Joseph Godber

The Right Honourable The Lord Godber of Willington PC
Godber in 1970
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
In office 5 November 1972 – 4 March 1974
Prime Minister	Edward Heath
Preceded by	James Prior
Succeeded by	Fred Peart
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs
In office 19 June 1970 – 9 April 1972
Prime Minister	Edward Heath
Preceded by	The Lord Shepherd
Succeeded by	The Baroness Tweedsmuir
Minister of Labour
In office 21 October 1963 – 16 October 1964
Prime Minister	Alec Douglas-Home
Preceded by	John Hare
Succeeded by	Ray Gunter
Secretary of State for War
In office 27 June 1963 – 21 October 1963
Prime Minister	Harold Macmillan
Preceded by	John Profumo
Succeeded by	James Ramsden
Member of Parliament for Grantham
In office 26 October 1951 – 4 May 1979
Preceded by	Eric Smith
Succeeded by	Douglas Hogg
Personal details
Born	(1914-03-17)17 March 1914
Died	25 August 1980(1980-08-25) (aged 66)
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative

Joseph Bradshaw Godber, Baron Godber of Willington, PC (17 March 1914 – 25 August 1980) was a British Conservative Party politician and cabinet minister.

Background[]

Godber was educated at Bedford School, between 1922 and 1931, and became a nurseryman. He became chairman of the county glasshouse section of the National Farmers Union and of the publicity and parliamentary committee. He was a member of the Tomato and Cucumber Marketing Board.

Political career[]

Godber was a Bedfordshire County Councillor from 1946 until 1952.^[1] He was elected Member of Parliament for Grantham in 1951, a seat he held until 1979. He served under Harold Macmillan as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from 1957 to 1960, as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 1960 to 1961, as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs from 1961 to 1963 and as Secretary of State for War in 1963, under Sir Alec Douglas-Home as Minister of Labour from 1963 to 1964 and under Edward Heath as Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 1970 to 1972 and as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from 1972–1974. Godber was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1963 and in 1979 he was made a life peer as Baron Godber of Willington, of Willington in the County of Bedfordshire.^[2]

Personal life[]

Lord Godber of Willington died in August 1980, aged 66. In 1936, he married Miriam Sanders in Bedford. They had two sons (including one born in 1938 and the other in 1944). He has 5 grandchildren (Amanda Varley, James R B Godber, Joe Godber, Victoria Bell and Pete Godber) and 9 great grandchildren (Lucy Varley, Dylan Godber, Jude Godber, Noah Godber, Ruby-Rose Godber, Emily Godber, Tom Godber, Edward Bell and Jack Bell)

References[]

• Times Guide to the House of Commons 1979

External links[]

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Joseph Godber
• Portraits of Joseph Godber at the National Portrait Gallery, London