Politics
*** A
Addison - Christopher , 1st Viscount ..... born 1869 died 1951 ..... English Labour politician who became Britain's FIRST Minister of Health in 1919
Annan - Kofi . FIRST black U.S Secretary-General
Arch - Joseph ..... born 1826 died 1919 ..... English Radical MP and trade unionist, founder of the National Agricultural Union, the FIRST of its kind
Australia ..... in the colony of Victoria in 1856 the FIRST secret ballot at a parliamentary election was held
*** B
Baird - Spencer Fullerton ..... born 1823 died 1887 ..... American naturalist who studied medicine in New York but later turned to ornithology. In 1871 he became the FIRST US commissioner of fish and fisheries
Banda Hastings ..... FIRST Prime Minister of Malawi in 1963
Barnard - Henry ..... born 1811 died 1900 ..... American educationalist who was the FIRST US commissioner of education in 1867
Barton - Sir Edmund ..... born 18th January 1849 died 1920 ..... FIRST Prime Minister of the Australian Commonwealth. He was born in Sydney and was elected to the New South Wales legislature in 1879. He was Prime Minister from 1901 to 1903 and from then until his death in 1920 he served as a high court judge
Ben-Gurion - David ..... born 16th October 1886 died 1973 ..... formed the FIRST Jewish trade union in 1915 and became Israels FIRST Prime Minister in May 1948
Benn - Anthony Wedgwood ..... FIRST peer to disclaim his title under the 1963 Peerage Act
Blair - Tony ..... FIRST serving British Prime Minister to visit a prison in February 2001
Blum - Lιon ..... born 1872 died 1950 ..... French politician who was the FIRST socialist Prime Minister of France in 1936
Blunkett - David .. Britain's FIRST blind Home Secretary
Boateng - Paul Yaw ..... born 1951 ..... British politician who became the FIRST black member of the Labour shadow cabinet in 1989
Bontine Cunninghame-Graham - Robert .. born 1852 died 1936 ..... Scottish writer, politician and adventurer who was president of the Scottish Labour Party in 1888 and in 1928 became the FIRST president of the Scottish National Party
Boyd - Bob ..... FIRST ever Liberal Democrat candidate to be elected onto the Labour-dominated Salford Council
Boyd-Orr John ..... born 23rd September 1880 ..... FIRST Director-General of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation
Bradshaw - Ben .. Labour health minister who was the FIRST ever MP to enter into a civil partnership when he went through a ceremony in 2006
Bradlaugh - Charles ..... the FIRST MP in the UK to take his seat without swearing an oath on the Bible
Brandling - Charles ..... U.K ..... in 1758 he obtained the FIRST railway Act of Parliament ratifying the horse drawn Middleton Railway in Yorkshire
Brotherton - Joseph ..... died 7th January 1857..... the FIRST MP for Salford, Manchester, England
Burke - Brian ..... once premier of Australia he was the FIRST to lead an Australian Labour party to victory in consecutive elections and the FIRST to appoint an aborigine as a cabinet minister
Bute Earl of ..... born May 25th 1713 ..... FIRST Scottish Prime Minister of Great Britain
*** C
Cousins - Frank ..... in 1964 he became Britain's FIRST Minister of Technology
Craig - James ..... born 8th January 1871 died 20th November 1940 ..... the FIRST Viscount Craigavon and the FIRST Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (1921-40). The town of Craigavon in Armagh was named after him
Cumming - Mansfield ..... born 1859 died 1923 ..... British naval officer who was the FIRST head of the British Secret Intelligence Service. The head has always since been known simply as 'C'
*** D
Debs - Eugene Victor ..... born 1855 died 1926 ..... American labour leader and socialist who was founder and FIRST president of the American Railway Union in 1893
Douglass - Frederick .. in 1888 he was the FIRST candidate ever to receive a nominating vote, a complimentary token on the fourth ballot at the Republican convention
Duncan - Alan .. will become the FIRST Tory MP to enter into a civil partnership when he exchanges vows with his partner James Dunseath in the summer of 2008 ( see Ben Bradshaw)
