
Harold Balfour (1 November 1897 – 21 September 1988) was a Member of Parliament for Isle of Thanet from 1929 to 1945, succeeding Esmond Harmsworth and preceding Edward Carson, and Under-Secretary of State for Air from 1938 to 1944, succeeding Anthony Muirhead and preceding Hugh Seely.
Biography[]
Harold Balfour was born in Camberley, Surrey, England on 1 November 1897, and he attended the Royal Naval College, Osborne on the Isle of Wight. He served in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I, claiming nine victories during the war. He retired from the Royal Air Force in 1923 to pursue a career in journalism and business, and he was elected to Parliament for the Isle of Thanet in 1929, serving as a member of the UK Conservative Party. Balfourr served as Under-Secretary of State for Air from 1938 to 1944 during World War II, and he was Minister Resident in West Africa from 1944 to 1945. In 1945, he left the House of Commons to become a peer, and he was Baron Balfour of Inchyre from 1945 to 1988 and Senior Privy Counsellor from 1984 until his 1988 death.