Reginald Logan Rait

Reginald Rait

Reginald Logan Rait (January 1902 1975), was a British Pattenmaker and Liberal Party politician. He was notable for being the youngest candidate to stand at the 1923 UK General Election.

Background

He was born in Kingston, Surrey[1] to George Logan Rait and Alice Heleanor Rait.[2] He was educated at Charterhouse School, Godalming and University College, Oxford. He lived in Surbiton Hill, Surrey.[3]

Political career

In 1922 Rait was an Oxford delegate on Hungarian self-determination at Budapest. He was Liberal candidate for the Isle of Thanet division of Kent at the 1923 General Election. He was aged 21, the youngest candidate in the country.[4] The constituency had returned a Unionist candidate at every election since it was created in 1885. Rait came to within 48 votes of taking the seat and recorded the highest percentage poll for a Liberal candidate in the constituency;

General Election 1923: Isle of Thanet[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Esmond Cecil Harmsworth 13,821 50.1 -11.1
Liberal Reginald Logan Rait 13,773 49.9 +11.1
Majority 48 0.2 -22.2
Turnout 69.5 +1.1
Unionist hold Swing -11.1

After the election in February 1924 he was re-adopted as prospective Liberal candidate for the Isle of Thanet.[6] However, he did not contest the seat at the following general election in October 1924. He did not stand for parliament again.[7]

Professional career

He was a Pattenmaker. In 1958 he was Master of the livery of the Worshipful Company of Pattenmakers.[8]

He died in London, in 1975 at the age of 73.[9]

References

  1. ancestry.co.uk
  2. http://www.myheritage.com
  3. The Liberal Yearbook - 1926
  4. The Illustrated London News 1 Dec 1923
  5. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  6. Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald, Kent, 23 February 1924
  7. British parliamentary election results 1918-1983, Craig, F.W.S.
  8. http://www.pattenmakers.co.uk
  9. ancestry.co.uk
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, March 19, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.