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

in Sussex, Stanford was educated in

Crawley Crawley () is a large town and 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 population of 106,597 at the time of th ...

. He served in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

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 worki ...

(ILP), within which he became a prominent supporter of Ramsay Macdonald. 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 Conservatives, led by Stanley Baldwin, won the most seats, but Labour, led by Ramsay MacDonald, and H. H. Asquith's reunited Liberal Party gained enough seat ...

, Stanford stood unsuccessfully for Horsham and Worthing, 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– 30 – Kuomintang in China h ...

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

National Labour Organisation The National Labour Organisation, also known as the National Labour Committee or simply as National Labour, was a British political group formed after the 1931 creation of the National Government to co-ordinate the efforts of the supporters of t ...

, 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, England. Located on the Durham Coast, Seaham is situated south of Sunderland and east of Durham. The town grew from the late 19th century onwards as a result of investments in its harbour and co ...

. 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 and resulted in a large, albeit reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Stanley Baldwin of the Conservative Party. The greatest number of members, 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 contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

. From 1932, Stanford worked as National Appeals Organiser for the

British Empire Cancer Campaign Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organization. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign an ...

, 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 which developed a

new town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

around the village.

Retirement and death

He later retired to

Angmering Angmering is a village and 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) fall within the Park. It ...

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