Donald McIntosh Johnson (17 February 1903 – 5 November 1978) was a British general practitioner, author and politician who was a member of parliament for nine years.
He regarded himself as a 'Cassandra' (one whose prophecies were true but never believed), and he was described by one observer as "an eccentric man of considerable personal charm and egotistical obstinacy" who had failed to prove it was possible to be both a Conservative and Independent MP at the same time.
In 1928, his love of travel having again taken him away from Britain, he was Medical Officer to the Harrington Harbour Hospital in Quebec, which was run by the International Grenfell Association, a charity.
In May 1937 he was chosen as the Liberal candidate at the Bewdley by-election, caused after Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin retired and was given a Peerage.
As war threatened in July 1939 he enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps (TA), being commissioned as a Captain and serving in Bristol.
During the Blitz on London, Johnson's Belgian first wife Christiane Coussaert whom he had married in 1928 was killed by German bombs.
[7] In 1943, when the constituency of Chippenham was vacated by the death of Victor Cazalet in an aircraft crash, he decided to fight the resulting by-election as an unofficial Liberal candidate.
As with other wartime by-elections, a large part of the electorate was engaged in war service and in Chippenham most of the rest were involved in agriculture.
[7] The result gave the Conservative candidate David Eccles a majority of only 195; Johnson believed the Sinclair letter had been decisive in losing him the seat.
In 1947 he signed a statement of principles in a pamphlet called "Design for Freedom" published by individual members of the Conservative and Liberal Parties with a view to merger.
During this period, Johnson was appointed as a member of the Croydon Medical Board by the Ministry of Labour and National Service in 1951.
[18] He began his Parliamentary career by campaigning for the continued prescription of heroin to addicts who presented for treatment, in the light of the ban that was then in prospect.
[23] He pressed for restrictions on the pharmaceutical industry, arguing that old-fashioned remedies such as Sodium bicarbonate and Epsom salts often worked just as well.
[24] After re-election with an increased majority of 1,998 in the 1959 general election, Johnson became the first person in either House of Parliament to raise the possible appointment of an Ombudsman in a written question answered on 5 November 1959.
[25] He was derisive about a Government proposal to allow "healers who claim to cure disease by super-normal means" to practise in hospitals in 1960.
In February 1962 he sought leave to introduce a Bill to make vaccination compulsory, but found the suggestion resisted and lost the vote by 186 to 77.
[36] Outside the House of Commons, Johnson declared that he could not possibly fight his constituency if Macmillan remained as Prime Minister,[37] and later called for Lord Home to take over the premiership.
[38] This demonstration of disloyalty was badly received by the executive of Carlisle Conservative Association, who voted to begin to select a different candidate.