Major Sir Hector Joseph Richard Clayton, ED (3 June 1885 – 18 July 1975) was an Australian politician, solicitor and soldier.

[1] When the First World War broke out in 1914, Clayton immediately signed up to the First Australian Imperial Force with a commission and was posted to the 4th Battalion, AIF.

After undertaking mostly administrative tasks, from July 1942 he commanded the 1st Movement Control Group in the New South Wales Lines of Communication Area.

His most significant achievement was found in attacking the Labor Government's attempts to abolish the Legislative Council, leading the campaign through the Supreme Court and the High Court of Australia and the subsequent referendum in April 1961, which overwhelmingly rejected the abolition proposal and marked the decline of the Labor government that had been in power since 1941.

[3] In August 1966, Clayton decided to run for President of the New South Wales Legislative Council, being nominated by his friend and colleague Thomas Playfair.