Arthur Joseph Champion, Baron Champion PC (26 July 1897 – 2 March 1985), known as Joe Champion, was a British Labour Party politician.

He was born in Glastonbury as the youngest of six children and went on to work on the railways after serving in the First World War. He married Mary Emma (née Williams) in October 1930 and the couple had one daughter, born in December 1931.

Arthur Champion, Baron Champion

He was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for South Derbyshire at the 1945 general election, defeating the sitting Conservative MP Paul Emrys-Evans to win a majority of nearly 23,000 votes. After boundary changes for the 1950 general election, he was re-elected for the new South East Derbyshire constituency, and held that seat until his defeat at the 1959 general election by only 12 votes.

Arthur Champion, Baron Champion

He was made a life peer on 11 May 1962, as Baron Champion, of Pontypridd in the County of Glamorgan. In January 1967 he was appointed as a Privy Counsellor.

Arthur Champion, Baron Champion

In the last year of Clement Attlee's Labour Government, he served from April to October 1951 as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. After taking his seat in the House of Lords, he was a Minister without Portfolio from 1964 to 1967 in Harold Wilson's government. He died in Pontypridd aged 87.

References

Richard Kimber's political science resources: UK General Elections since 1832

External links

1897 births

1985 deaths

Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies

Labour Party (UK) life peers

Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Derbyshire

Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom

Ministers in the Attlee governments, 1945–1951

Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970

National Union of Railwaymen-sponsored MPs

People from Glastonbury

UK MPs 1945–1950

UK MPs 1950–1951

UK MPs 1951–1955

UK MPs 1955–1959

UK MPs who were granted peerages

Life peers created by Elizabeth II