Sir Percy Alfred Harris, 1st Baronet, PC (6 March 1876 – 28 June 1952) was a British Liberal Party politician. He was Liberal Chief Whip and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Parliamentary Party.

Political positions

Percy Harris was regarded as a radical Liberal with a strong social conscience, which grew from representing a working-class area of the

East End of London The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have univ ...

. He was particularly interested in the issue of social housing, a major responsibility of the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kn ...

. Harris sided with

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ...

against

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for lea ...

in 1918–23. Thereafter, he sought unity within the Liberal Party. When the Liberal Party split in 1931 over the issue of free trade, he sided with

Sir Herbert Samuel Herbert Louis Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel, (6 November 1870 – 5 February 1963) was a British Liberal politician who was the party leader from 1931 to 1935. He was the first nominally-practising Jew to serve as a Cabinet minister and to beco ...

and against the Liberal National breakaway led by

Sir John Simon John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon, (28 February 1873 – 11 January 1954), was a British politician who held senior Cabinet posts from the beginning of the First World War to the end of the Second World War. He is one of only three pe ...

. Under the leadership of Sir Archie Sinclair, he rose to prominence in the party. Harris was a strong supporter of the social policies advocated by

Sir William Beveridge William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge, (5 March 1879 – 16 March 1963) was a British economist and Liberal politician who was a progressive and social reformer who played a central role in designing the British welfare state. His 1942 ...

and was key to getting Beveridge to run for the Liberals.Malcolm Baines (1998) "Sir Percy Harris" in Brack et al. (eds.) ''Dictionary of Liberal Biography''; Politico's

Background

Harris was born in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensington Garden ...

, the second son of Wolf Harris (1833–1926) a Polish immigrant. He was educated at Harrow and

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

. Harris was called to the bar by

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 I ...

in 1899. In 1901 he married Marguerite Frieda Bloxam (1877–1962). They had two sons including

Jack Harris Jack Harris may refer to: Entertainment * Jack Harris (film editor) (1905–1971), English film editor * Jack H. Harris (1918–2017), American film producer * Jack Harris (broadcaster) (born 1941), American radio personality based in Tampa, Flor ...

(23 July 1906 – 26 August 2009).'HARRIS, Rt Hon. Sir Percy Alfred', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, April 201
accessed 26 April 2016
/ref> A great-grandson is the former Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament Matthew Taylor—which Taylor, who was adopted, discovered in 2008.

Political career

Harris first stood for election at the

1906 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1906. Asia * 1906 Persian legislative election Europe * 1906 Belgian general election * 1906 Croatian parliamentary election * Denmark ** 1906 Danish Folketing election ** 1906 Danish Landsting electi ...

when he was the Liberal candidate for the

Ashford Ashford may refer to: Places Australia *Ashford, New South Wales *Ashford, South Australia *Electoral district of Ashford, South Australia Ireland *Ashford, County Wicklow *Ashford Castle, County Galway United Kingdom *Ashford, Kent, a town **B ...

Division of Kent. Ashford was a safe Conservative seat that they had won at every election since the seat was created in 1885. He was not expected to win and in an election that saw the Liberals sweep the country Harris came within 400 votes of toppling his Conservative opponent. Harris next contested the 1907 London County Council election for the Progressive Party, the municipal wing of the Liberal Party. He contested Bethnal Green South West alongside his running mate Stewart Headlam and they were both elected. In 1910, Harris contested the

January 1910 general election The January 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 15 January to 10 February 1910. The government called the election in the midst of a constitutional crisis caused by the rejection of the People's Budget by the Conservative-dominat ...

as Liberal candidate for the Harrow division of Middlesex. Harrow was a safe Conservative seat that had been unexpectedly won by the Liberal James Gibb in 1906. Gibb had decided to retire and Harris was given the hard task of defending the seat. Harris had attended school in Harrow so knew the area a little. In a tougher year for the Liberals, Harrow was re-taken by the Conservatives. Harris did not contest the

December 1910 general election The December 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 3 to 19 December. It was the last general election to be held over several days and the last to be held before the First World War. The election took place following the efforts o ...

. When the Liberal MP for Bethnal Green South West resigned his seat in 1911, Harris was keen to win the Liberal nomination for the 1911 Bethnal Green South West by-election, however, he withdrew in favour of Charles Masterman. He then focused on his duties at the

. In 1912, Harris was appointed as the Chief Whip for the Progressives. He retained his seat on the London County Council until 1934. Harris's ''London and its Government'' (1913) was the standard work on metropolitan municipal government.

Harborough

In 1914, Harris was adopted as prospective Liberal candidate for the Harborough division of Leicestershire for the general election expected to take place either in 1914 or 1915. Harborough was a Liberal seat where the elderly sitting member had decided to retire at the next election. However, the outbreak of war postponed the general election. In 1915, Harris was elected Deputy Chairman of the London County Council. In the meantime, the health of the Liberal MP for Harborough deteriorated and he resigned from parliament causing the

1916 Harborough by-election The 1916 Harborough by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 23 March 1916. Harborough returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system. The by-el ...

. Harris was re-adopted by the local Liberals and his candidacy was also officially endorsed by both the Unionist and Labour parties, due to the wartime electoral truce. However, Harris faced a strong opponent in the by-election who received much Unionist support as well as strong support from prominent newspaper barons.Percy Harris (1947) ''Forty Years In and Out of Parliament''; Andrew Melrose Despite this, Harris was elected to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

. In May 1918, when

challenged Prime Minister

in the

Maurice Debate The Maurice Debate was a debate in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, British House of Commons which took place on 9 May 1918, during the World War I, First World War. A senior British Army Officer (armed forces), officer, Major-general ...

