Frank Raffety
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Frank Walter Raffety OBE (1875 – 8 September 1946) was a British barrister and Liberal Party politician.
He was the son of Charles Walter Raffety, of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire and attended the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe.[1] In 1898 he was called to the bar at the Middle Temple, and practised on the Northern Circuit.[2]
He developed an interest in politics, and became honorary secretary of the Social and Political Education League. The organisation was established to provide political education to the general public, and in particular to promote moderation over revolution.[2][3] He was also an active member of the Eighty Club, an educational group within the Liberal Party.[2][4]
He was selected as Liberal prospective parliamentary candidate for Stamford for a general election expected to take place in 1915.[5]
He unsuccessfully contested the Lewisham West by-election in September 1921;
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unionist | Philip Dawson | 9,427 | 38.9 | n/a | |
Anti-Waste League | Walter George Windham | 8,580 | 35.4 | n/a | |
Liberal | Frank Raffety | 6,211 | 25.6 | n/a | |
Majority | 847 | 3.5 | n/a | ||
Turnout | 24,218 | 59.2 | n/a | ||
Unionist hold | Swing | n/a |
In March of the following year he was elected to the London County Council, as a (Liberal-backed) Progressive Party councillor for Islington West;[6]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Progressive | Henry Mills | 5,903 | 33.6 | ||
Progressive | Frank Raffety | 5,746 | 32.7 | ||
Labour | P.H. Black | 3,013 | 17.2 | ||
Labour | G. Davison | 2,894 | 16.5 | ||
Majority | 2,733 | 15.5 | |||
Progressive hold | Swing |
At the general election in November 1922 he failed to win Bristol West;
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unionist | George Gibbs | 18,124 | 62.0 | n/a | |
Liberal | Frank Raffety | 11,100 | 38.0 | n/a | |
Majority | 7,024 | 24.0 | n/a | ||
Unionist hold | Swing | n/a |
A further general election was held in 1923, and Raffety was elected Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Bath;
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Frank Raffety | 13,694 | 51.6 | +19.6 | |
Unionist | Charles Foxcroft | 12,830 | 48.4 | −1.8 | |
Majority | 864 | 3.2 | 21.4 | ||
Turnout | 79.1 | −3.3 | |||
Liberal gain from Unionist | Swing | +10.7 |
His membership of the Commons was brief, as he was defeated when a further general election was called in 1924;
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unionist | Charles Foxcroft | 16,067 | 55.8 | +7.4 | |
Liberal | Frank Raffety | 8,800 | 30.6 | −21.0 | |
Labour | Walter Barton Scobell | 3,914 | 13.6 | +13.6 | |
Majority | 7,267 | 25.2 | 28.4 | ||
Turnout | 84.5 | +5.4 | |||
Unionist gain from Liberal | Swing | +14.2 |
He again stood as a Liberal candidate at Cheltenham in 1929;
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unionist | Walter Preston | 15,279 | 53.2 | +3.7 | |
Liberal | Frank Raffety | 8,533 | 29.7 | −2.0 | |
Labour | William Ramsey Piggott | 4,920 | 17.1 | −1.7 | |
Majority | 6,746 | 23.5 | +5.7 | ||
Turnout | 79.8 | −0.5 | |||
Unionist hold | Swing | +2.8 |
and East Dorset in 1935, but failed to be elected;[2]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Gordon Hall Caine | 25,520 | 53.5 | +9.0 | |
Liberal | Frank Raffety | 11,349 | 23.8 | −16.6 | |
Labour | Edward Joseph Stocker | 10,823 | 22.7 | +14.6 | |
Majority | 14,171 | 29.7 | +25.6 | ||
Turnout | 47,692 | 74.4 | |||
Conservative hold | Swing | +12.8 |
Raffety remained active in Liberal party politics, as a speaker. He became the Chairman of the Industrial Co-Partnership Association. In 1943 he was granted the freedom of the borough of High Wycombe, of which he had been honorary recorder since 1905.[2] In 1945 he was made an Officer of the Order of British Empire.[2]
He died at his home in Bramley, Surrey in August 1946, aged 71.[2]
References
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
- ^ School Records: http://www.rgs.tonyhare.co.uk/Wycombiensian/1939%20September.pdf Archived 5 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e f g Obituary: Mr F W Raffety, The Times, 11 September 1946, p.7
- ^ Deborah Wormell, Sir John Seeley and the Uses of History, Cambridge, 1980
- ^ "Eighty Club". Database of Archives of Non-Governmental Organisations. University of Birmingham. 2007. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
- ^ Grantham Journal, Lincolnshire Mar 1914
- ^ LCC Elections, The Times, 3 March 1922, p.12
- ^ London Municipal Notes - Volumes 18-23, London Municipal Society
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Frank Walter Raffety
Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Bath 1923–1924 | Succeeded by |