MINISTERS KEEP FIT

Southland Times, Issue 23297, 6 September 1937, Page 7

MINISTERS KEEP FIT

BRITAIN’S LEADERS

MANY TAKE VIGOROUS EXERCISE Mr Neville Chamberlain’s Cabinet has a pretty problem before it, says a writer in The Sunday Express. It is a problem that most other Cabinets have had to face, and have solved more or less indifferently. It is: How can we work most of the hours there are in a day, and yet find time for exercise and keep fit for our jobs? Lean Mr Geoffry Shakespeare, who is Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty, said recently that the public “would be surprised to know how many Ministers did their daily dozen.” This was a figure of speech, for no Minister actually does physical jerks in the morning. _ The nearest approach to this is the matutinal activity of Earl Stanhope, who is primarily responsible, as Minister of Education, for the fitness campaign. He gets up early each morning and takes 10 minutes’ brisk exercise on a rowing machine. The Prime Minister has many keepfit hobbies. He swims, walks, fishes—and make ponds and gardens. There is nothing he likes more than to get into some old clothes—clothes that most people would have consigned to the rag-bag long ago—and get down to the building of comfortable nooks and crannies for his pet fish. Sir John Simon, Chancellor of the Exchequer, plays golf whenever he can, and skates when possible. Lord Halifax, Lord President of the Council, hunts. So do the Marquess of Zetland, Secretary for India, and Lord Swinton, Air Minister. Mr R. A. Eden, Foreign Secretary, and one of the hardest-worked men in the Cabinet, plays tennis, dances, and rides. He does not like shooting or hunting, on humanitarian grounds. Lord Hailsham, the Lord Chancellor, chooses gardening as his relaxation. Sir Samuel Hoare, Home Secretary, is perhaps the best all-round athlete in the Cabinet, with his skating, tennis (almost Wimbledon standard), and skiing. Lord de La Warr, Lord Privy Seal, owns a golf course, at Bexhill, but rarely plays or takes any other exercise, although his figure is still boyish. Mr Malcolm MacDonald, Dominions Secretary, walks miles with a pair of field glasses, watching birds. He is an acknowledged authority on British wild birds.

Sir Thomas Inskip, Minister for the Co-ordination of Defence, plays golf (or, as he says, “plays at golf”) and is reputed to lose more balls in a single day than any other entrant in the annual parliamentary golf handicap. One morning he lost six, and in the afternoon another six.

Mr Hore-Belisha, Secretary for War, has tried most forms of exercise, including riding, golf, and fishing. He drops most of them in summer in favour of bathing. \ Sir Kingsley Wood, Health Minister, is a keen rider, who gets up very early in the morning to follow his hobby. Mr Ernest Brown, Labour Minister, goes in for yachting—in a very small yacht—with watching Rugby football as a winter-time alternative.

Mr Leslie Burgin, Transport Minister, takes little intentional exercise —but he walks so fast that he needs little else to maintain his slim figure. Sir Philip Sassoon, First Commissioner of Works, plays golf, tennis, and other similar games very well.