Niall MacDermot

Niall MacDermot   (politician, spook)
Born	10 September 1916 Dublin
Died	22 February 1996 (Age 79) Geneva
Nationality	UK
Alma mater	Rugby School, Corpus Christi College (Cambridge)
Spouse	• Ludmila Benvenuto • Violet Maxwell
Party	Labour Party (UK)
British solicitor and Labour politician who was President of the International Commission of Jurists for 20 years.  International Commission of Jurists/Secretary-General In office 1970 - 1990  UK/Minister of State/Housing and Local Government In office 29 August 1967 - 28 September 1968  Financial Secretary to the Treasury  In office 21 October 1964 - 29 August 1967  UK/Member of Parliament  In office 17 April 1962 - 18 June 1970 Succeeded by John Horam, Gavin StrangWinston Churchill II, David Clark, Kenneth Clarke, John Gilbert, Greville Janner, Greville Janner, Michael Meacher, John Wilkinson, Monty Woodhouse  UK/Member of Parliament  In office 14 February 1957 - 8 October 1959 Succeeded by Fitzroy MacLean, John Morris, William Van Straubenzee, Jeremy Thorpe, Monty Woodhouse

Niall MacDermot was a British solicitor and Labour politician who was in the Intelligence Corps during the Second World War. He was President of the International Commission of Jurists for 20 years, an organization which originally was "set up and controlled by the CIA for propaganda operations".

Background

He was the grandson of Hugh Hyacinth O'Rorke MacDermot, who was Solicitor General for Ireland in 1885 and 1886, and as Attorney General for Ireland in 1892. He was also the nephew of Frank MacDermot a Fine Gael politician.

Education

MacDermot was educated at Rugby School and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and was in the Intelligence Corps during the Second World War, where his knowledge of German was deemed to be useful. At the age of 26, in 1944, he was chosen for the crucial position of General Staff Officer 1, a reflection on MacDermot's perceived talent. On leaving the Forces, he returned to an increasingly lucrative legal practice.

He was first elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament (MP) for Lewisham North, at a by-election in 1957 following the death of Conservative MP Sir Austin Hudson.

MacDermot lost his seat two years later at the 1959 general election, and unsuccessfully contested the equivalent seat at the 1961 London County Council election. He returned to Parliament as MP for Derby North at a by-election in 1962.

He was Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 1964 to 1967. His friends thought at one point that MacDermot was a possible leader of the Labour Party. His political career ended when he divorced his first wife and married his second (part Russian, part Italian) wife. He retired from the Commons at the 1970 general election.

From 1970 to 1990, he was Secretary-General of the International Commission of Jurists, succeeding Sean MacBride.

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