southern Railway Company. In 1950, however, he returned to Parliament as member for Hampstead, holding the seat until 1966. In 1954 he became financial secretary to the Treasury, and in 1957 became minister of housing and local government in Harold Macmillan’s Conservative government.
In October 1961 Brooke became the first chief secretary of the Treasury, with the responsibility for control of public expenditure; then, paymaster general; and in 1962, home secretary. He lost his post with the formation of Harold Wilsons Labour government in October 1964, and he also lost his parliamentary seat in the 1966 general election. He was then raised to the House of Lords, as life peer, becoming Lord Brooke of Cumnor. He spoke on the Conservative front bench for a time but was forced to retire later, due to physical debilitation caused by Parkinsons disease.
Brooke died on 29 March 1984.
In 1933 he married Barbara Muriel. She had become a life peer in her own right in 1964 and had joined him on the Conservative front bench at that time. Rarely has a man-and-wife team occupied such a high position in British politics.