Sir Wilfrid Selwyn "Bill" Kent Hughes (12 June 1895 – 31 July 1970) was an Australian army officer and politician who had a long career in both state and federal politics, most notably as a minister in the Menzies government.

He entered Christ Church, Oxford, in 1919, and combined his studies with his sporting career, representing Australia in hurdling at the 1920 Summer Olympics.

The second child of seven of English orthopaedic surgeon and publisher Wilfred Kent Hughes and his wife Clementina (née Rankin), through whom he was the first cousin of the academic and lawyer Philip Seaforth James.

[4] Aunt Eva Hughes OBE founded the Australian Women's National League, the then largest body of organised women in the country,[4] while his sisters Dr Ellen Kent Hughes MBE was a leading paediatrician and community activist[5] and Gwendoline Kent Lloyd, who Wilfrid referred to as "the family Communist",[6] was a renowned proponent of Indigenous rights.

Kent Hughes, who reached the rank of major, was mentioned in despatches four times, received the Military Cross in 1917 for his "marked ability and energy in the performance of his duties",[10] and appointed Deputy Adjutant and Quartermaster General of the Australian Mounted Division.

[6] At war's end, Kent Hughes entered Christ Church, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, gaining a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Modern History.

He also captained the Oxford ski team and showed a proficiency for athletics and finished third behind Edward Wheller in the 440 yards hurdles event at the British 1920 AAA Championships.

[16][17][18] Following his graduation from Oxford, he married Edith Kerr, a wealthy American heiress to a thread manufacturing empire, on 3 February 1923 in Montclair, New Jersey.

[19] In 1926, Kent Hughes unsuccessfully sought Nationalist Party of Australia preselection for the newly created seat of Kew in the Victorian Legislative Assembly.

He openly referred to a number of his fellow Nationalists as "boneheads" and opposition Labor Party members as "uncouth, semi-educated ill-mannered narrow-minded boors".

[19] Kent Hughes, along with his close friend and ally Robert Menzies, founded the Young Nationalists Organisation in 1929, which became an influential force in conservative politics in Victoria.

[19] Following the formation of the United Australia Party (UAP) in place of the Nationalists in 1931, Kent Hughes served in several portfolios, including Railways, Labour, Transport and Sustenance.

[22] While he was attacking the Cricket Board of Control, Kent Hughes was simultaneously organising the Australian tour of the Duke of Gloucester and, for his efforts, was appointed a Member of the Royal Victorian Order in 1934.

[19] Kent Hughes was also impressed by Sir Oswald Mosley's proposal for a British parliament consisting of business and national interests, headed by a powerful executive government.

In fascist countries, he said, "industrial peace and security have been found to be worth the price of sacrificing some of the individual liberty previously enjoyed".

[2] Kent Hughes's public support of fascism failed to damage his political career, and he was elected as the deputy leader of the Victorian UAP in 1935, serving until his enlistment in the army in 1939.

In October 1944 he was shipped to Japan and on to Korea, and then sent by rail to Mukden in Manchuria, where prisoners of war were put to work in arms factories.

In August 1945 Kent Hughes was liberated by the invading Red Army and returned to Australia with an amoebic complaint that would continue to bother him.

He also took up the case of Australian General Gordon Bennett, who was accused of cowardice and desertion after leaving Singapore without authorisation shortly before the city surrendered to the Japanese.

[24] In response, the Melbourne Organising Committee approached Kent Hughes in 1951 to be its chairman, believing his public stature, Olympian background and experience in administration would be great assets.

[9] In recognition of his work successfully organising the Games Kent Hughes was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1957.