*** F
Fenton - John ..... Rochdale's (UK) FIRST Member of Parliament, he was the son of Roger Fenton (1819-1869) who was widely regarded as the world's FIRST war photographer. His photographs of Russia were among the FIRST to be seen in England. He founded the London Photographic Society which later became the Royal Photographic Society
Frampton - Phillip ..... FIRST black National Chair of the Labour Party's young socialists - UK
Frιmont - John Charles .. born 1813 died 1890 ..... American explorer and politician who, in 1856, became the FIRST presidential candidate of the Republican Party
*** G
Gavino - Juan Emilio Bosch ..... born June 30th 1909 died 2001 ..... writer who became the Dominican Republic's FIRST democratic president and founder of two political parties
George - David Lloyd ..... born 17th January 1863 ..... in 1915 he became the FIRST Minister of Munitions in the UK and was the FIRST and only Welsh-speaking Prime Minister of the U.K (1916 - 1922)
Gill - Sardul Singh .. Ealing's FIRST Asian councillor in 1968 as Labour member for the Northcote ward. He stood down in 1990
Gonzales - Alberto ..... FIRST Hispanic Attorney- General in the U.S.A
Griffiths - Jim ..... the FIRST Secretary of State for Wales
*** H
Hamilton - Alexander .. born 1757 died July 12th 1804 .. FIRST Secretary of the Treasury in America, after fighting a duel with Aaron Burr, the U.S Vice-President
Hardie - James Keir .. born August 15th 1856 died 1915 .. Scottish Labour leader and the FIRST British Labour candidate
Hirobumi - Ito .. FIRST Prime Minister in Japan under the newly-created European style cabinet system
Hore-Belisha Leslie, 1st Baron Hore-Belisha ..... born 1893 died 1957 ..... English barrister and politician who became the FIRST chairman of the National Liberal party in 1931 and who gave his name to the "Belisha" beacons, the FIRST of which was erected in September 1834 at Kensington Road, London. He was Minister of Transport at the time
*** K
Karim - Saj .. FIRST non-white parliamentarian in the North West when elected Euro MP in June 2004
*** L
Liddell-Grainger - Ian .. in the year 2000 he became the FIRST direct descendant of Queen Victoria to be elected to the Commons
Lie - Trygve .. Norwegian politician lawyer who was the FIRST Secretary General of the U.N Organisation in 1946
Louisi - Mathieu ..... FIRST coloured MP to sit in a European legislature when he was elected to the French National Assembly as representative for Guadeloupe on August 22nd 1848
*** M
MacDonald - James Ramsay .. born October 12th 1886 died 1937 .. Scottish politician and Prime Minister and foreign secretary of the FIRST Labour government in Britain - 1924 - a minority government at the mercy of the Liberals. The election of 1924 put him out of office but he was brought in again in 1929
MacDonald- Sir John Alexander .. born 11th January 1815 died 1891 .. Scottish-born Canadian statesman and the FIRST Prime Minister of Canada when the FIRST government for the Dominion was formed in 1867
Malone - Lt.Col Cecil L'Estrange ..... FIRST MP who was a member of the Communist Party in the UK when returned for East Leyton as a Coalition Liberal in the 'Coupon' election of 1918
Middleton - Jim .. born 1878 died 1962 ..... the Labour Party's FIRST employee when he became assistant to the party's FIRST General Secretary, Ramsay MacDonald
Morris - Alf .. the world's FIRST Minister for the Disabled
Mugabe - Robert ..... born February 21st 1924 ..... the FIRST Prime Minister and president of Zimbabwe
*** N
Naoraji - Dadabhai ..... FIRST coloured Member of Parliament in Britain when he was elected Liberal representative for Central Finsbury on 6th July 1892
Nehru - Pandit Jawaharial .. born 14th November 1889 died 27th May 1964 .. on 15th August 1947 he became India's FIRST Prime Minister and minister of external affairs when India achieved independence, giving him the distinction of being the FIRST democratically elected leader of the FIRST republic within the Commonwealth
Nkrumah - Kwame .. born 1909 died 1972 ..... Ghanaian politician who was the the FIRST prime minister of the independent Commonwealth of Ghana in 1957. He was also the FIRST black African Prime Minister to attend the Commonwealth Prime Minister's Conference - 1957. Ghana was the FIRST African colony to be prised from Britain's grip
