William Winter Hamilton (26 June 1917 – 23 January 2000)
[ ] was a British politician who served as a
Labour 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 constituencies in
Fife,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
for 37 years, between 1950 and 1987. He was known for his strong
republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
views.
Background
Born in
Houghton-le-Spring, the son of a
County Durham miner, Hamilton joined the Labour Party as a teenager in 1936. He was educated at
Washington Grammar School
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
and
Sheffield University
, mottoeng = To discover the causes of things
, established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions:
– Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield
, type = Pu ...
(BA, DipEd), and following graduation became a schoolteacher.
[ After initially being a conscientious objector in ]World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, he served as a captain with the Pioneer Corps in the Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
.
Parliamentary career
Hamilton contested West Fife at the 1945 general election
The following elections occurred in the year 1945.
Africa
* 1945 South-West African legislative election
Asia
* 1945 Indian general election
Australia
* 1945 Fremantle by-election
Europe
* 1945 Albanian parliamentary election
* 1945 Bulgarian ...
, but lost to Communist Willie Gallacher.
In 1950
Events January
* January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed.
* January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...
he overturned that result, winning by over 13,000 votes. In 1974, after boundary changes, he became MP for Fife Central.
In 1986 Hamilton was replaced as Labour candidate in Fife Central by Henry McLeish, and stood in the ultra-safe Conservative seat of South Hams
South Hams is a local government district on the south coast of Devon, England. Services divide between those provided by its own Council headquartered in Totnes, and those provided by Devon County Council headquartered in the city of Exete ...
in Devon, South-West England, where he came third, polling just 8% of the vote and losing to Conservative candidate and sitting MP Anthony Steen.
Anti-royal views
He sponsored the equal pay for equal work bill in the 1970s but is best remembered for his stridently anti-royalist views, which he set out in detail in his book ''My Queen and I''. He branded the Queen
In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to:
* Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death
The Queen may also refer to:
* Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...
"a clockwork doll", Princess Margaret "a floozy", Prince Charles "a twerp", and remarked upon the birth of Princess Anne's son "“How charming, another one on the payroll.”. However, he admired the Queen Mother
A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the monarch, reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also u ...
, declaring on her 80th birthday: "I am glad to salute a remarkable old lady. May she live to be the pride of the family."
Personal life
In 1944, Hamiliton married Joan Callow (died 1968), with whom he had a daughter and a son. He married his second wife Margaret Cogle in 1982 and from his retirement in 1987 until his death the couple lived in Woodhall Spa
Woodhall Spa is a former spa Village and civil parish in Lincolnshire, England, on the southern edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds, south-west of Horncastle, Lincolnshire, Horncastle, west of Skegness, east-south-east of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Li ...
in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...
.[ Willie Hamilton died in ]Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincol ...
in 2000, aged 82.
References
External links
*
BBC report of death of Willie Hamilton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Willie
1917 births
2000 deaths
British conscientious objectors
British republicans
Confederation of Health Service Employees-sponsored MPs
Schoolteachers from County Durham
Labour Party (UK) MEPs
Scottish Labour MPs
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Fife constituencies
MEPs for the United Kingdom 1973–1979
People from Houghton-le-Spring
Politicians from Tyne and Wear
People from Woodhall Spa
Royal Pioneer Corps officers
UK MPs 1950–1951
UK MPs 1951–1955
UK MPs 1955–1959
UK MPs 1959–1964
UK MPs 1964–1966
UK MPs 1966–1970
UK MPs 1970–1974
UK MPs 1974
UK MPs 1974–1979
UK MPs 1979–1983
UK MPs 1983–1987
British Army personnel of World War II