Christopher Thomas Douthwaite (17 November 1875 – 11 February 1949) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

socialist politician. Born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, Douthwaite left school at the age of eleven, working first for a tea merchant, then for the Bradford Dyers Association. He moved to

Romiley Romiley is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Cheshire, it borders Marple, Greater Manchester, Marple, Bredbury and Woodley, Greater Manchester, Wood ...

, then in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, where he joined the Hatherlow Mutual Improvement Society, then the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse work ...

(ILP).David Howell, ''Dictionary of Labour Biography'', vol.XII, pp.72-76 Douthwaite soon became secretary of the ILP's branch in Romiley, and by the late 1900s was active at the national level. He supported

Victor Grayson Albert Victor Grayson (born 5 September 1881, disappeared 28 September 1920) was an English socialist politician of the early 20th century. An Independent Labour Party Member of Parliament from 1907 to 1910, Grayson is most notable for his sens ...

at the

1907 Colne Valley by-election The Colne Valley (UK Parliament constituency), Colne Valley by-election was a UK Parliamentary by-elections, Parliamentary by-election held on 18 July 1907. The constituency returned one Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliamen ...

and, like Grayson, launched attacks on the ILP leadership. He proposed that the ILP disaffiliated from the Labour Party, but this motion was heavily defeated at the 1909 ILP Conference; his proposal that the ILP should back independent socialist candidates was defeated much more narrowly. He was elected to the ILP's National Administrative Committee (NAC) in 1910, defeating W. Williams to represent Cheshire and North Wales, then later in the year contributed along with J. M. McLachlan,

Leonard Hall Leonard Hall may refer to: People *Leonard Hall (boxer) (born 1907, date of death unknown), Rhodesian and later South African boxer *Leonard Hall (socialist) (1866–1916), British trade unionist and socialist activist *Leonard J. Hall (born 1943), ...

and J. H. Belcher to the ''Green Manifesto''. This was condemned by the majority on the NAC, and Douthwaite lost his seat on it at the next election, in 1911. However, that year he was elected to Bredbury and Romiley

Urban District Council In England and Wales, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected urban district council (UDC), which shared local government responsibilities with a county council. ...

(UDC), winning on the drawing of lots, as he had tied with a Conservative candidate. In 1912, Douthwaite attended the Socialist Unity conference organised by the

Social Democratic Federation The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on 7 June 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury, James ...

. This formed the

British Socialist Party The British Socialist Party (BSP) was a Marxist political organisation established in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain in 1911. Following a protracted period of political faction, factional struggle, in 1916 the party's ...

(BSP), and Douthwaite joined the new party. He was immediately elected to its Standing Order Committee, alongside Duncan Carmichael,

Peter Petroff Peter Petroff (; 21 October 1919 – 27 February 2003
''The New York Times'': Peter D. Petroff Dies at 83. Re ...

and E. C. Fairchild, and the four worked together to ensure voices in the party opposing British rearmament were heard. The BSP affiliated to the Labour Party, and Douthwaite devoted much of his time to it, being re-elected to the council in its colours in 1914, soon leaving the BSP. Douthwaite focused on local politics during and after

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 ...

, chairing the UDC and the Macclesfield Divisional Labour Party. He stood unsuccessfully for

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

at the 1935 general election, but was elected to

Cheshire County Council Cheshire County Council was the county council of Cheshire. Founded on 1 April 1889, it was officially dissolved on 31 March 2009, when it and its districts were superseded by two unitary authorities: Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East. ...

in 1937. He finally lost his seat on the UDC in 1947, but served on the county council until his death in 1949.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Douthwaite, Christopher Thomas 1875 births 1949 deaths British Socialist Party members Councillors in Cheshire Independent Labour Party National Administrative Committee members Labour Party (UK) councillors Politicians from Manchester Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates