Douglas Johnston, Lord Johnston

Douglas Harold Johnston TD (1 February 1907 – 18 February 1985) was a Scottish Advocate, politician and Judge. He served as a Minister in the government of Clement Attlee and ended his career as a Senator of the College of Justice. Johnston took the legal title Lord Johnston.

Johnston's father Joseph was also an Advocate; he was born in Aberdeen and educated at Aberdeen Grammar School. He then went on to St John's College, Oxford followed by the University of Edinburgh at both of which he studied law. He was called to the Bar in England by the Inner Temple in 1931, and to the Scottish Bar in 1932.

On 4 April 1936 Johnston married Doris Isobel Kidd, the daughter of James Kidd who was Conservative Member of Parliament for Linlithgowshire from 1918 to 1928. They had two sons and two daughters. During the Second World War he served in the army; on his return he was promoted to be an Advocate Depute, a crown prosecutor, in 1945. He was made a Scottish King's Counsel in October 1947.

Johnston had become a supporter of the Labour Party and on 29 October 1947 he was appointed as Solicitor General for Scotland, a government position. He was not then a Member of Parliament but when the constituency of Paisley was vacated by Viscount Corvedale on inheriting his father's Earldom, Johnston was selected to follow him as Labour candidate on 8 January 1948. In the ensuing by-election he faced a straight fight with J.M. MacCormick, a Glasgow solicitor who had been a prominent Scottish Nationalist and was adopted as candidate both by the Conservatives and Liberals. Johnston won by 6,545 votes.

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