Robert Palmer, 1st Baron Rusholme

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Robert Palmer, Baron Rusholme
General Secretary of the Co-operative Union
In office
1929 – 1947
Preceded by Alfred Whitehead
President of ICA

Robert Alexander Palmer, 1st Baron Rusholme (1890–1977) was a senior official of the British co-operative movement and a Labour Co-operative member of the House of Lords.

Palmer left school at the age of 14. By the age of 21 he was a director of the Manchester and Salford Co-operative Society, the largest consumer co-operative in Manchester. During the First World War he served with the Manchester Regiment in Egypt, Belgium and France, becoming a commissioned officer in 1918.

At the age of 30, Palmer was appointed Cashier and Financial Adviser of the Co-operative Union, the trade body of the consumer co-operative movement. In 1929 he became the body's general secretary. He continued in the role until 1947. He also became President of the International Co-operative Alliance.

In 1947, Clement Attlee made Palmer the 1st Baron Rusholme and he became the first Co-operative peer among the Labour ranks.

Palmer joined the British Transport Commission in 1947, serving until 1959, and chaired the London Midland Area Board of British Railways from 1955 to 1960.


Preceded by
Alfred Whitehead		 General Secretary of the Co-operative Union
1929–1947		 Succeeded by
unknown
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
New Creation		 Baron Rusholme
1947–1977		 Succeeded by
Extinct

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