Christopher Thomas Douthwaite (17 November 1875 – 11 February 1949) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

socialist politician. Born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, Douthwaite left school at the age of eleven, working first for a tea merchant, then for the Bradford Dyers Association. He moved to

Romiley Romiley is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Cheshire, it borders Marple, Bredbury and Woodley. At the 2011 census, the Romiley ward, which includes Compstall, Bredbury Green an ...

, then in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, where he joined the Hatherlow Mutual Improvement Society, 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).David Howell, ''Dictionary of Labour Biography'', vol.XII, pp.72-76 Douthwaite soon became secretary of the ILP's branch in Romiley, and by the late 1900s was active at the national level. He supported

Victor Grayson Albert Victor Grayson (born 5 September 1881, disappeared 28 September 1920) was an English socialist politician of the early 20th century. An Independent Labour Party Member of Parliament from 1907 to 1910, Grayson is most notable for his sensat ...

at the 1907 Colne Valley by-election and, like Grayson, launched attacks on the ILP leadership. He proposed that the ILP disaffiliated from the Labour Party, but this motion was heavily defeated at the 1909 ILP Conference; his proposal that the ILP should back independent socialist candidates was defeated much more narrowly. He was elected to the ILP's National Administrative Committee (NAC) in 1910, defeating W. Williams to represent Cheshire and North Wales, then later in the year contributed along with J. M. McLachlan, Leonard Hall and J. H. Belcher to the ''Green Manifesto''. This was condemned by the majority on the NAC, and Douthwaite lost his seat on it at the next election, in 1911. However, that year he was elected to

Bredbury and Romiley Bredbury is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, east of Stockport and south-west of Hyde. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 16,721. It is on the lower southern ...

Urban District Council In England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected urban district council (UDC), which shared local gove ...

(UDC), winning on the drawing of lots, as he had tied with a Conservative candidate. In 1912, Douthwaite attended the Socialist Unity conference organised by 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 ...

. This formed the

British Socialist Party The British Socialist Party (BSP) was a Marxist political organisation established in Great Britain in 1911. Following a protracted period of factional struggle, in 1916 the party's anti-war forces gained decisive control of the party and saw t ...

(BSP), and Douthwaite joined the new party. He was immediately elected to its Standing Order Committee, alongside

Duncan Carmichael Duncan Carmichael (1870 – 31 August 1926) was a British people, British trade unionist and socialist activist. Living in Battersea, Carmichael joined the Social Democratic Federation (SDF) in 1903, and served on its executive committee fro ...

Peter Petroff Peter Petroff ( bg, Петър Петров; 21 October 1919 – 27 February 2003
''The New York Times'': Pet ...

and E. C. Fairchild, and the four worked together to ensure voices in the party opposing British rearmament were heard. The BSP affiliated to the Labour Party, and Douthwaite devoted much of his time to it, being re-elected to the council in its colours in 1914, soon leaving the BSP. Douthwaite focused on local politics during and after

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 ...

, chairing the UDC and the Macclesfield Divisional Labour Party. He stood unsuccessfully for

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

at the 1935 general election, but was elected to

Cheshire County Council Cheshire County Council was the county council of Cheshire. Founded on 1 April 1889, it was officially dissolved on 31 March 2009, when it and its districts were superseded by two unitary authorities; Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire Eas ...

in 1937. He finally lost his seat on the UDC in 1947, but served on the county council until his death in 1949.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Douthwaite, Christopher Thomas 1875 births 1949 deaths British Socialist Party members Councillors in Cheshire Independent Labour Party National Administrative Committee members Labour Party (UK) councillors Politicians from Manchester Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates