Thursday, 18 May 2017
1561 Henry Vivian
Constituency : Birkenhead 1906-10, Totnes 1923-4
Henry took Birkenhead from the Tories as a Liberal-Labour candidate..
Henry was a carpenter's son from Devon. He was educated locally and became a carpenter's apprentice. He moved to London and became an active trade organiser for the Society of Carpenters and Joiners. He was a strong supporter of the Cooperative movement. He believed in co-partnership in industry and profit-sharing. He founded the Labour Co Partnership Association to put his ideas into practical action, influenced by the garden cities movement. He published many pamphlets on his ideas.
Henry did not support female suffrage. He strongly resisted the idea that all trade union MPs should move into the Labour party. He opposed the Unemployed Workmen Bill calling for local relief.
Henry had pacifist leanings and in 1906 had a resolution passed calling for arms limitation to be on the agenda at an international conference at The Hague.
Henry sat on the Royal Commission on Housing and Town Planning
Henry held on in January 1910 by 144 votes but with the left urging socialists to vote against him, he lost to the Conservatives in December.
Henry went to Canada to expound his ideas on urban planning.
In 1911 Henry contested South Somerset, a Liberal seat since 1885, in a by-election which seems to have been mainly fought on the issue of the National Insurance Act. He lost by 148 votes.
In 1918 Henry contested Edmonton where he came third.
Henry was an enthusiastic supporter of the League of Nations and was chair of the local branch of the League of Nations branch in Hornsey.
In 1922 Henry contested Northampton against Lloyd George supporter Charles McCurdy but came third with less than 10 % of the vote.
Henry briefly returned to Parliament by recapturing Totnes from the Tories in 1923 . He made a long speech in defence of Free Trade as soon as he got there. The Conservatives regained the seat in 1924.
He died in 1930 aged 62.
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