Sir Wilfrid Hart Sugden (8 December 1879 – 27 April 1960) was a

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 ...

politician in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. A

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 fourteen years, he represented three different constituencies, losing his seat twice and losing in three other elections which he contested.

Early life and career

Sugden was born in

Bolton, Lancashire Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th centu ...

, the son of William Arthur and Isabella Sugden.''England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975'' He was educated at

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...

and abroad. He became a constructional engineer and served in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

during the

First World War 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 ...

. Sugden changed course later in life, being called to the Bar by the

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 Inn an ...

in 1928, when he was nearing 50.

Political life

He was elected at the 1918 general election as MP for

Royton Royton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 21,284 in 2011. Close to the source of the River Irk, near undulating land at the foothills of the South Pennines, it is northwest of Old ...

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 ...

. He was returned with a reduced majority at the 1922 election, but was defeated at the 1923 general election 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 William Gorman. Sugden returned to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

at the 1924 general election as MP for the marginal

The Hartlepools The Hartlepools was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The constituency became Hartlepool in 1974. The seat's name reflected the representation of both old Hartlepool and West Hartlepool. Hist ...

, where he defeated the sitting Liberal MP William Jowitt. At the 1929 general election, he did not seek re-election in The Hartlepools, where the Liberals regained the seat. Instead, he contested Rossendale in

, where the Conservative MP Robert Waddington had stood down. Sugden was defeated again, winning 30.1% of the votes in a tight three-way contest; he polled only 2,399 votes less than the successful Labour candidate Arthur Law. The Labour party's vote collapsed at the 1931 general election after Prime Minister

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the first who belonged to the Labour Party, leading minority Labour governments for nine months in 1924 ...

formed a National Government, splitting his party. Sugden contested the Labour-held marginal seat of Leyton West in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where he was 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. ...

with a majority of nearly 10,000. However, he was ousted again at the 1935 general election, when Labour's Rev.

Reginald Sorensen Reginald William Sorensen, Baron Sorensen (19 June 1891 – 8 October 1971) was a Unitarian minister and Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for over thirty years between 1929 and 1964. Early life ...

was returned with a majority of only 128. He then contested the Islington North constituency, at a by-election in 1937 following the death of the Conservative MP

Albert Goodman Albert William Goodman (1880 – 22 August 1937) was a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom. At the 1929 general election, he unsuccessfully contested the safe Labour seat of Bow and Bromley in east London, losing to the incumbent Geor ...

. He lost again, on a swing of 6.9% against the Conservatives. Sugden's last electoral contest was at the 1945 general election, in the Labour-held constituency of Manchester Platting. Labour held the seat with a majority of over 7,000.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sugden, Wilfrid H 1870s births 1960 deaths Members of the Middle Temple Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1931–1935 Royal Engineers officers Knights Bachelor Politicians awarded knighthoods Alumni of the University of London People from Bolton