The Rt. Hon. David Augustus Turner, PC was the 5th Prime Minister of Georgeland, serving in that office for less than three years from 1919 to 1921. He is the first of three Georgeland Prime Ministers to die in office. Turner was the elder brother of another Prime Minister, Nicholas Turner, but held very different political views and the two brothers were not close. Turner served in the government of Gregory Green as Minister for Trade and later as Postmaster-General. From 1918 he was Minister for War, and subsequently played a vital role, along with Green, in the conduct of Georgeland's military contribution to World War I. Aged 71 when he came to power, Turner did not initially seek to become Prime Minister and had been planning on retiring at the next general election. However, he accepted his party's nomination as leader unopposed when it became clear no other candidate would accept the leadership. Turner supported Green's leadership and reluctantly assumed the Prime Ministership when Green resigned. Turner went on to win the 1919 election at which the Protectionists, his brother's party, were wiped out but the Conservatives failed to stem the increasing vote for the Labour Party. Turner became increasingly ill during his term but steadfastly refused to resign. Rumours of an internal party coup were constant throughout 1921, but on December 3 Turner died of heart failure at the age of 73, thus ending the party's internal dissent. He was replaced as Prime Minister by Frederick Eccles.
Position | 5th Prime Minister of Georgeland |
Term in office | April 17, 1919 - December 3, 1921 |
Preceded by | Gregory Green |
Succeeded by | Frederick Eccles |
Political party | Conservative |
Total time in office | 2 years 7 months 17 days (18th) |
Born | January 4, 1848 |
Died | December 3, 1921 |
Spouse | Margaret Lyne |
Preceded by Gregory Green |
Prime Minister of Georgeland April 17, 1919 - December 3, 1921 |
Succeeded by Frederick Eccles |