| Biography | Frederick James Marquis, 1st Earl of Woolton CH, PC (23 August 1883 14 December 1964) was an English businessman, statesman and politician. A successful department store owner and wartime Minister of Food, Lord Woolton became Conservative Party Chairman from 1946 to 1955. He rebuilt the local organizations with an emphasis on membership, money, and a unified national propaganda appeal on critical issues. To broaden the base of potential candidates, the national party provided financial aid to candidates, and assisted the local organizations in raising local money. Woolton also proposed changing the name of the party to the Union Party; that suggestion went nowhere. Instead, he emphasized a rhetoric that characterized the opponents as "Socialist" rather than "Labour". He is given significant credit for the Conservative victory in 1951, their first since 1935. |