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Sir Ian Macdonald Horobin (16 November 1899 – 5 June 1976) was a British Conservative Party politician. Born in 1899 at Homerton College, Cambridge, where his father was Principal. He was educated at Highgate School where he was successively head of the Modern, Science, and Mathematical Sixths. He was Senior Open Scholar in Mathematics and Physics at Sidney Sussex, Cambridge.

He served in the R.A.F. in 1918. On demobilization as Flight Lieutenant, before proceeding to Cambridge, he worked his passage across the Atlantic and spent a year in lumber camps in British Columbia. He then took an Honors Degree in Economics.

On leaving the university he went down to the London Docks as Warden of Mansfield House University Settlement, then moribund. He was there for almost forty years and re-founded, entirely rebuilt, and endowed it, leaving it one of the larges institutions of its kind in the world.

In 1931 he went into politics in support of the National Government, attacking a Socialist sitting member who had a majority of over 15,000 at the previous election. He won the seat with a majority of over 15,000.

He rejoined the R.A.F. in 1939, volunteering for overseas flying duty and rising to Squadron Leader before being captured in Java. He spent over three years as a prisoner of war. On being discharged from hospital, he was invited to attack another Socialist seat, in Oldham. He succeeded in 1951, holding the seat in 1955. In 1958 he joined the Government as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Power. He was defeated in the election of 1959...

He was knighted in 1955 and gazetted a Life Peer in 1962, but withdrew acceptance.

He [was] a homosexual and... spent seveal years in various English prisons.
-- from dust jacket