Arthur Marshall (British politician)

Not to be confused with Harold Marshall (acoustician).

Sir Arthur Harold Marshall, KBE (2 August 1870 – 18 January 1956) was an English Liberal Party politician. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Wakefield 1910–1918 and for Huddersfield 1922–1923.

Arthur Harold Marshall

Background

Arthur Harold Marshall was born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, a son of Methodist Minister Rev. H.T. Marshall DD and Mary Keats of Hanley. He was educated privately and at Yorkshire College (University of Leeds). He travelled extensively in South Africa, Canada, U.S.A. and Europe. In 1896 he married Louie Hepworth, the third daughter of Joseph Hepworth JP of Leeds, Torquay and Harrogate. In 1918 he became a Knight of the British Empire. In 1948 his wife died.

Profession

In 1904 Marshall qualified as a barrister, being called to the Bar by Gray's Inn. He practiced on the North-Eastern Circuit. He was a director of the Legal Insurance Company and of J Hepworth & Son (Limited). He was director of Bradford & District Newspaper Company Limited.

Political

Marshall was elected to Harrogate Town Council, serving for six years. In December 1910 he was elected to parliament as Liberal MP for Wakefield. He gained his seat from the Conservatives. He was the first Liberal to win the division since 1880. From 1910-1918 he served as a Liberal Whip. He was Chairman and Honorary Secretary of the Yorkshire Liberal Federation. He was Chairman of the Central Billeting Board. He was a member of the National War Savings Committee and of the National War Aims Committee.

In December 1918 he lost his seat to the Unionist he had defeated eight years earlier. There were two significant differences from 1910, firstly a Labour candidate intervened and secondly the endorsement from the wartime Coalition Government went to his Unionist opponent. In 1920 when a Conservative vacancy occurred in Ashton-under-Lyne, the town of his birth, he became the Liberal candidate for the by-election. Although no Liberal had stood in 1918 the party held the seat after the January 1910 elections. However, in a close contest between Unionist and Labour, he trailed in third place. At the next general election in 1922 he sought a return to parliament at Huddersfield. The division had returned a Coalition Government backed Liberal in 1918 against an official Liberal. Marshall had the support of Huddersfield Liberal Association and the defending member sought re-election as a National Liberal with the support of David Lloyd George and the local Conservatives. A Labour candidate made it a three-way contest. Marshall narrowly gained the seat for the Liberal Party. In parliament he again served as a Liberal Whip. A year later there was another general election. This time the Liberals were united and Marshall sought re-election against Labour and Unionist challengers. Marshall managed to increase his vote but his Labour opponent managed to do the same and beat Marshall by just 26 votes. In 1924 another general election was called and Marshall was again Liberal candidate for Huddersfield. In another close three-party contest, he was edged into third place by the Unionist. He did not stand for parliament again.

Electoral record

General election December 1910: Wakefield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Harold Marshall	2,837	51.7	n/a
	Conservative	Edward Brotherton	2,651	48.3	-6.2
Majority			186	3.4	n/a
Turnout			5,488
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	n/a

General election 1918: Wakefield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Edward Brotherton	9,128	52.3
	Labour	Albert Bellamy	5,882	33.7
	Liberal	Arthur Harold Marshall	2,448	14.0
Majority			3,246	18.6
Turnout				72.1
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

1920 Ashton-under-Lyne by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Walter de Frece	8,864	43.3	−15.0
	Labour	William Cornforth Robinson	8,127	39.6	n/a
	Liberal	Arthur Harold Marshall	3,511	17.1	n/a
Majority			738	3.7	−12.9
Turnout			20,502	82.3	+13.9
	Unionist hold		Swing	n/a
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

General election 1922: Huddersfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Harold Marshall	15,879	34.0	+5.3
	Labour	James Hudson	15,673	33.5	+1.0
	National Liberal	Charles Sykes	15,212	32.5	−6.3
Majority			206	0.5	11.6
Turnout			46,764	83.1	+13.3
Registered electors			56,243
	Liberal gain from National Liberal		Swing	+5.8

General election 1923: Huddersfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Hudson	17,430	36.7	+3.2
	Liberal	Arthur Harold Marshall	17,404	36.6	+2.6
	Unionist	Charles Tinker	12,694	26.7	+26.7
Majority			26	0.1	0.6
Turnout			47,528	81.9	−1.2
Registered electors			58,029
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	+0.3

General election 1924: Huddersfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Hudson	19,010	36.3	−0.4
	Unionist	Enoch Hill	16,745	32.0	+5.3
	Liberal	Arthur Harold Marshall	16,626	31.7	−4.9
Majority			2,265	4.3	4.2
Turnout			52,381	88.5	+6.6
Registered electors			59,176
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.8

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir Arthur Marshall