Benjamin Charles Spoor (2 June 1878 – 22 December 1928),
OBE, was a British
Labour Party politician. He took a particular interest in
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
.
Born in
Witton Park,
County Durham
County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...
, he went to
Elmfield College, York, and came from a family of
Primitive Methodists. An engineer by training, he later went into business as a builder's merchant. Before entering politics, he was a lay preacher in the Methodist Church.
At the
1918 general election, he was elected as
Member of Parliament for
Bishop Auckland
Bishop Auckland ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham, England, Durham.
M ...
, and held the seat until his death at the age of fifty. In Parliament, he found himself at odds with many Labour MPs and contemplated joining the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world.
The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...
. He was the
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury is the official title of the most senior whip of the governing party in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Today, any official links between the Treasury and this office are nominal and the title ...
and
Chief Whip
The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes.
United Kingdom
I ...
in 1924, when he was made a
Privy Councillor.
He had suffered from poor health since contracting
malaria
Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...
at
Salonika
Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...
during
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. On a visit to London in December 1928, he was found dead in bed at the
Regent Palace Hotel. At the inquest, his son said that his father had taken to drinking heavily. His death, it was decided, was due to
syncope from disease of the
heart
The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...
and
liver
The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...
, due to
chronic alcoholism.
References
* ''The Times'', 24 December 1928 (obituary), 27 December 1928 (inquest report)
* ''The Fall of Lloyd George: The Political Crisis of 1922''
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spoor, Ben
Spoor, Benjamin
Spoor, Benjamin
Spoor, Benjamin
Spoor, Benjamin
UK MPs 1918–1922
UK MPs 1922–1923
UK MPs 1923–1924
UK MPs 1924–1929
People from County Durham (district)
Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire