Miss Enid Lapthorn (23 July 1889 – 18 November 1967), was a British

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 ...

and later Liberal National politician.

Background

She was the eldest daughter of Thomas Henry Field Lapthorn J.P. and Elsie May Nicholson of

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea began as a f ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. Her father was also actively involved in politics for the Liberal party serving as President of Portsmouth Liberal Association. He also stood as Liberal candidate for Portsmouth North at the 1922 General Election.

Professional career

During the 1914-1918 war she worked in His Majesty's Postal Censorship and Prisoners of War Bureau in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

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. She also acted as Secretary to the British Passport Office in

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, and as a translator for the Guaranty Trust Company in

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Political career

She was Secretary of the Liberal Social Council from 1924 to 1926. In February 1928 she was selected as Liberal candidate for the safe Unionist seat of

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district of Hertfordshire, England. The town dates from at least the 7th century. It lies in the valley of the River Hiz at the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hills ...

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, for a general election expected to take place before the end of 1929. In 1928 she served on the Liberal party Campaign Committee. When the general election came she managed to increase the Liberal share of the vote and overtake the Labour candidate to finish second; She did not stand for parliament again but remained active in the Liberal party. In 1929 she was elected to serve on the Liberal party Organisation Committee for 1930. She served as Chairman of the Liberal Social Council. Following the formation of the all-party National Government she did not contest the 1931 General Election. In Hitchin, the local Liberal Association had decided not to oppose the sitting Conservative who supported the National Government. After the Liberal party split over its support for the National Government she gravitated to the Liberal Nationals who remained in support of the National Government. In 1936-37 she was Honorary Secretary of the Liberal National Council (Women's Section). She took a particular interest in foreign affairs and the threat of war. In 1934 at a Liberal conference she spoke on the subject of 'Prospects of Disarmament'. In April 1935 she worked as secretary to

Margery Corbett Ashby Dame Margery Irene Corbett Ashby, ( Corbett; 19 April 1882 – 15 May 1981) was a British suffragist, Liberal politician, feminist and internationalist. Background She was born at Danehill, East Sussex, the daughter of Charles Corbett, a ...

at the Disarmament Conference in Geneva, and wrote in The Liberal Woman's News after a visit to Germany that she would like to write about the 'prevalent attitude to women' there but felt that war and peace were more important. In 1937 she attended the Liberal National annual conference at which she successfully moved a resolution urging the government to strengthen the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

in an effort to control the dictatorships through collective action."New Liberalism." Times ondon, England25 June 1937: 18. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lapthorn, Enid 1889 births 1967 deaths Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates