John Hobson (politician)

The Right Honourable Sir
John Hobson
OBE TD QC
The Right Honourable Sir John Hobson OBE TD QC
Attorney-General for England
	In office; 16 July 1962 – 16 October 1964
Prime Minister	Harold Macmillan; Sir Alec Douglas-Home
Preceded by	Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller
Succeeded by	Sir Elwyn Jones
Solicitor-General for England
	In office; 8 February 1962 – 19 July 1962
Prime Minister	Harold Macmillan
Preceded by	Sir Jocelyn Simon
Succeeded by	Sir Peter Rawlinson
Member of Parliament; for Warwick and Leamington
	In office; 7 March 1957 – 4 December 1967
Preceded by	Sir Anthony Eden
Succeeded by	Dudley Smith
Personal details
Born	John Gardiner Sumner Hobson; 18 April 1912; Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, England
Died	4 December 1967 (aged 55); London, England
Political party	Conservative
Education	Harrow School
Alma mater	Brasenose College, Oxford

Sir John Gardiner Sumner Hobson, OBE, TD, PC, QC (18 April 1912 – 4 December 1967) was a British Conservative Party politician.

Life and career

Hobson was born in Melton Mowbray, the son of an officer in the 12th Royal Lancers. Hobson was educated at Harrow and Brasenose College, Oxford, graduating with a second-class degree in History in 1934. Hobson was called to the bar by the Inner Temple in 1938. He became a Queen's Counsel in 1957, and was Recorder of Northampton from 1958 to 1962. During World War II he served with the Northamptonshire Yeomanry, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel. For his military service, he was appointed OBE and mentioned in dispatches.^[1]

He was first elected to the House of Commons at a 1957 by-election in the Warwick and Leamington constituency, caused by the resignation due to ill-health of the Conservative MP and former Prime Minister, Anthony Eden. He held the seat at the next three general elections. In 1959 Hobson represented suspected serial-killer Dr John Bodkin Adams in his failed attempt to be reinstated as a doctor.^[2]

He was appointed Solicitor General in 1962, receiving the customary knighthood, and serving in that post for five months before taking over as Attorney General until the Conservatives lost the 1964 general election. In 1962 he led the prosecution of the spy John Vassall. He was appointed to the Privy Council in 1963.^{[citation needed]}

He approved the "sordid deal" whereby Anthony Blunt was given immunity from prosecution ^[3]

He died in London on 4 December 1967,^[4] from a previously undiagnosed brain tumour.

^ Fletcher-Cooke, Charles. "Hobson, Sir John Gardiner Sumner (1912–1967)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33910. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ Furneaux, Robert, Famous Criminal Cases VI, 1960, pp. 24-25.
^ Historian who brought Anthony Blunt to book, The Times, 4 July 2020.
^ "Sir John Hobson, 55, Tory M.P. And Ex-Attorney General, Dies". The New York Times. 4 December 1967. Retrieved 2 March 2021.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Anthony Eden	Member of Parliament for Warwick and Leamington 1957–1967	Succeeded by Dudley Smith
Legal offices
Preceded by Jocelyn Simon	Solicitor-General for England February 1962–July 1962	Succeeded by Peter Rawlinson
Preceded by Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller	Attorney-General for England 1962–1964	Succeeded by Sir Elwyn Jones

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