Julius Silverman (8 December 1905 – 21 September 1996) was a British Labour Party politician. Silverman, whose father escaped anti-Jewish

pogroms A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russian ...

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, was born in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

. He attended Leeds Central High School and first worked as a warehouseman. He later became a barrister, called by

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in 1931, and practised in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. He served as a councillor on

Birmingham City Council Birmingham City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local council area in the United Kingdom (e ...

1934–45. Silverman contested Birmingham Moseley in

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

. He was 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 38 years, for

Birmingham Erdington Birmingham Erdington is a parliamentary constituency in Birmingham, England, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2022 by Paulette Hamilton of the Labour Party. Members of Parliament MPs 1918� ...

(1945–1955 and 1974–1983) and Birmingham Aston (1955–1974). He was granted

Honorary Freedom of the City of Birmingham Below is a list of Honorary Freemen of the City of Birmingham. List The City of Birmingham, England has granted Honorary Freedom to individuals and military organisations since 1888. Designation as a Freeman of the City is an honorary title ...

in 1982 and died in Birmingham aged 90.

References

Obituary in The Independent, 24 September 1996
*''Times Guide to the House of Commons'', 1951, 1966 & 1979 *

External links

* 1905 births 1996 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in Birmingham, West Midlands UK MPs 1945–1950 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 Members of Gray's Inn 20th-century British lawyers Jewish British politicians Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in public affairs Politicians from Leeds {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub