John Turner Walton Newbold (8 May 1888 – 20 February 1943), generally known as Walton Newbold, was the first of the four

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

members to be elected as MPs in the United Kingdom.

Biography

Early years

John Turner Walton Newbold was born in

Culcheth Culcheth is a village in the Borough of Warrington, ceremonial county of Cheshire and historic county of Lancashire, England, six miles (10 km) north-east of Warrington town centre; it is the principal settlement in Culcheth and Glazebury ci ...

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 Lancashi ...

, on 8 May 1888, and was educated at Buxton College and the

University of Manchester , 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 ...

. On leaving university, Newbold lectured in history and politics, and was engaged in industrial and economic research. In 1908, he joined the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. The Fa ...

, connected with the Labour Party, and then the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

(ILP) in 1910. In line with the ILP's

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

position on

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he joined the

No Conscription Fellowship The No-Conscription Fellowship was a British pacifist organization which was founded in London by Fenner Brockway and Clifford Allen on 27 November 1914, after the First World War had failed to reach an early conclusion. Other prominent suppor ...

, and was a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

, although he was in any case found physically unfit for

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require a ...

. He did a great deal of research into the arms trade and its international connections in the late 19th/early 20th centuries. Whilst still a research student, he married fellow socialist Marjory Neilson on 16 June 1916.

Political career

In 1917 Newbold joined the Labour educational

Plebs' League The Plebs' League was a British educational and political organisation which originated around a Marxist way of thinking in 1908 and was active until 1926. History Central to the formation of the League was Noah Ablett, a miner from the Rhondda who ...

and the British Socialist Party (BSP). He had a number of articles published in '' The Call'', the paper of the BSP. By 1920, he was a committed communist, stating "my loyalty, at any rate, is now – as it has been for two and a half years – first and foremost to the position of the

Third International The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by a ...

". In 1921 he resigned from the ILP and joined the

, becoming a member of its first

central committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

. In the 1922 general election, Newbold was elected to represent the Motherwell constituency in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

. Locally his wife Marjory was well known in working class and socialist groups, from leading social Sunday schools, and adult education and campaigns, and some say he was supported because he was 'Madge's man'. Newbold received the support of the Labour Party, but unlike many other Communist candidates, including

Shapurji Saklatvala Shapurji Dorabji Saklatvala (28 March 1874 – 16 January 1936) was a communist activist and British politician of Indian Parsi heritage. Saklatvala is notable for being the first person of Indian heritage to become a British Member of Parliamen ...

who was elected in the same general election, he stood under the label "Communist". Additionally, he was refused permission to take the Labour

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

and to sit with the Labour group. As such, he is sometimes counted as the first Communist MP in Britain, although others cite Cecil L'Estrange Malone, who switched from the

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 ...

in 1920, as the first Communist MP. Saklatvala was accepted into the Labour Party's parliamentary caucus but while Newbold applied for the same he was rejected.James Klugmann, ''History of the Communist Party of Great Britain: Volume One: Formation and Early Years, 1919–1924.'' London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1968; pg. 192. This did not stop Saklatvala and Newbold from joint activity, however, and the pair attempted to raise the demands of the unemployed and the cause of cheap housing and lower rents whenever possible.Klugmann, ''History of the Communist Party of Great Britain: Volume 1,'' pg. 193. Newbold wound up being suspended from the House in May 1923 over his actions with respect to the

Curzon Curzon may refer to: People Americans * Aria Curzon (born 1987), American actress * Walter de Curzon Poultney (1845–1929), one of Baltimore, Maryland's most colorful and flamboyant high-society members Britons * Christopher Curzon (born 1958), ...

ultimatum during the French occupation of the Ruhr. Newbold was sometimes seen as ineffective in Parliament, mocked by many other MPs for his old and frequently dirty clothing, but focused on producing propaganda for the Communist Party. He lost his seat in the 1923 general election, after just over a year in Parliament. Increasingly disillusioned with communism, he resigned from the party in 1924 and rejoined the Labour Party. In 1928 Newbold joined the

Social Democratic Federation The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on 7 June 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury, James Con ...

, and edited its journal, ''Social Democrat'', from 1929 until 1931, when he supported the National Labour split from Labour. He stood unsuccessfully as the Labour candidate in

Epping Epping may refer to: Places Australia * Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Epping railway station, Sydney * Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...

in the 1929 general election. In the same year he was appointed to the Macmillan Enquiry into the operation of

banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

in the UK.

Death and legacy

Newbold died in February 1943, aged 54.

List of works

* 1916: ''How Europe Armed for War 1871 - 1914'' * 1917: ''Socialism and Militarism'' * 1917: ''Capitalism and Imperialism'' * 1920: ''Impression of the Communist Unity Convention'' * 1922: ''Egypt and the Entente'' * 1922: ''What is the League of Nations—Anyway?'' * 1923: ''Communism & the Labour Party'' * 1923: ''The Political Situation in Great Britain'' * 1933: ''Democracy, Debts and Disarmament''

Footnotes

Sources consulted

''Enemy Within the Empire''

Australian League of Rights The Australian League of Rights is a far-right and antisemitic political organisation in Australia. It was founded in Adelaide, South Australia, by Eric Butler in 1946, and organised nationally in 1960. It inspired groups like the Canadian Leag ...

''The tasks awaiting the Communist Party''
''

Weekly Worker The ''Weekly Worker'' is a newspaper published by the Communist Party of Great Britain (Provisional Central Committee) (CPGB-PCC). The paper is known on the left for its polemical articles, and for its close attention to Marxist theory and the po ...

''
''A. J. P. Taylor - revisionism''
age-of-the-sage.org

Duncan Hallas Duncan Hallas (23 December 1925 – 19 September 2002), was a prominent member of the Trotskyist movement and a leading member of the Socialist Workers Party in Great Britain. Biography Born into a working-class family in Manchester, Duncan Hall ...

External links

*
John Turner Walton Newbold Archive
Marxists Internet Archive
Walton Newbold Papers
at the

John Rylands Library The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a late-Victorian neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to the public in 1900, was founded by Enriquet ...

, Manchester. {{DEFAULTSORT:Newbold, Walton 1888 births 1943 deaths British conscientious objectors British Socialist Party members Communist Party of Great Britain members Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies People educated at Buxton College UK MPs 1922–1923 People from Culcheth Communist Party of Great Britain MPs Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Plebs' League members