Joseph Binns

Who was Joseph Binns?

Joseph Binns, CBE was a British Labour Party politician.

Binns was the son of Alderman Joseph Binns, who later became Lord Mayor of Manchester. He was educated at elementary schools and at Manchester College of Technology, and became a consulting engineer, working for ICI.

He was a member of Greenwich Borough Council from 1932 to 1949, and was Chairman of the Joint Standing Committee of the Metropolitan Boroughs from 1945 to 1949. At the 1945 general election he was elected as the Member of Parliament for Gillingham in Kent. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of Supply, John Wilmot, from 1946 to 1947. He was defeated at the 1950 general election, after catching influenza during the campaign, and was never returned to the House of Commons.

Binns was appointed as a Commissioner of the Public Works Loan Board in 1948, a role held until 1972, becoming Deputy Chairman of the board in 1958 and Chairman in 1970. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year Honours 1961.