500 John Harris

Constituency :  Leicester  1857-9, 1865-74

John  recaptured  the  second  seat  at  Leicester, held  by  the  Tories  since  a  by-election  in  1861.

John  was  the  son  of  the  former  Leicester  MP  Richard  Harris. He  was  a   devout  Baptist  hosiery manufacturer  and  a  moderate. He  was  Mayor  of  the  city  in  1850   and  1856. He  was  elected  MP in  1857  after  being  put  forward  by  the  moderate  faction  to  defeat  the  Radical, Walmsley  which  he did  with  a  campaign  based  on  Sunday  trading  and  support  from  the  local  Tories. He  was squeezed out  by  two  other  Liberals  in 1859. He  stood in  the  1861  by-election.

John's  daughter  Emma  married  Titus  Salt's  eldest  son.

John  voted  for  the  disestablishment  of  the  Irish  Church.

He  died  in  1878  aged  69.