Leslie Hore-Belisha

As Britain's Minister of Transport in the 1930s, he introduced the flashing amber "Belisha beacon" at pedestrian crossings, a road-safety measure still in use and still carrying his name nearly a century later. As War Secretary from 1937, he clashed repeatedly with the army's commanding generals and was removed from the post in 1940; some historians have concluded that antisemitism contributed both to his dismissal and to his being blocked from a later appointment as Minister of Information, despite a reputation as a brilliant and engaging public speaker.