Sir James Henderson - Stewart , 1st Baronet Sir James Henderson - Stewart , 1st Baronet , ( originally James Henderson Stewart , 6 December 1897 – 3 September 1961 ) was a British banker , Army officer and politician . He was a National Liberal Member of Parliament ( MP ) for East Fife from 1933 until his death , and was the sessional chairman of the Parliamentary Party in 1945 . He played an important role in negotiating the unity of the National Liberals with the Conservatives , but was unable to persuade the Liberal Party to join as well . Early life . Henderson - Stewart was born at Crieff , Perthshire , the son of Matthew Stewart . He attended Morrison ' s Academy in the town , interrupting his education to join the Royal Artillery and serve in the First World War . Promoted to Acting Captain in February 1918 , he was wounded in action . He left the Army in 1919 , placed as a Captain on the Reserve of Officers , and went to the University of Edinburgh where he obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1922 and a Master of Arts degree in Economics in 1923 . He was in the Territorial Army from 1921 to 1925 . Liberal Party candidacies . At the 1923 general election Stewart was Liberal Party candidate for Leicester East , but finished in third place with only 27 % of the vote . In the 1924 general election he fought Derby as the sole Liberal candidate , opposing J . H . Thomas who was a senior Labour Minister . His task was reckoned " a difficult one " and he again finished bottom of the poll . During the 1920s Henderson - Stewart worked at the British Overseas Bank in London . His political activity occurred through the Land and Nation League , a Liberal body which had been set up to promote the land policy which was being promoted by David Lloyd George . By 1929 he was Secretary of the League , and he was selected as the Liberal candidate for Dundee . Like Derby this was a two - member constituency but unlike Derby the Conservatives nominated only one candidate , and it was recognised that Liberal and Conservative voters ( each of whom had two votes ) would use their second vote for the other party ' s candidate . Henderson - Stewart finished as runner - up , some 13 , 712 votes from winning a seat but having put in a creditable performance . East Fife election . In January 1933 , Henderson - Stewart was adopted as Liberal National candidate for East Fife , where the death of the sitting Member of Parliament Sir James Duncan Millar had precipitated a by - election . He obtained the support of the Unionists , although he faced opposition not only from the Labour Party and the Scottish National Party but also the Agricultural Party ( whose candidate proclaimed himself a Conservative ) and an unofficial Liberal who supported free trade . Lord Snowden , the former Labour Chancellor , sent a message of support to the unofficial Liberal , which Henderson - Stewart described as " little more than an ill - natured outburst " , Member of Parliament . Henderson - Stewart won with a comfortable majority of 9 , 135 , and in his victory speech attacked the " wrecking tactics " of the Agricultural and unofficial Liberal candidates . He gained a reputation for diligent constituency work , among the farmers and fishermen of Fife , and soon after his election opposed a reduction in the grant to the Forestry Commission which he considered a false economy . He often spoke on economic questions . On foreign affairs , he spoke in 1934 in favour of the United Kingdom staying out of any conflict between France and Germany ; that July he stated that the innermost chamber of world peace lay in Anglo - American friendship . Foreign affairs . In the summer of 1935 , Henderson - Stewart went on a tour of European horse markets , and on his return wrote a pamphlet entitled " Stop the Export of Butchery Horses " which called for a legal ban on the export trade . In July 1938 , Henderson - Stewart was vice - chairman of the Empire Development Conference which was held at the Empire Exhibition in Glasgow . In December 1938 , Henderson - Stewart called for a determined and comprehensive approach to rearmament , and regretted that the Government had proclaimed its approach as limited . In March 1939 he was a co - signatory of a Parliamentary motion put forward by Anthony Eden and Winston Churchill which called for a National government " on the widest possible basis " to enable Britain to put forward its maximum military effort ; the motion was not welcomed by the Chamberlain government . Second World War . Before the outbreak of war , Henderson - Stewart sought to ensure that the system of National Service in the armed services worked smoothly ; in November 1939 , he criticised the operation of the scheme in calling up agricultural workers when the government was calling for farmers to plough more land . In the Norway Debate of May 1940 , Henderson Stewart voted against Chamberlain . After Churchill took over as Prime Minister , Henderson - Stewart enlisted again in the Royal Artillery in which he served from September 1940 to June 1941 . Henderson - Stewart was made the Scottish Whip for the Liberal Nationals in December 1942 . In the spring of 1944 he went with a Parliamentary delegation to the West Indies to look at conditions there ; on his return he said he had found " a blazing loyalty " to the Empire . In October 1944 he voted against the Government on the issue of compensation for landowners for adverse planning decisions . Liberal unity . With the Liberal candidates again divided between the Liberal Nationals and Opposition Liberals in the 1945 general election , Henderson - Stewart sought a reunification , without success . When Parliament reassembled after the election , Henderson - Stewart was chosen as the Chairman of the Liberal National Parliamentary Party for the session . This made him unofficial party leader ; however he served only for one year . In September 1947 he wrote to " The Times " suggesting that the Liberal Party should consider merging with the Conservatives , arguing that Liberalism " stands four square in opposition to Socialism " and should work together with Churchill . Shortly after , Henderson - Stewart ' s group formally joined with the Conservatives . At the 1950 general election , the Liberal Party nominated David Alexander Freeman a 22 year old student at St Andrews University as a candidate against Henderson - Stewart , the first time they put a candidate up against him , and the controversy between them was described as " bitter " . Henderson - Stewart increased his majority while the Liberal lost his deposit . In the new Parliament he kept up his campaign for the local fishing industry , calling for immediate action to prevent a crisis . He wanted controls on fish imports . Ministerial office . The Conservatives ' return to power in 1951 led to Henderson - Stewart ' s appointment as Joint Parliamentary Under - Secretary of State at the Scottish Office in February 1952 . Among his responsibilities were the fishing industry . In August of that year he was invited to speak to the European Youth Conference in Midlothian , at which he declared that " the mother country of a great Commonwealth and Empire " could not surrender vital elements of sovereignty . In December 1952 , Henderson - Stewart was accused of lying by the Labour MP John Rankin , angry that the Government Chief Whip had closed the debate after Henderson - Stewart had spoken . As the Minister responsible for the Scottish Education Department , Henderson - Stewart tried to encourage Scottish parents to keep their children in school long enough to sit the Leaving Certificate . He also dealt with the early stages of the dispute between the United Kingdom and Iceland over fishing rights , when an agreement was made by which the Icelandic government agreed not to try to extend its four mile limit . He was also involved in a proposal for a River Forth tunnel , which he described as a brilliant idea but unsuited to the physical conditions . Baronetcy . Henderson - Stewart left the Government when Harold Macmillan became Prime Minister , although he was made a Baronet simultaneously . He took the title of Baronet Henderson - Stewart of Callumshill in the County of Perth ; the Court of the Lord Lyon granted a warrant allowing him to change his surname to Henderson - Stewart . University appeal . In September 1957 Henderson - Stewart denounced Frank Cousins of the Transport and General Workers ' Union as " just another demagogue playing for power " when Cousins declared his opposition to wage restraint . He became chairman of the Appeal Committee for St Leonards and St Katherine ' s Schools in St Andrews . He was also elected Chairman of the Scottish Unionist Members Committee in November 1960 . Henderson - Stewart died suddenly in Dundee in September 1961 .