William Bennett (7 April 1873 – 4 November 1937) was a British Labour Party politician who served as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for Battersea South in London from 1929 to 1931. He first stood for Parliament at the 1918 general election, when he was unsuccessful in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

, a

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district (constituency) in a legislative body (e.g. Congress, Parliament, City Council) which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combinat ...

for the

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 ...

. He contested Guildford again in

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

and

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

, and did not stand again until the Battersea South by-election in February 1929. The vacancy had arisen when the Conservative MP Francis Curzon succeeded to the peerage as

Earl Howe Earl Howe is a title that has been created twice in British history, for members of the Howe and Curzon-Howe family respectively. The first creation, in the Peerage of Great Britain, was in 1788 for Richard Howe, but became extinct on his ...

, and in a three-way contest Bennett took the seat for

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

with a majority of 2.1% of the votes.Craig, page 4 He was re-elected at the general election in May 1929 with a majority of only 1.1%, but at the 1931 general election he was soundly defeated by the Conservative

Harry Selley Sir Harry Ralph Selley (9 December 1871 – 24 February 1960) was a British master builder and Conservative Party politician. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Battersea South in London from 1931 to 1945. Career Selley was born in T ...

, whose majority was 36.2%. After his defeat, Bennett stood unsuccessfully at the June 1933 by-election in

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town and unparished area in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 35,842. History Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce peopl ...

, at a November 1933 by-election in

Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire. Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in 2020. It is the ad ...

and in the 1935 general election in Cardiff East.Craig, page 535 Bennett was never returned to 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. ...

, but after Labour gained control 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 kno ...

from the

Municipal Reform Party The Municipal Reform Party was a local party allied to the parliamentary Conservative Party in the County of London. The party contested elections to both the London County Council and metropolitan borough councils of the county from 1906 to 1945 ...

in 1934, he was appointed on 13 March as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

of the council.

References

External links

* 1873 births 1937 deaths UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Fabian Society Members of London County Council Municipal Reform Party politicians {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub