Tom Horabin
Encyclopedia
Thomas Lewis Horabin was a British
Liberal Party
politician who defected to the Labour Party
. He sat in the House of Commons from 1939 to 1950.
and educated at Cardiff High School
, and during the First World War
he served from 1914 to 1918 with the Cameron Highlanders
.
After the war he went into business, and became chairman of Lacrinoid Ltd, which made buttons and other synthetic products. Later he worked as a business consultant,
and worked with a company formed in 1948 to develop trade with Yugoslavia
.
(MP), Sir Francis Acland in 1939, Horabin was selected by North Cornwall
Liberals to defend the marginal seat at the resulting by-election
. Along with his party leader, Sir Archibald Sinclair
, he was a vocal opponent of Chamberlain
's Nazi
appeasement
policy. This issue was central to the debate in the by-election, which he won with an increased majority of 1,464 in a straight fight with the Conservatives.
He was also a strong advocate, along with Sir Stafford Cripps
, of a Popular Front
of left-of-centre parties coming together to defeat the Conservative
led National government
. He continued to hold the seat until 1950.
In 1944 he authored Politics Made Plain. What the next general election will really be about, a book published by Penguin
which urged voters to reject Churchill
and the Conservatives at the general election. He was re-elected in 1945
and appointed Liberal Chief Whip
by the new Liberal leader, Clement Davies
. However, he became frustrated with some of the pro-Conservative sympathies of some of his colleagues. He resigned his post and his party's whip in 1946 to sit as an Independent.
In January 1947, he was seriously injured when a BOAC
aircraft in which he was a passenger crashed in Kent
.
He later sued BOAC for damages, and after hearings in the High Court
, the case was settled in November 1952 when he accepted £3,017 in damages.
In November 1947 Horabin took the Labour whip.
The North Cornwall Liberals wanted him to resign the seat and seek re-election, but he refused, saying that the principles for which he stood had been set out clearly in his address to voters at the general election.
At the 1950 election
, Labour invited him to defend North Cornwall as a Labour candidate, but he refused on the grounds that he would then be campaigning against people who had previously campaigned for him. A further factor was that his injuries in the crash had been severe, keeping him away from Parliament for a year, and a campaign in the scattered North Cornwall constituency might have been too great a strain.
Instead he fought Exeter
as the Labour candidate, but lost to the sitting Conservative MP John Cyril Maude.
Horabin died in Folkestone
on 26 April 1956, aged 60. Having married in 1920, he left a widow, two sons and a daughter.
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...
Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
politician who defected to the Labour Party
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...
. He sat in the House of Commons from 1939 to 1950.
Early life
Horabin was born in Merthyr TydfilMerthyr Tydfil
Merthyr Tydfil is a town in Wales, with a population of about 30,000. Although once the largest town in Wales, it is now ranked as the 15th largest urban area in Wales. It also gives its name to a county borough, which has a population of around 55,000. It is located in the historic county of...
and educated at Cardiff High School
Cardiff High School
Cardiff High School is a comprehensive school in the Cyncoed area of Cardiff, Wales. Cardiff High School is two miles from the city centre, serving a neighbourhood of privately-owned houses. According to the 2007 ESTYN Report, "Cardiff High School is a very good school with many outstanding...
, and during the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
he served from 1914 to 1918 with the Cameron Highlanders
Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders
The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1793. In 1961 it was merged with the Seaforth Highlanders to form the Queen's Own Highlanders...
.
After the war he went into business, and became chairman of Lacrinoid Ltd, which made buttons and other synthetic products. Later he worked as a business consultant,
and worked with a company formed in 1948 to develop trade with Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
.
Political career
Following the death of Liberal Member of ParliamentMember 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,...
(MP), Sir Francis Acland in 1939, Horabin was selected by North Cornwall
North Cornwall (UK Parliament constituency)
North Cornwall is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
Liberals to defend the marginal seat at the resulting by-election
North Cornwall by-election, 1939
The North Cornwall by-election, 1939 was a parliamentary by-election held on 13 July 1939 for the British House of Commons constituency of North Cornwall.The by-election took place shortly before the start of the Second World War...
. Along with his party leader, Sir Archibald Sinclair
Archibald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso
Archibald Henry Macdonald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso KT, CMG, PC , known as Sir Archibald Sinclair, Bt between 1912 and 1952, and often as Archie Sinclair, was a British politician and leader of the Liberal Party....
