Ralph Assheton

Ralph Assheton
Ralph Assheton ; (politician);
	In 1956
Born	24 February 1901
Died	1984 (Age 83)
Nationality	UK
Alma mater	Summer Fields School, Eton College
Children	• Anne Assheton; • Bridget Assheton; • Ralph John Assheton; • Nicholas Assheton
Spouse	Sylvia Benita Frances Hotham
	Chairman of the Conservative Party
In office
	29 October 1944 - 1946
Succeeded by	Frederick Marquis
	Later attended 2 Bilderbergs

Ralph Assheton, the 1st Baron Clitheroe was a Chairman of the Conservative Party. He attended the first Bilderberg meeting in 1954.

Early life

Assheton was born on 24 February 1901.^[1] His father was Sir Ralph Assheton, 1st Baronet (1860–1955), and his mother, Mildred Estelle Sybella Master (1884–1949). He was educated at Summer Fields School and Eton College.^[2]

Assheton was Member of Parliament (MP) for Rushcliffe from 1934 to 1945, for the City of London from 1945 to 1950, and for Blackburn West from 1950 to 1955. In the wartime government under Winston Churchill, he was Minister of Supply in 1942, and Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 1942 to 1944. He was sworn of the Privy Council in the 1944 New Year Honours,^[3] and was Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1944 to 1946.

After retiring from the House of Commons at the 1955 general election, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Clitheroe, of Downham in the County Palatine of Lancaster, on 21 June 1955.^[4] He succeeded his father as 2nd Baronet on 21 September 1955.^{[citation needed]} He was appointed to be a Deputy Lieutenant of Lancashire on 16 November 1955,^[5] and later was Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire, from 1971 to 1976. He was appointed a Knight of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem (KStJ) in February 1972,^[6] and appointed to the Royal Victorian Order as a Knight Commander in 1977 on his retirement from the Council of the Duchy of Lancaster.^[7]

Event	Start	End	Location(s)	Description
Bilderberg/1954	29 May 1954	31 May 1954	Netherlands Hotel Bilderberg Oosterbeek	The first Bilderberg meeting, attended by 68 men from Europe and the US, including 20 businessmen, 25 politicians, 5 financiers & 4 academics.
Bilderberg/1956	11 May 1956	13 May 1956	Denmark Fredensborg	The 4th Bilderberg meeting, with 147 guests, in contrast to the generally smaller meetings of the 1950s. Has two Bilderberg meetings in the years before and after

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