Frederick Handel Booth (1867 – 24 February 1947) was a British

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

, who served as a Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. It lies to the east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the ...

from 1910 to 1918. He was born near

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 ...

in 1867, and attended the high school in

Bolton le Moors Bolton le Moors (also known as Bolton le Moors St Peter) was a large civil parish and ecclesiastical parish in hundred of Salford in the historic county of Lancashire, England. It was administered from St Peter's Church, Bolton in the townshi ...

. In the 1900 general election he unsuccessfully stood for the

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

seat. In the

December 1910 general election The December 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 3 to 19 December. It was the last general election to be held over several days and the last to be held before the First World War. The election took place following the efforts of ...

was elected as the MP for

in the West Riding of Yorkshire by 52 votes, being less than 2% of the votes cast. Whilst in Parliament, he led the government inquiry into the

Marconi scandal The Marconi scandal was a British political scandal that broke in mid-1912. Allegations were made that highly placed members of the Liberal government under the Prime Minister H. H. Asquith had profited by improper use of information about the g ...

of 1912. In 1917, he was found liable and guilty of fraud in the high-profile case of ''

Gruban v Booth ''Gruban v Booth'' was a 1917 fraud case in England that generated significant publicity because the defendant, Frederick Handel Booth, was a Member of Parliament. Gruban was a German-born businessman who ran several factories that made tools ...

'', having defrauded a German-born businessman of his company and had him

interned Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

. At the 1918 general election, his scandalous seizure of a company resulting in nearly £5000 of damages plus legal fees awarded against him, led to the party forcing him to contest the new firmly coal-mining-centric seat, several miles south, Wentworth, where he was defeatedWho's Who by the Labour candidate in what has proved by length of tenure that party's safest seat to the present date, if counting its main successor as a continuation. Handel Booth's previous seat, Pontefract, remained Liberal until the 1922 general election.

Notes

References

* "BOOTH, Frederick Handel", in *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Handel 1867 births 1947 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1910–1918 British politicians convicted of crimes