, he was a vocal opponent of Chamberlain
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the...
's Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
appeasement
Appeasement
The term appeasement is commonly understood to refer to a diplomatic policy aimed at avoiding war by making concessions to another power. Historian Paul Kennedy defines it as "the policy of settling international quarrels by admitting and satisfying grievances through rational negotiation and...
policy. This issue was central to the debate in the by-election, which he won with an increased majority of 1,464 in a straight fight with the Conservatives.
He was also a strong advocate, along with Sir Stafford Cripps
Stafford Cripps
Sir Richard Stafford Cripps was a British Labour politician of the first half of the 20th century. During World War II he served in a number of positions in the wartime coalition, including Ambassador to the Soviet Union and Minister of Aircraft Production...
, of a Popular Front
Popular front
A popular front is a broad coalition of different political groupings, often made up of leftists and centrists. Being very broad, they can sometimes include centrist and liberal forces as well as socialist and communist groups...
of left-of-centre parties coming together to defeat the Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
led National government
National Government 1935-1940
Members of the Cabinet are in bold face.-Source:*D. Butler and G. Butler, Twentieth Century British Political Facts 1900–2000....
. He continued to hold the seat until 1950.
In 1944 he authored Politics Made Plain. What the next general election will really be about, a book published by Penguin
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
which urged voters to reject Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
and the Conservatives at the general election. He was re-elected in 1945
United Kingdom general election, 1945
The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, due in part to the time it took to...
and appointed Liberal Chief 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...
by the new Liberal leader, Clement Davies
Clement Davies
Clement Edward Davies KC, MP was a Welsh politician and leader of the Liberal Party from 1945 to 1956.-Life:...
. However, he became frustrated with some of the pro-Conservative sympathies of some of his colleagues. He resigned his post and his party's whip in 1946 to sit as an Independent.
In January 1947, he was seriously injured when a BOAC
British Overseas Airways Corporation
The British Overseas Airways Corporation was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946 to 1974. The company started life with a merger between Imperial Airways Ltd. and British Airways Ltd...
aircraft in which he was a passenger crashed in Kent
1947 BOAC Douglas C-47 crash
The 1947 BOAC Douglas C-47 Crash occurred on 11 January 1947 when Douglas C-47A G-AGJX of British Overseas Airways Corporation crashed into a hill at Stowting, Kent, in southeast England, killing five people outright, with a further three dying from injuries received. The aircraft had been...
.
He later sued BOAC for damages, and after hearings in the High Court
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
, the case was settled in November 1952 when he accepted £3,017 in damages.
In November 1947 Horabin took the Labour whip.
The North Cornwall Liberals wanted him to resign the seat and seek re-election, but he refused, saying that the principles for which he stood had been set out clearly in his address to voters at the general election.
At the 1950 election
United Kingdom general election, 1950
The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first general election ever after a full term of a Labour government. Despite polling over one and a half million votes more than the Conservatives, the election, held on 23 February 1950 resulted in Labour receiving a slim majority of just five...
, Labour invited him to defend North Cornwall as a Labour candidate, but he refused on the grounds that he would then be campaigning against people who had previously campaigned for him. A further factor was that his injuries in the crash had been severe, keeping him away from Parliament for a year, and a campaign in the scattered North Cornwall constituency might have been too great a strain.
Instead he fought Exeter
Exeter (UK Parliament constituency)
Exeter is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
as the Labour candidate, but lost to the sitting Conservative MP John Cyril Maude.
Horabin died in Folkestone
Folkestone
Folkestone is the principal town in the Shepway District of Kent, England. Its original site was in a valley in the sea cliffs and it developed through fishing and its closeness to the Continent as a landing place and trading port. The coming of the railways, the building of a ferry port, and its...
on 26 April 1956, aged 60. Having married in 1920, he left a widow, two sons and a daughter.
Further reading
- “Tom Horabin” - the maverick career of the radical Liberal MP by Jaime Reynolds and Ian Hunter: Journal of Liberal History, Issue 28, Autumn 2000
- “Tom Horabin remembered” – interview with Mary Wright, the daughter of Tom Horabin MP by Robert Ingham, Journal of Liberal History, Issue 53, Winter 2006-07