Enid Lapthorn

Enid Lapthorn

Miss Enid Lapthorn (23 July 1889 – 18 November 1967), was a British Liberal Party and later Liberal National politician.

Background

She was the eldest daughter of Thomas Henry Field Lapthorn J.P. and Elsie May Nicholson of Southsea in Hampshire.^[1] Her father was also actively involved in politics for the Liberal party serving as President of Portsmouth Liberal Association. He also stood as Liberal candidate for Portsmouth North at the 1922 General Election.^[2]

Professional career

During the 1914-1918 war she worked in His Majesty's Postal Censorship and Prisoners of War Bureau in Bern, Switzerland. She also acted as Secretary to the British Passport Office in Prague, and as a translator for the Guaranty Trust Company in New York.^[3]

Political career

She was Secretary of the Liberal Social Council from 1924-26.^[4] In February 1928 she was selected as Liberal candidate for the safe Unionist seat of Hitchin in Hertfordshire, for a general election expected to take place before the end of 1929.^[5] In 1928 she served on the Liberal party Campaign Committee.^[6][7] When the general election came she managed to increase the Liberal share of the vote and overtake the Labour candidate to finish second;

General Election 1929: Hitchin[8] Electorate 44,967
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Guy Molesworth Kindersley	14,786	44.8	-14.4
	Liberal	Miss Enid Lapthorn	9,325	28.3	+11.9
	Labour	R W Gifford	8,880	26.9	+2.5
Majority			5,461	16.5	-18.3
Turnout				73.4	+3.9
	Unionist hold		Swing

She did not stand for parliament again but remained active in the Liberal party. In 1929 she was elected to serve on the Liberal party Organisation Committee for 1930.^[9] She served as Chairman of the Liberal Social Council.^[10] Following the formation of the all-party National Government she did not contest the 1931 General Election. In Hitchin, the local Liberal Association had decided not to oppose the sitting Conservative who supported the National Government. After the Liberal party split over its support for the National Government she gravitated to the Liberal Nationals who remained in support of the National Government. In 1936-37 she was Honorary Secretary of the Liberal National Council (Women's Section).^[11][12] She took a particular interest in foreign affairs and the threat of war. In 1934 at a Liberal conference she spoke on the subject of 'Prospects of Disarmament'.^[13] In April 1935 she worked as secretary to Margery Corbett Ashby at the Disarmament Conference in Geneva, and wrote in The Liberal Woman's News after a visit to Germany that she would like to write about the 'prevalent attitude to women' there but felt that war and peace were more important.^[14] In 1937 she attended the Liberal National annual conference at which she successfully moved a resolution urging the government to strengthen the League of Nations in an effort to control the dictatorships through collective action.^[15]

References

1. Western Daily Press Bristol, 21 Feb 1928
2. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
3. The Times House of Commons, 1929
4. The Times House of Commons, 1929
5. Western Daily Press Bristol, 21 Feb 1928
6. The Liberal Magazine, 1928
7. "News in Brief." Times [London, England] 6 Oct. 1928: 6. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.
8. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
9. Western Daily Press Bristol, 19 Dec 1929
10. Western Morning News Devon, 5 Nov 1935
11. The Liberal Year Book, 1936
12. Western Morning News Devon, 18 Mar 1937
13. The Liberal Magazine, 1934
14. This Working-Day World: Women's Lives And Culture(s) In Britain, 1914-1945 edited by Sybil Oldfield
15. "New Liberalism." Times [London, England] 25 June 1937: 18. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.