Clifford Kenyon (11 August 1896 – 29 April 1979) was a British farmer and politician. Kenyon was educated at Brighton Grove College 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 ...

, and the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

. He worked on his father's farm, Scarr Barn Farm at Crawshawbooth near Rossendale, which he eventually inherited. In 1922 Kenyon joined the Labour Party and the next year was elected to Rawtenstall Council, of which he became Mayor from 1938 to 1942. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace for

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

in 1941. At the 1945 general election, Kenyon was elected as Labour Member of Parliament for

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...

. Kenyon was a rare farmer on the Labour benches and often took up agricultural issues. He opposed agricultural subsidies and British membership of the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

. In 1950 he almost lost his seat to Andrew Fountaine, even though Fountaine's nomination by the Conservatives had officially been withdrawn. He remained a backbencher, and in the 1966 Parliament he was chairman of the Committee of Selection which chose members for other committees. 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 ...

criticised him for picking only one Liberal MP to sit on the Standing Committee examining the 1968 Finance Bill. At the 1970 general election, Kenyon retired; his seat went to the Conservative candidate Constance Monks.

References

*M. Stenton and S. Lees, "Who's Who of British MPs" (Harvester Press, 1981)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kenyon, Clifford 1896 births 1979 deaths Councillors in Lancashire Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 Commanders_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire