Leslie Judah Solley (15 December 1905 – 9 January 1968) was a British

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

. Solley was born 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 ...

and educated at

Davenant Foundation School Davenant Foundation School is a Christian Ecumenical secondary school, founded in 1680, currently in Loughton, Essex, England. History Foundation in Whitechapel In February 1680 the Reverend Ralph Davenant, rector of St Mary's Whitechape ...

then the

University of London 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 ...

. He worked as a

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...

and then a barrister. He joined the Labour Party and won the Thurrock seat 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 Bulgaria ...

. In 1948, Solley signed a

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offici ...

written by

John Platts-Mills John Faithful Fortescue Platts-Mills, (4 October 1906 – 26 October 2001) was a British barrister and left-wing politician. He was the Labour Party Member of Parliament for Finsbury from 1945 to 1948, when he was expelled from the party effect ...

in support of Pietro Nenni and the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parties of the country. Founded in Genoa in 1892, ...

, in defiance of Labour Party policy. As a result, he was warned not to contravene the party line in future. Solley was an ardent opponent of the North Atlantic Treaty, calling instead for a united Europe and work through the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. He was one of six Labour MPs to vote against signing the Treaty, and as a result of this and his previous warning, was expelled from the party. He then became a founder member of the

Labour Independent Group The Labour Independent Group was an organisation of five former Labour Party (UK), Labour Party Members of Parliament (MPs) in the United Kingdom. In April 1948, the MP John Platts-Mills organised a petition in support of Pietro Nenni and the Ita ...

, and contested Thurrock again in the 1950 general election as an "Independent Labour" candidate. He failed to win, and afterwards concentrated on his career in law, while also becoming prominent in the

Songwriters Guild of Great Britain A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

. He wrote many pieces of music in his life, including the songs for "

The Adventures Of Twizzle ''The Adventures of Twizzle'' is a television show produced by AP Films and Gerry Anderson. Conceived by author Roberta Leigh, later a co-producer, the children's show premiered in 1957. The show follows a young boy named Twizzle and his compa ...

" under the pseudonym Leslie Clair, an early British television series for children. His masterwork, an orchestral fantasy, "Music For Orchestra" was written in 1948 but remained undiscovered until 2008, well after his death, aged 62, in 1968.

References

Spartacus: Leslie Solley

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Solley, Leslie 1905 births 1968 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies British barristers UK MPs 1945–1950 Politics of Thurrock