Edwin Bayliss OBE (1894 – 30 March 1971), was a British politician who was notably Chairman of the

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

Background

Bayliss was born the son of Edwin Bayliss of

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

. He was educated at Nottingham College. In 1913, he married Lily Smithers. They had two sons. Lily died in 1948. In 1949, Bayliss married Constance Shipley. He was awarded the

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1960.

Political career

Bayliss was a member of the executive of the Midlands Liberal Federation. He served on the

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

Board of guardians Boards of guardians were ''ad hoc'' authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930. England and Wales Boards of guardians were created by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, replacing the parish overseers of the po ...

. He had a particular interest in industrial matters and ex-servicemen issues (being a founding member of the

British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British Charitable organization, charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants. ...

, for which he published articles. In November 1925, he was selected as prospective

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 ...

candidate for the

Belper Belper () is a town and civil parish in the local government district of Amber Valley in Derbyshire, England, located about north of Derby on the River Derwent. Along with Belper, the parish includes the village of Milford and the hamlets ...

division of

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

. However, he did not contest the seat. He was Liberal candidate in the 1926 Smethwick by-election. This made him the first Liberal to contest

Smethwick Smethwick () is an industrial town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire and then Worcestershire before bei ...

since the constituency was created in 1918.

Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...

had just taken over as Liberal Leader and was keen to see Liberals contesting as many seats as possible. Bayliss came in third with 9% of the vote. He was Liberal candidate for the

Rossendale Rossendale may refer to several places and organizations in Lancashire, England: Places *Rossendale Valley, a river valley *Borough of Rossendale, a local government district *Rossendale (UK Parliament constituency) Rossendale was a United King ...

division of

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 ...

at the 1929 General Election. He was not planning to contest the election, but the adopted Liberal candidate fell ill at the last minute and withdrew. Rossendale had been a Liberal seat until it was lost in 1918 to a coalition government backed Unionist. The Liberals had come within 2,000 votes of winning it back in 1923 before falling to third place in 1924. Bayliss lifted the Liberal share of the vote to 34%, which was only good enough to recapture second place, falling 800 votes short of victory. He did not stand for parliament again. He was to move south to London where, after World War II, he had a long municipal career in the Labour Party, representing

Islington East Islington East was a United Kingdom constituencies, constituency which returned one Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United ...

on the

and then

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

on the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

. From 1952-53, he was chair of the council.‘BAYLISS, Edwin’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 201
accessed 1 March 2016
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Electoral record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bayliss, Edwin 1894 births 1971 deaths Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Labour Party (UK) councillors Members of the Order of the British Empire Members of London County Council Members of the Greater London Council Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire