Constituency : Wrexham 1924-9
The 1924 Parliament had been very difficult for the Liberals as the third party. As some had been elected in straight fights with Labour and some in straight fights with the Tories they were deeply divided about support for MacDonald's minority government. He did nothing to assist them and encouraged the adoption of Labour candidates in Liberal-held constituencies. The election of 1924 caught them unprepared and under-financed. Some historians have accused Lloyd George of deliberately engineering defeat by withholding funds from his war chest. If so, he certainly got what he wanted as the Liberals dropped to 46 seats and that included a number of "Constitutionalists" who jumped ship for the Tories when the scale of Liberal defeat became clear.
Amid the debacle, there were a handful of gains from Labour where the Tories withdrew whether or not the Liberal candidate adopted the Constitutionalist label. One example was Christmas who captured Wrexham after the Tory pulled out at the last minute.
Christmas was born on Christmas Day. He was the son of the manager of the Brymbo Steel Works. He was educated at Grove House School and Manchester University. He became an engineer, fitter and draughtsman and spent time in Canada and South Africa. He was a Congregationalist.
In Parliament Christmas's main interest was international trade. He was generally loyal to Lloyd George and supported him becoming leader.
In 1929 the Tories decided to stand in Wrexham and Christmas was defeated by Labour. He was adopted as candidate for Montgomeryshire when Clement Davies intended to step down in 1931 but withdrew gracefully when Davies changed his mind.
Christmas was a keen musician.
He died in 1965 aged 83.
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