George Hawkesworth Bond (1845–1891) was a British politician who was

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

East Dorset East Dorset was a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Dorset, England. Its council met in Wimborne Minster between 2016 and 2019. The district (as Wimborne) was formed on 1 April 1974 by merging Wimborne Minster Urban Dist ...

from 1886 to 1891. During a discussion of political

slander Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

in an 1895 debate of an amendment to the

Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act 1883 The Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act 1883 (46 & 47 Vict c. 51) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was a continuation of policy to make voters free from the intimidation of landowners a ...

, Conservative MP

Elliott Lees Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Elliott Lees, 1st Baronet, DSO (23 October 1860 – 16 October 1908), was a British Conservative Party politician. Lees was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. Lees was elected to the House of Commons for Oldh ...

recounted how Bond had been dogged by a rumour that he had said that a

red herring A red herring is a figurative expression referring to a logical fallacy in which a clue or piece of information is or is intended to be misleading, or distracting from the actual question. Red herring may also refer to: Animals * Red herring (fis ...

(a small preserved fish then associated with poverty) was a sufficient dinner for a working man. This created outrage among his constituents, some of whom protested by bringing the fish to meetings. Lees reported that, even eight years after Bond's death, when he expressed regret at the loss of Bond to another man, the man replied "Yes, but I do think that it was a pity he said that about a working man's dinner".

References

1845 births 1891 deaths Politicians from Dorset UK MPs 1886–1892 Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-stub