Joseph Westwood (11 February 1884 – 17 July 1948) was a Scottish Labour Party politician who was a Member of Parliament from 1922 until his death, and served as Secretary of State for Scotland from 1945 to 1947.
[1] He was educated at Buckhaven Higher Grade School, he worked as a draper's apprentice, messenger boy and miner.
"[2] In addition to his personal indecision, Westwood was disadvantaged by the fact that the Attlee ministry of which he was a Cabinet member was highly centralised in pursuing its objectives, and appeals that were specifically Scottish (or Welsh, or of a particular English region) were distrusted and generally disregarded by the Government.
Consequently, Westwood struggled to secure Cabinet backing for specifically Scottish measures in a way that his recent predecessors, most notably Tom Johnston, did not.
He and his wife died in a car accident in Strathmiglo, Fife, on 17 July 1948, and they were buried at Dysart Cemetery.