Percival George Charles Potter (4 September 1906 – 17 August 1975) was an Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

from 1956 to 1959, representing the seat of Subiaco. Potter was born in

Hailsham Hailsham is a town, a civil parish and the administrative centre of the Wealden district of East Sussex, England.OS Explorer map Eastbourne and Beachy Head Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Dat ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, England, to Martha Charlotte (née Mayes) and Percival Potter. His family moved to Western Australia when he was a child. Potter left school at the age of 15, and subsequently worked as a clerk and book-keeper. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1940, and during the war served in the Middle Eastern theatre with the 2/32nd Battalion, including in the

Siege of Tobruk The siege of Tobruk lasted for 241 days in 1941, after Axis forces advanced through Cyrenaica from El Agheila in Operation Sonnenblume against Allied forces in Libya, during the Western Desert Campaign (1940–1943) of the Second World War. ...

. Potter was invalided home in 1942, and returned to his old profession, working for various government departments. He also served as president of the local branch of the

Returned Services League The Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) is a support organisation for people who have served or are serving in the Australian Defence Force. Mission The RSL's mission is to ensure that programs are in place for the well-being, care ...

(RSL).Percival George Charles Potter
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 3 September 2016. Potter first ran for parliament at the 1947 state election, but lost to

Florence Cardell-Oliver Dame Annie Florence Gillies Cardell-Oliver, DBE (née Wilson; 11 May 1876 — 12 January 1965) was a Western Australian politician and political activist, often known publicly as simply Florence Cardell-Oliver. She was the longest-serving fem ...

(the incumbent

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member) by a large margin. Following Cardell-Oliver's retirement, he recontested Subiaco at the 1956 election, and was narrowly elected. However, Potter's time in parliament was short, as

Hugh Guthrie Hugh Guthrie, (13 August 1866 – 3 November 1939) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as a minister in the governments of Sir Robert Borden, Arthur Meighen and R. B. Bennett. Biography He was born in Guelph, Ontario, th ...

reclaimed the seat for the Liberal Party at the 1959 election. He attempted to regain Subiaco at the 1962 election, but was again defeated by Guthrie. Potter died in Perth in August 1975, aged 69. He had married twice, but had no children by either marriage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, Percival 1906 births 1975 deaths Australian Army soldiers Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Australian military personnel of World War II English emigrants to Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from Hailsham