William Hayes Fisher, 1st Baron Downham

William Hayes Fisher, 1st Baron Downham PC (1853-2 July 1920), was a British Conservative Party politician.

Fisher was elected to the House of Commons for Fulham in 1885, a seat he held until 1906, and again from 1910 to 1918. In 1896 he was appointed a Junior Lord of the Treasury in the Conservative administration of Lord Salisbury, a post he held until 1902, and then served under Arthur Balfour as Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 1902 to 1903. He was to remain out of office for the next twelve years but was admitted to the Privy Council in 1911. He returned to the government as Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board in May 1915 in the newly formed coalition government led by H. H. Asquith. He retained this post also when David Lloyd George became Prime Minister in December 1916, but in June 1917 he was promoted to President of the Local Government Board with a seat in the cabinet. In November 1918 he was made Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister of Information, and a few days later he was raised to the peerage as Baron Downham, of Fulham in the County of London. He stepped down from the government already in January 1919.

Lord Downham died in July 1920. His title died with him.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by (new constituency)	Member of Parliament for Fulham 1885–1906	Succeeded by Timothy Davies
Preceded by Timothy Davies	Member of Parliament for Fulham 1910–1918	Succeeded by (constituency abolished)
Political offices
Preceded by Austen Chamberlain	Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1902–1903	Succeeded by Arthur Elliot
Preceded by Herbert Lewis	Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board 1915–1917	Succeeded by Stephen Walsh
Preceded by Walter Hume Long	President of the Local Government Board 1917–1918	Succeeded by Auckland Geddes
Preceded by The Lord Beaverbrook	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1918–1919	Succeeded by The Earl of Crawford
Preceded by The Lord Beaverbrook	Minister of Information 1918–1919	Succeeded by Office abolished
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by New Creation	Baron Downham	Succeeded by Extinct

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