Harold Roberts (23 August 1884 – 28 September 1950) was a British

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

and Unionist (

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

) politician. After a long career in local government in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, he represented the city in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

for the last five years of his life.

Career

Roberts was the son of William Henry Roberts, and was educated privately before qualifying as a solicitor in 1906. He gained his LL.B degree in 1907, and then practised law in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, before moving to

in 1911. He was first elected to

Birmingham City Council Birmingham City Council is the local authority for the city of Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. Birmingham has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been reformed several times. Since 1974 the council has been a metropo ...

in 1922, and remained a councillor for over two decades, becoming

Lord Mayor Lord mayor is a title of a mayor of what is usually a major city in a Commonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign. However, the title or an equivalent is present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor". A ...

of Birmingham in 1936, when he was made an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

. He chaired the council's Public Health Committee from 1936 to 1930, and the Salaries, Wages and Labour Committee from 1941 to 1943. During his time as mayor he launched the final appeal for the city's Queen Elizabeth Hospital, which raised the £250,000 needed to allow construction to be completed. He was also a life governor of the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

Parliament

At the 1945 general election, Roberts was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Handsworth division of Birmingham. He stood as a Unionist, rather than as a Conservative; the

Liberal Unionist The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...

tradition lingered in Birmingham long after the 1912 merger of the two parties, with memories of

Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal Party (UK), Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually was a leading New Imperialism, imperial ...

still strong. Handsworth was a

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both. With such seats, there is very little chance of a seat changing h ...

for the Unionists, who had held it since 1886. The sitting Unionist MP,

Oliver Locker-Lampson Lieutenant Commander Oliver Stillingfleet Locker-Lampson, (25 September 1880 – 8 October 1954) was a British politician and naval reserve officer. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Ramsey, Huntingdonshire and Birmingham Handsworth from ...

, had not been re-selected by his local party, and planned to stand as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

Conservative, but was offered a post overseas and did not contest the seat. Even without Locker-Lampson, the seat was contested by five candidates. In addition to the Unionist, Liberal, and Labour parties, there was a Communist Party candidate, and another former Lord Mayor, former Unionist Noel Tiptaft, stood as a "National Independent". Tiptaft proclaimed himself as supporter of the Prime Minister

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

, prompting Churchill to send a telegram to Alderman Roberts denying that Tiptaft was a supporter of his. Labour took ten of Birmingham's 13 seats, having won none in

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

, but Handsworth was one of the three Birmingham seats retained by the Conservatives. However Roberts's majority was only 3.6% of the votes, compared with the 46% won by Locker-Lampson in a two-way contest in 1935. Roberts was re-elected in 1950, with an increased majority of 5,472 (i.e. 11.4% of the votes). He died at his home in

Rednal Rednal is a residential suburb on the south western edge of metropolitan Birmingham, West Midlands, England, southwest of Birmingham city centre and forming part of Longbridge parish and electoral ward. Historically it was part of Worcestershir ...

, Worcestershire on 28 September 1950, aged 66. His death triggered a by-election in his Handsworth constituency, which was held in November that year. The 27-year-old baronet Sir Edward Boyle held the seat for the Conservatives, with an increased majority.

Family

In January 1913, Roberts married Ann Pettifor, the daughter of George Pettifor from Anstey in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

. She survived him, with one son.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Harold 1884 births 1950 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 Councillors in Birmingham, West Midlands Lord mayors of Birmingham, West Midlands People associated with the University of Birmingham Politicians from Birmingham, West Midlands Lawyers from Birmingham, West Midlands