Henry Channon

Sir Henry "Chips" Channon (7 March 1897 – 7 October 1958) was a Conservative politician whose highest office was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign Office.

At the 1935 general election, he was returned as Member of Parliament for Southend. After boundary changes in 1950, he was re-elected for the new Southend West constituency, holding the seat until his death in 1958. His son, Paul Channon, won the consequent Southend West by-election.

Henry Channon, known as "Chips", is best known for his Diaries, covering the years 1934-52. They were edited by Robert Rhodes James and published in 1967. Another political diarist, Alan Clark, greatly admired them.

Under the will of Paul Channon, the remainder of Henry Channon's diaries are to remain unpublished until 2018. Four previously unknown volumes turned up at a Sussex car boot sale in 1991. Those already published were heavily expurgated.

Channon married brewing heiress Lady Honor Guinness, eldest daughter of the 2nd Earl of Iveagh. In later life his partner was the landscape designer Peter Coates. He also had an affair with the dramatist Terence Rattigan whom he financially supported.

Henry Channon's son Paul Channon, also became a Conservative politician, and was granted a life peerage as Baron Kelvedon of Ongar. Rattigan dedicated his play The Winslow Boy to Paul Channon.