Background
Born in Paddington, London, the son of H A James of Hurstmonceux Place, East Sussex, he was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge.
Born in Paddington, London, the son of H A James of Hurstmonceux Place, East Sussex, he was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge.
From 1914-1926 he served with the 3rd Hussars, the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force, rising to the rank of Wing Commander. At the 1929 general election, he stood as the Unionist candidate in the marginal constituency of Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, but lost to Labour"s George Dallas. He was narrowly re-elected at the 1935 general election, when Dallas cut his majority to only 372 votes, and held the seat until 1945.
In the Labour landslide at the 1945 general election, he lost to Labour"s George Lindgren, who took the seat with a majority of 5,990.
Whilst in Parliament he held the following offices of state: Parliamentary Private Secretary to R A Butler at the India Office and Ministry of Labour ("36-"38), Board of Education ("42) and Honorary First Secretary to the British Embassy in Madrid ("40-"41). After his stint in parliament, James moved to Southern Rhodesia, where he owned land at Bita in the Marandellas district.
He died in Worthing, West Sussex aged 86.
36th United Kingdom Parliament. 37th United Kingdom Parliament.