Ernest Stanford (27 November 1894 – 14 April 1966) 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 ...

politician.

Early life

Born in

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, Stanford was educated in

Crawley Crawley () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a populat ...

. He served in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...

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 ...

Political career

Standing for Parliament

Around the end of the war, he joined 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), within which he became a prominent supporter of

Ramsay Macdonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British statesman and politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The first two of his governments belonged to the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, where he led ...

. The ILP was affiliated to the Labour Party, and in 1919, Stanford was a founder member of Crawley Labour Party. At the

1923 United Kingdom general election The 1923 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 6 December 1923. The Conservative Party (UK), Conservatives, led by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, won the most seats, but Labour Party (UK), Labour, led by Ramsay MacDonald, and H. ...

, Stanford stood unsuccessfully for

Horsham and Worthing Horsham and Worthing was a county constituency in West Sussex, centred on the towns of Horsham and Worthing in West Sussex. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by th ...

, and although he stood again in

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

, his vote share fell back further. In 1931, he joined the

National Labour Organisation The National Labour Organisation, also known simply as National Labour, was formed in 1931 by supporters of the National Government in Britain who had come from the Labour Party. Its leaders were Ramsay MacDonald (1931–1937) and his son Mal ...

, Macdonald's split from the Labour Party, and he was adopted as its candidate for Wolverhampton West. On nomination day, Stanford agreed to withdraw in favour of a National Liberal Party candidate, and he instead spent the election campaigning for Macdonald in

Seaham Seaham ( ) is a seaside town in County Durham (district), County Durham, England. Located on the Durham Coast, Seaham is situated south of Sunderland and east of Durham, England, Durham. The town grew from the late 19th century onwards as ...

. Stanford finally stood for National Labour in Southwark Central at the

1935 United Kingdom general election The 1935 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 14 November 1935. It resulted in a second (though reduced) landslide victory for the three-party National Government, which was led by Stanley Baldwin of the Conservative Party a ...

; he took 47% of the vote but was not elected. He remained active in the party, and in 1939 was elected to its executive committee, as the representative of the National Labour Candidates' Association. For his work for the party, in 1933 he was made a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire 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 ...

. From 1932, Stanford worked as National Appeals Organiser for the British Empire Cancer Campaign, then from 1939 until 1959 he filled the same role at St Dunstan's.

Crawley

In 1947, Stanford was elected as chair of Crawley Parish Council, and he became vice-chair of the

Crawley Development Corporation Crawley Development Corporation was set up in February 1947 by the Government of the United Kingdom to establish, administer and control the development of the New towns in the United Kingdom, New Town of Crawley in accordance with the New Town ...

which developed a

new town New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...

around the village.

Retirement and death

He later retired to

Angmering Angmering () is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish between Littlehampton and Worthing in West Sussex on the southern edge of the South Downs National Park, England. About two-thirds of the parish (mostly north of the A27 road ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanford, Ernest 1894 births 1966 deaths Councillors in West Sussex Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates National Labour (UK) politicians People from Horsham People from Angmering