Like Churchill, “Galloping Jack” Seely, later Lord Mottistone (1868-1947), was a soldier-statesman. Aboard his famous horse “Warrior,” Seely led Canadians in the last major cavalry charge, at Moreuil Wood in 1918. (That was twenty years after Omdurman, in which Churchill participated, and is often erroneously described as the last of its kind). “Warrior” has been cited as the model for the novel and motion picture War Horse.

Seely met Churchill at Harrow. He later recalled the astonishing scene of young Winston showing his aged nanny, Mrs. Everest, around the school—risking the derision of fellow pupils. It was, Seely recalled, the bravest act he’d ever seen. Like Churchill, he served in the Second Boer War, though as a soldier not a war correspondent. Mentioned four times in despatches, he was awarded the DSO in 1900.

Again like Churchill, Seely entered Parliament as a Conservative and harassed his party as a member of the “Hooligans,” the young bloods who often criticized the Establishment. A free-trader like WSC, Seely resigned from the Tories in 1904, and was reelected unopposed as an independent Conservative. In 1906 he joined the Liberal Party, where he remained until 1922.  Seely and Churchill were called “rats” by their former party.  In 1912 during a hot debate on Irish Home Rule, Churchill waved his handkerchief at the Tory opposition. Infuriated, an Ulster Unionist threw the Speaker’s copy of the standing orders at Churchill, drawing blood. Seely escorted Churchill from the House.