Harry Thorneycroft (21 February 1892 – 7 March 1956) was a British

hairdresser A hairdresser is a person whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques. A hairdresser may also be re ...

and Labour Party politician who sat 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 ...

from 1942 to 1955. He was educated at an

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

, and began work in a hairdresser's shop at the age of 9. He later became President of the National Federation of Hairdressers. During the

First World War 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 ...

, he served overseas with the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It was created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of the regiment, the ...

. He was elected to

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been re ...

in 1923, and became 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 ...

in 1939. Thorneycroft unsuccessfully contested the borough of

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

at the 1935 general election, and was elected to Parliament seven years later at a Manchester Clayton by-election in October 1942 after the death of the Labour MP John Jagger.Craig, page 186 During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the parties in the

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

did not contest by-elections when vacancies occurred in seats held by their coalition partners, but in the Clayton by-election Thorneycroft was opposed by 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 ...

candidate, Major Hammond Foot. Thorneycroft received a letter of support signed by the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

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, ...

, and the leaders of the other coalition parties. He was the first Labour candidate to receive such a letter, and won the seat with 93.3% of the votes. He held the seat until the constituency was abolished for the 1955 general election, when he retired from Parliament. From 1945 to 1947, he was Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Lord Pethick-Lawrence, the

Secretary of State for India and Burma His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India secretary or the Indian secretary, was the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, British Cabinet minister and the Head of Government, political head of th ...

. He was then PPS to

Arthur Henderson Arthur Henderson (13 September 1863 – 20 October 1935) was a British iron moulder and Labour Party (UK), Labour politician. He was the first Labour Cabinet of the United Kingdom, cabinet minister, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1934 and, uniqu ...

, the

Secretary of State for Air The Secretary of State for Air was a secretary of state position in the British government that existed from 1919 to 1964. The person holding this position was in charge of the Air Ministry. The Secretary of State for Air was supported by ...

, from 1947 until the Labour Government left office in 1951. He died in hospital 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 ...

on 7 March 1956, aged 64.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thorneycroft, Harry 1892 births 1956 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 Councillors in Manchester British Army personnel of World War I British hairdressers Royal Field Artillery soldiers