Colonel Sir Alan Gomme Gomme-Duncan MC FSA Scot (5 July 1893 – 13 December 1963), born Alan Gomme Duncan, was a British Army officer who served in both World Wars; he was recalled to the army at the age of 45 in advance of Second World War.
After the liberation of Europe he went into politics and served for fourteen years as a Unionist Party Member of Parliament (MP) in Scotland, becoming known for humorous remarks combined with a lively partisanship.
[3] However, Duncan, still an officer in the Black Watch, was posted to India later in 1919; he decided to remain in the army and not to pursue his business, and so the partnership with his father was dissolved on 1 July 1921.
[1] For the 1945 general election, Gomme-Duncan was chosen as the Unionist Party candidate for Perth, which included his home at Bridge of Earn, and where the sitting member was retiring.
[6] In November 1945 Gomme-Duncan seconded a motion calling on the Government to withdraw a proposal to build a hydro-electric scheme on a particularly picturesque highland lake; he asserted that Parliament should not be led by the Electricity Commissioners in deciding which schemes to progress, and urged the government to consult the people of Scotland.
[7] He opposed the Civil Aviation Bill, arguing that it abrogated the Treaty of Union which guaranteed Scotland freedom of navigation in England.
[8] Gomme-Duncan spoke from experience in late 1946 when he opposed independence for India, contending that the Congress Party consisted of "moneylenders and landlords" who did not recognise their responsibilities to the peasants, while the British were the only people for 200 years who protected the "toiling masses".
[19] After the Conservatives returned to power in the 1951 general election, he asserted that there was a serious lessening in the high reputation of the House of Commons due to the "factious opposition".
Lord Douglas denied making any such speech and the Minister of Civil Aviation Alan Lennox-Boyd accepted his denial and issued a statement of confidence.
[27] He was "staunchly" loyal to the Government over the Suez Crisis,[28] complaining at the outset that some broadcasts by the BBC to Egypt contained "complete nonsense" in presenting the British case.
[31] At the beginning of 1957, just after Sir Anthony Eden resigned as prime minister, Gomme-Duncan announced that he would retire at the end of the Parliament.