, Harris sided with Asquith and went into the division lobby against the Coalition Government. As a result, he lost his seat at the 1918 general election when his Unionist opponent was endorsed by the Coalition Government. In 1919, Harris was engaged in correspondence with John Wycliffe Black, Chairman of the Harborough Divisional Liberal Association, about the amount of money Harris was expected to contribute if he wished to remain as Parliamentary candidate. In the end Harris was not able to meet the requirements of the divisional Liberal association and sought another constituency. Black was then adopted by Harborough Liberals as their candidate.

Bethnal Green South West

The split with the Harborough Liberals gave Harris the freedom to pursue a parliamentary career in Bethnal Green South West, the seat he represented on the LCC. The parliamentary seat had a chequered history; the Liberals had won the seat on eight occasions but had lost it three times. At the last election in 1918, the Liberal candidate had finished third with just 24%, behind a socialist candidate supported by the

National Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers The National Federation of Discharged and Demobilised Sailors and Soldiers (NFDDSS) was a British people, British veterans organisation. The organisation was founded in January 1917 by various London-based veterans groups opposed to the Military Se ...

. At the 1922 general election, Harris faced the Unionist MP who had taken the seat from the Liberals in 1914 and a Communist who had Labour Party support. The sitting Unionist member finished third and Harris re-gained the seat polling over 40% of the vote. Harris repeated his victory in 1923 when his Communist opponent ran as an official Labour Party candidate and in 1924 when that opponent once more ran as a Communist. The 1924 election was a very bad election for the Liberals nationwide but Harris's support had held up very well. During the 1924–29 parliament which was dominated by a Unionist majority, Harris worked closely with a group of radical Liberal MPs that included William Wedgwood Benn, Frank Briant, Joseph Kenworthy and Horace Crawfurd to provide opposition to the government. Harris avoided getting involved in the Liberal Party in-fighting of the time and supported the radical policy platforms of the party presented under Lloyd George's leadership. At the 1929 general election he was easily returned, thanks in part to both the Communist and Labour parties running candidates.

National Government

When the Liberal Party split in 1931 over the National Government, Harris supported Sir Herbert Samuel who wanted the party to stay in the National Government and fight strongly for Free Trade. At the

1931 general election Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – ...

, the Conservatives, who had come fourth in 1929, did not bother to run a candidate against him. Harris was re-elected with nearly 60% of the vote against an opposition split between Labour and Communist. On 14 January 1932, Harris was created a

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

, as Sir Percy Harris of London. When the Liberal Party left the National Government following the defeat on Free Trade, Harris followed into opposition. At the 1935 general election, he faced just one opponent, a Labour Party candidate who was also opposed to the National Government. Harris held his seat with a reduced majority in a tough election for the Liberals which saw their Leader, Sir Herbert Samuel, lose his seat. In 1935, the new Liberal Leader Sir Archie Sinclair appointed Sir Percy Liberal Chief Whip in succession to Walter Rea, who had also lost his seat at the recent general election.

Wartime Government

In 1940, when Liberal Leader Sir Archie Sinclair took up a cabinet position in the Churchill Coalition Government he appointed Harris as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Parliamentary Party in addition to being Chief Whip. The deputy position had been vacant since Sinclair had become leader in 1935. At the same time Harris was appointed a Privy Counsellor. On his shoulders fell much of the responsibility of leading the party in the Commons and in organising the party in the country. The Liberal Party was invigorated by the recruitment to its ranks of Sir William Beveridge, author of the

Beveridge Report The Beveridge Report, officially entitled ''Social Insurance and Allied Services'' ( Cmd. 6404), is a government report, published in November 1942, influential in the founding of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It was drafted by the Li ...

and optimistically met the electorate at the 1945 general election. However, the election was a disappointment for the party and particularly for Harris who lost his seat in the Labour Party tide.

Latter years

In 1946, Harris published his autobiography, ''Forty Years In and Out of Parliament'', Fleet Street Press. After the loss of his parliamentary seat, he remained politically active and won his old

seat back from the Labour Party in 1946. Harris played a key role in the formation of

Liberal International Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberal political parties - a political international. It was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties, aiming to strengthen liberalism aroun ...

in 1947 and was President of the British Council of LI. He was re-elected in the 1949 London County Council Elections, but found himself to be the only Liberal on the Council and briefly holding the balance of power between Labour and Conservative. In 1950, Harris sought a similar return to parliament for the new merged seat of

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heath Road. By ...

, but in a bad year for the Liberals, finished a distant second. Harris died in Kensington aged 76 in 1952. His monument in the churchyard of

St Nicholas Church, Chiswick St Nicholas Church, Chiswick is a Grade II* listed Anglican church in Church Street, Chiswick, London, near the River Thames. Old Chiswick developed as a village around the church from c. 1181. The tower was built at some time between 1416 and ...

is Grade II* listed. The relief carving by Edward Bainbridge Copnall depicts the

resurrection of the dead General resurrection or universal resurrection is the belief in a resurrection of the dead, or resurrection from the dead (Koine: , ''anastasis onnekron''; literally: "standing up again of the dead") by which most or all people who have died w ...

. It was carved in the late 1920s and acquired by Harris for display in his garden at Morton House,

Chiswick Mall Chiswick Mall is a waterfront street on the north bank of the river Thames in the oldest part of Chiswick in West London, with a row of large houses from the Georgian and Victorian eras overlooking the street on the north side, and their g ...

Electoral record

References

Bibliography

* ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' * Obituary, ''

Jewish Chronicle Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

'', 4 July 1952

External links

* *
Parliamentary Archives, The Papers of Sir Percy Harris
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Percy 1876 births 1952 deaths People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People from Kensington British Jews Jewish British politicians UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of London County Council Progressive Party (London) politicians Deputy Lieutenants of the County of London Members of the Middle Temple