1660 Leo Money

Constituency : Paddington  North  1906-10, Northamptonshire  East 1910-18 , 1918 ( Labour )

Leo  took  Paddington  North  from  the  Tories.

Leo  was  born in  Genoa  to  an  Italian  father  and  English  mother. He  was  educated  privately  and  became  a  financial  journalist. He  was  a  staunch  advocate  of  Free  Trade and  played  a  prominent  part  in  rebutting  Chamberlain's  arguments.In  1905  Leo  published  Riches and  Poverty which  attempted  a  statistical  analysis  of  wealth distribution  in  the  UK  and   called  for  massive  state  intervention. It  became  a popular  text  with  socialists. H G  Wells  described  it  as "extraordinarily  valuable  and  suggestive"  and  the  two  became  close  friends  with  Wells  persuading  Leo  to  join  the Fabian  Society.

In  1906  Leo  maintained  there  were  more  collectivists  amongst  the  Liberals  than  Labour.

Leo  was  defeated  in  January  1910  and  switched  to  Northamptonshire  East  in  December.

Leo  was of  considerable  help  to  Lloyd  George  in  preparing  the  National  Insurance  legislation  and  published  Insurance  Versus Poverty  in  1912. He  then  gravitated  towards  Churchill  and  helped  make  the  case  for  naval  expenditure.

In 1915  Leo  became  parliamentary  private  secretary  to  Lloyd  George  at  the  Ministry  of Munitions. He  was  knighted that  same  year. He  became  an  advocate  for  conscription.

In  1917  Leo  became  parliamentary  spokesman  for  the  Ministry of  Shipping  as the  actual  Minister, shipowner  Joseph  Maclay, didn't  sit  in  Parliament. Maclay  described  him  as "very  clever  but  impossible " living in  "an  atmosphere  of  suspicion  and  distrust  of  everyone - satisfied  only  with  himself  and  his  own  views." Nevertheless  Leo  helped  develop  the  convoy  policy  which  largely  neutralised  the  U-boat  threat.

In 1918  Leo  resigned  his post   in  protest  at  the  government's  intention  to  discontinue  state  control  of  the  shipping  industry. He  joined  Labour to  push  for  nationalisation  and  redistributive  taxation. He  was  also  disappointed by  Lloyd  George's willingness  to  compromise  on  Free Trade  and Home  Rule. He stood  for  Tottenham  South  in  the  coupon  election  but  was beaten  by  the  Conservative.

In  1919  Leo  was  nominated  by  Labour  to  sit  on  the  Sankey  Commission  reporting  on  the future  of  the  mining  industry.

In  1920   Leo  stood  at  the  Stockport  by-election  but  came  third.

Leo  continued  to  write  and  in  1925  he published  The  Peril  of  the  White  forecasting  the  break-up  of  the  empire  through  racial  tensions. In  the  late  twenties  he  started  showing  sympathy  towards  the  fascist  dictators , supporting Italy's  invasion  of  Abyssinia. He  deplored  Allied  bombing  of  non-military  targets  in  Germany.

In  1928  Leo  was  arrested  but  acquitted  of  public  indecency  with  a  young  woman. In  1933  he  was  fined  for  the  same  offence. In  neither  case  did  his  actions  amount  to  anything  more  than  a  snog.

He  died  in  1944  aged  74.