Laurence Anstice Pavitt was a Labour

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 and Co-operative Party

Co-operative Party

The Co-operative Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom committed to supporting and representing co-operative principles. The party does not put up separate candidates for any UK election itself. Instead, Co-operative candidates stand jointly with the Labour Party as "Labour...

 politician in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

Pavitt was a lifelong pacifist and a conscientious objector

Conscientious objector

A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....

 in the Second World War. He was secretary of the British Federation of Young Co-operators 1942-46 and general secretary

General secretary

-International intergovernmental organizations:-International nongovernmental organizations:-Sports governing bodies:...

 of the Anglo-Chinese

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 Development Society 1946-52.

He served as a councillor on the Municipal Borough of Ilford

Municipal Borough of Ilford

Ilford was a civil parish and local government district in south west Essex, England from 1888 to 1965, covering the town Ilford. The district saw a considerable rise in population throughout its life, caused by the expansion of the built-up area of London, and became one of the most populous...

 1949-52 and was national organiser of the Medical Practitioners' Union

Medical Practitioners' Union

The Medical Practitioners' Union is a section of Unite the Union, a trade union in the United Kingdom.The union was founded as the Medico-Political Union in 1914 and was renamed the Medical Practitioners' Union in 1922. It amalgamated with the Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial...

 1956-59.

Pavitt was Labour Co-operative

Labour Co-operative

Labour and Co-operative describes those candidates in British elections standing on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party, based on a national agreement between the two parties....

 Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Willesden West

Willesden West (UK Parliament constituency)

Willesden West was a borough constituency in the parliamentary county of Middlesex, adjoining the County of London and forming part of the London conurbation. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....

 from 1959 to 1974, and for Brent South from 1974 until he retired in 1987. He was parliamentary private secretary

Parliamentary Private Secretary

A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...

 to the Foreign Secretary from 1965, and was an Assistant government whip

Whip (politics)

A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...

 from 1974 to 1976.

Sources

• Times Guide to the House of Commons, 1966, 1983 and 1987 editions