William Donald Massey Sumner (13 August 1913 – 12 May 1990), known as Donald Sumner, was a British Conservative Party politician who later became a judge. Sumner, the incumbent chairman of the divisional Conservative Association for

Orpington Orpington is a town and area in south east London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is 13.4 miles (21.6 km) south east of Charing Cross. On the south-eastern edge of the Greater London Built-up Area, it is south of St Ma ...

, defeated

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

to be adopted prospective candidate for the local constituency. Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley He was elected at the 1955 Orpington by-election and was subsequently returned in the general election later that year. He remained

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 o ...

for

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

until 1962, when he accepted an appointment as a County Court judge. The resulting Orpington by-election was won by 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 ...

candidate

Eric Lubbock Eric Reginald Lubbock, 4th Baron Avebury (29 September 1928 – 14 February 2016), was an English politician and human rights campaigner. He served as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Orpington from 1962 to 1970. He then served in the House ...

, marking the start of a revival in the fortunes of the Liberals.

References

External links

* 1913 births 1990 deaths 20th-century English judges Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 County Court judges (England and Wales) {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1910s-stub