*** O
O'Conor - Charles .. in 1872 he was the FIRST Catholic ever nominated for President - Democratic Convention in Louisville. Although he declined the nomination he still gained 30,000 votes
O'Neill - Sir Con .. FIRST Speaker of the Northern Ireland Parliament
Osbaldestin - Derek .. in 2004 he became the FIRST "non-political" chairman in the twenty-year history of the Greater Manchester Police Authority. From Worsley, he is chairman of Salford Magistrates and was previously vice-chairman of the police authority
*** P
Paderewski - Ignace Jan .. born 18th November 1860 died 1941 .. Polish concert pianist and composer who became his country's FIRST Prime Minister in 1919
Phillips - Reverend Channing Emery .. the FIRST black candidate ever endorsed by a major party in the U.S.A when chosen by the Democrats for the Chicago convention in 1968
Pindling - Sir Lynden Oscar .. born 22nd March 1930 .. FIRST black Prime Minister of the Bahamas which he led to independence in 1973
Pitt - William .. born 28th May 1759 died 1806 .. youngest British Prime Minister and FIRST to follow his father into the premiership
Powell - Colin ..... FIRST African-American head of state in America
*** R
Reid - John .. U.K ..... FIRST Roman Catholic Northern Ireland Secretary - 2001
Ridge - Tom ..... on January 24th 2003 he was sworn in as the FIRST secretary of the new Department of Homeland Security in America, formed after the September 11th 2001 atrocities. He was also the FIRST congressman who had served militarily in Vietnam where he won the Bronze Star for valour, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and the Combat Infantry Badge
Runciman - Viscount .. U.K ..... of Doxford. In 1928 he and his wife were the FIRST husband and wife team of MPs in the history of Westminster
Russell John Francis Stanley- 2nd Earl Russell .. born 12th August 1865 died 1931 .. FIRST peer to become a member of the Labour party and the FIRST holder of a British car registration A1
*** S
Salmond - Alec .. U.K ..... in 2007 he became the FIRST Nationalist First Minister of Scotland
Sarwar - Mohammed ..... U.K ..... in 1997 he became Britain's FIRST Muslim M P
Simpson - Harry .. U.K ..... FIRST director-general of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive
Singh - Manmohan .. India's FIRST Sikh Prime Minister
Sinha of Raipur - Lord ..... died 1928 ..... Calcutta barrister who was the FIRST coloured peer. In 1918 he became the FIRST Indian KC and in 1919 was the FIRST to serve as a Minister of the Crown. He was elevated to the Peerage on January 25th 1919 in order to pilot the bill establishing an Indian Legislature through the House of Lords
Smith - Alfred E ..... in 1928 he was the FIRST Roman Catholic to be nominated as a U.S presidential candidate
Smith - Iain Duncan ..... FIRST man to become leader of the Conservative Party in England without having held government office and the FIRST Roman Catholic to lead either of the two major political parties in 172 years
*** T
Taylor - John .. FIRST black Tory in the House of Lords 1996
Thomas - Terry CBE, Lord Thomas of Macclesfield .. FIRST Lord to be introduced wearing all man-made fibres in place of the traditional ermine-edged robe ( 1997). He had insisted that the robe be man-made and found a suitable synthetic fur in France. As the man behind the Co-op Banks ethical stance he felt it would have been hypocritical to go with the traditional robes
Tower - John ..... born 1925 ..... U.S Republican politician who was the FIRST Republican to be elected senator for Texas in 1961
*** W
Walpole- Sir Robert, Earl of Orford .. born 26th August 1676 died 1745 .. English statesman who was Englands FIRST Prime Minister. He was also the longest serving with a term running from 1721 to 1742. For this he was made Earl of Orford and was presented with No.10 Downing Street, which became the permanent London home of all future prime ministers
Washington - Walter Edward ..... born April 15th 1915 died 2003 ..... FIRST black chief executive of a major American city when appointed commissioner for Washington, DC in 1967 by President Johnson and in 1974 became the city's FIRST elected mayor in 104 years
Whittaker - John .. University economist who became the North West of England's FIRST-ever UK Independence Party Member of the European Parliament in June 2004