A member of
Northamptonshire County Council from 1896 to 1921, FitzRoy first entered Parliament in
1900 general election as
Member of Parliament (MP) for
Northamptonshire South. He was appointed a
deputy lieutenant of
Northamptonshire in 1901. He was re-elected during the
January 1910 general election for Northamptonshire South. He held the seat in the
December 1910 general election. During
World War I, whilst still an MP, he served in the
British Army as a captain of the
1st Regiment of Life Guards, was wounded at the
First Battle of Ypres and commanded the mounted troops of the
Guards Division from 1915–16. He held the seat in the
1922,
1923,
1924,
1929,
1931 and
1935 general elections. He served as deputy chair of the
Committee of Ways and Means from 1924 to 1928. He was made a
Privy Councillor in
February 1924. He was elected
Speaker of the House of Commons on 20 June 1928. In 1931, he was awarded a
Doctor of Laws degree from the
University of Cambridge and an honorary
Doctor of Civil Law degree from the
University of Oxford in 1934. In 1935, there was considerable controversy when the
Labour Party decided to stand a candidate against him in the general election. According to
The Times obituary, "In addition to his former party Mr.
Lloyd George and the Liberal leaders came out strongly in defence of his position. Even on the lowest ground of party interest Labour made a grave mistake, for Captain FitzRoy was returned by a resounding majority." ==Personal life==