Sir Harold Smith (18 April 1876 – 10 September 1924) was a

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician in the

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, perhaps better known for having been the brother of

F. E. Smith Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, (12 July 1872 – 30 September 1930), known as F. E. Smith, was a British Conservative politician and barrister who attained high office in the early 20th century, in particular as Lord High Chan ...

than for his own comparatively modest parliamentary career.

Parliamentary career

Smith unsuccessfully contested the

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constituency of

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

at the January 1910 general election, but at the December 1910 general election, Smith was elected as the

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(MP) for

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

. His victory over the sitting

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

Arthur Crosfield Sir Arthur Henry Crosfield, 1st Baronet, (5 April 1865 – 22 September 1938) was a Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Warrington from 1906 to December 1910. Background In 1907 he married Domini Elliadi who was also active in Liberal polit ...

was a narrow one, but at the post-

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general election in December 1918, Smith received the

coalition coupon The Coalition Coupon was a letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the 1918 United Kingdom general election, endorsing them as official representatives of the Coalition Government. The 1918 election took place in the heady atmosphere of victory ...

and was re-elected with a large majority. He was knighted in the 1921

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. At the 1922 general election, he did not stand again in Warrington, where he was succeeded as MP by another Conservative,

Alec Cunningham-Reid Captain Alec Stratford Cunningham-Reid (20 April 1895 – 26 March 1977), known in his early life as Alec Stratford Reid, was a British First World War flying ace credited with seven aerial victories. After the war, he entered politics as a Co ...

who had been a

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

in World War I. Smith stood instead in

Liverpool Wavertree Liverpool Wavertree is a borough constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1997 and every election since has been won by a Labour Party candidate. An earlier constituency of the same name existed between 1918 and ...

, a safe Conservative seat which returned him to the

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with a large majority. However, at the December 1923 general election, he lost the seat with a massive swing to the

candidate Hugh Rathbone.

Personal life

Smith married Beatrice Furneaux, the sister of Margaret Furneaux, his brother FE's wife, in London in September 1914. The couple had one child, Harold Anthony Warrington Smith, (known as Anthony), who later died at the age of 26 on 4 August 1944 when his jeep ran over a mine during the Battle of Florence. Harold Smith died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

on 10 April 1924, aged 48.

References

External links

* 1876 births 1924 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 Knights Bachelor Politics of Warrington {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1870s-stub