Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry

The Most Honourable The Marquess of Londonderry KG MVO PC PC (Ire)
Leader of the House of Lords Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal
In office 7 June 1935 – 22 November 1935
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	Stanley Baldwin
Preceded by	The Viscount Hailsham (Leader of Lords) Anthony Eden (Lord Privy Seal)
Succeeded by	The Viscount Halifax
Secretary of State for Air
In office 5 November 1931 – 7 June 1935
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	Ramsay MacDonald
Preceded by	The Lord Amulree
Succeeded by	The Viscount Swinton
First Commissioner of Works
In office 25 August 1931 – 5 November 1931
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	Ramsay MacDonald
Preceded by	George Lansbury
Succeeded by	Hon. William Ormsby-Gore
In office 18 October 1928 – 4 June 1929
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	Stanley Baldwin
Preceded by	The Viscount Peel
Succeeded by	George Lansbury
Minister of Education for Northern Ireland
In office 7 June 1921 – 8 January 1926
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	James Craig
Governor	The Duke of Abercorn
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	The Viscount Charlemont
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Air
In office 2 April 1920 – 18 July 1921
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	David Lloyd George
Preceded by	George Tryon
Succeeded by	The Lord Gorell
Member of the Senate of Northern Ireland
In office 7 June 1921 – 6 June 1929
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	John McHugh
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
In office 9 February 1915 – 10 February 1949 Hereditary Peerage
Preceded by	The 6th Marquess of Londonderry
Succeeded by	The 8th Marquess of Londonderry
Member of Parliament for Maidstone
In office 8 February 1906 – 8 February 1915
Preceded by	Sir Francis Evans
Succeeded by	Carlyon Bellairs
Personal details
Born	Charles Stewart Henry Vane-Tempest-Stewart (1878-05-13)13 May 1878
Died	10 February 1949(1949-02-10) (aged 70) Mount Stewart, County Down
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative Ulster Unionist
Spouse	Hon. Edith Chaplin ​ ​ (m. 1899)​
Children	Lady Maureen Vane-Tempest-Stewart Robin Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 8th Marquess of Londonderry Lady Margaret Vane-Tempest-Stewart Lady Helen Vane-Tempest-Stewart Lady Mairi Vane-Tempest-Stewart Dorothé Mabel Lewis
Parent(s)	Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 6th Marquess of Londonderry Lady Theresa Chetwynd-Talbot
Alma mater	Royal Military College, Sandhurst

Charles Stewart Henry Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry, KG, MVO, PC, PC (Ire) (13 May 1878 – 10 February 1949), styled Lord Stewart until 1884 and Viscount Castlereagh between 1884 and 1915, was a British peer and politician. He is best remembered for his tenure as Secretary of State for Air in the 1930s and for his attempts to reach an understanding with Nazi Germany. In 1935 he was removed from the Air Ministry but retained in the Cabinet as Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords.

His main record at the Air Ministry included:

He preserved the core of the RAF at a time when even this was under threat from the Treasury. He encouraged the planning of vital new fighter aircraft such as the Hurricane and Spitfire. It was under his tutelage that radar was developed for use by the RAF. The Staff College at Cranwell was opened in the last months of his time as air minister....[But in underestimating the Luftwaffe he was] badly astray over the issue of German air strength in 1934–5.^[1]