Harry Hague (9 April 1922 – 1985), was a British

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

of the Crown Court and a

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 ...

politician. At the

1962 Blackpool North by-election The by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Blackpool North, in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, was held on 13 March 1962. This was the last parliamentary by-election in England to be held on a day other than Thursday. ...

he achieved a 17% swing that was the first step on a course that led to the

Night of the Long Knives The Night of the Long Knives (German: ), or the Röhm purge (German: ''Röhm-Putsch''), also called Operation Hummingbird (German: ''Unternehmen Kolibri''), was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from 30 June to 2 July 1934. Chancellor Ad ...

when Prime Minister Harold Macmillan dismissed one-third of his Cabinet.

Background

Hague was the son of Sir Harry Hague and Lilian Hindle of Stalybridge and Blackpool. He was educated at

Arnold School Arnold School was an independent school in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, established on the Fylde coast in 1896 during the Victorian expansion of public boarding schools in England. The school was in the United Church Schools Trust group o ...

, Blackpool,

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

and

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...

, LLB degree at London. In 1967 he married Vera Smith. They had two step daughters.

Professional career

Before the war Hague worked for the Blackpool Education Department and in a Blackpool bank. He joined the Army in 1941. He was discharged in March 1944, after injury to a leg during an assault course. He was Called to Bar by the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

in 1946. He worked as a barrister on the

Northern Circuit {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The Northern Circuit is a court circuit in England. It dates from 1176 when Henry II sent his judges on circuit to do justice in his name. The Circuit encompassed the whole of the North of England but in 1876 i ...

. He was Assistant Recorder of

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

from 1969 to 1971. He was a Recorder of the Crown Court from 1972 to 1979.

Political career

In the 1940s Hague joined the Liberal party and was a candidate in the Blackpool Municipal Elections. He was Chairman of Blackpool South Liberal Association. He was President of the Lancashire and Cheshire Young Liberal Federation. He became a member of Liberal Party Council. He was Liberal candidate for the new

Blackburn East Blackburn East was a parliamentary constituency in the town of Blackburn in Lancashire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post In a fir ...

division of Lancashire at the 1950 General Election. Blackburn was unpromising territory for a Liberal and the party had polled poorly there in 1945. 1950 was little different; He was a member of the Liberal Party National Executive from 1956 to 1959. He was Liberal candidate for one of his hometown seats, the safe Tory Blackpool North division of Lancashire at the 1959 General Election. The Liberals had not run a candidate here since 1945, yet he still managed to poll a respectable vote; In 1962 his victorious Tory opponent at Blackpool North was given a peerage which meant that a by-election had to take place. The by-election was expected to deliver another easy Tory win but Hague's campaign almost pulled off a surprise victory; The following day voters went to the polls in the

1962 Orpington by-election The Orpington by-election in 1962 is often described as the start of the Liberal Party revival in the United Kingdom. The by-election was caused by the appointment of Donald Sumner, the Conservative Member of Parliament for Orpington, as a coun ...

which delivered the Liberals a famous victory. Then followed a string of strong Liberal electoral performances that resulted in 4 months later in Harold Macmillan sacking a third of his cabinet. Hague was once again a member of the Liberal Party National Executive from 1962 to 1964. He fought Blackpool North for a third time at the 1964 elections. However, since 1962, support for the Tories had rallied and he again finished second; He did not stand for parliament again.British parliamentary election results 1950–1973, Craig, F.W.S.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hague, Harry 1922 births 1985 deaths Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Alumni of the University of Manchester Alumni of the University of London