Constituency : Bermondsey West 1923-4. Ashford 1929-31
Roderick took Bermondsey West from Labour at the second attempt in a straight fight. labour accused his Mission of distributing Christmas turkeys to win votes.
Roderick was a farmer's son from Kent. He became a Wesleyan minister in Hull and acquired the nickname "the fighting parson" after an incident with a wifebeater. He later moved to Bermondsey. He served in Egypt and France during World War One until he was invalided out in 1916 with "trench fever". In 1918 he stood in Hull Central but was trashed by the couponed Conservative. In 1922 he stood for Bermondsey West, a Liberal-held seat but it was taken by Labour due to the presence of a National Liberal candidate.
In 1924, Roderick lost to Labour in a straight fight.
In 1929, Roderick achieved a stunning victory at Ashford in Kent, winning a three-cornered contest after a vigorous campaign against tithe-paying.
Roderick switched to the Liberal Nationals in 1931 but the local Conservatives could not bring themselves to support a radical nonconformist. He was one of the few Liberal Nationals to face a Tory opponent and was defeated despite Labour's withdrawal. By 1933, Roderick was back in the main Liberal fold and stood at a by-election in Ashford that year coming second in a three-cornered contest.
Roderick carried on his fight against tithes and became President of the National Tithe-payers Association in 1932.
He died from a duodenal ulcer in 1937 aged 55.
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