Diamond, John, Baron
DIAMOND, JOHN, BARON
DIAMOND, JOHN, BARON (1907–1978), British politician. The son of a cantor in Leeds, Diamond qualified as a chartered accountant and entered Parliament in 1945 as Labour member for Gloucester. From 1964 to 1970 he was chief secretary to the Treasury (a post specially concerned with the control of government expenditure) and won wide respect in the House of Commons for his mastery of detail in financial legislation and his familiarity with business problems. From 1968 until 1970 he sat in the cabinet, and, following the 1970 election, was made a life peer. He was treasurer of the Sadler's Wells Operatic Trust and was actively concerned with Jewish youth work. His brother arthur sigismund diamond (1897–1978), a lawyer, held the senior legal post of Master of the Supreme Court and was an authority on primitive law. He was president of the Jewish Historical Society, chairman of Leo Baeck College, and president of the West London Synagogue.
Their mother, henrietta (née Beckermann; 1873–1957), was an active Zionist and one of the most active supporters of the Zebulun Seafaring Society for the training of Jewish sailors in Palestine.
add. bibliography:
I. Finestein, "Arthur Sigismund Diamond, 1897–1978," in: jhset, 26 (1974–78), 111–12.
[Vivian David Lipman]