Hugo Hawksley Fitzthomas Summerson (born 21 July 1950) is a British

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.

Career

Summerson contested

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking, 1965–1980 ** Municipal Borough of Barking, 1931–1965 ** Barking (UK Parliament constituency) ** Barking (electoral division), Greater ...

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

, but was beaten by Labour's

Jo Richardson Josephine Richardson (28 August 1923 – 1 February 1994) was a British Labour Party politician. At the time of her death she was Member of Parliament for Barking, a post she had held almost exactly 20 years, since 1974. Early life She was ...

by 4,026 votes. At the 1987 general election, Summerson was elected Member of Parliament for

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. The town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. At ...

, gaining 39% of the vote and ousting the Labour incumbent

Eric Deakins Eric Petro Deakins (born 7 October 1932) is a British Labour Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Walthamstow West from 1970 to February 1974, and Walthamstow from that election until 1987. He has also worked as an internatio ...

. This was against the pro-Labour national swing but broadly in line with the swing elsewhere in

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

which was pro-Conservative. His maiden speech was made on 4 November 1987, during the second reading of Urban Development Corporations (Financial Limits) Bill. He used the opportunity to extol the virtues of his constituency: "My constituency is Walthamstow. I have found that many people do not know exactly where

is. I recommend that they get on the

Victoria line The Victoria line is a London Underground line that runs between in South London, and in the east, via the West End of London, West End. It is printed in light blue on the Tube map and is one of the only two lines on the network to run comp ...

northbound and stay on the train until it stops and they will find themselves in Walthamstow. It is an area with a very interesting history." Summerson lost the seat at the 1992 general election to the Labour candidate

Neil Gerrard Neil Francis Gerrard (born 3 July 1942) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Walthamstow from 1992 until 2010. Early life Gerrard was born in Farnworth, England, and educated at Manchester Grammar Scho ...

, who received 45.7% of the vote to Summerson's 37.2%. Since leaving office, Summerson has worked as a PR consultant, amongst other occupations. He is currently a director of Palatine Properties Ltd.

References

Other sources *''Times Guide to the House of Commons'', 1992 *

External links

* 1950 births Living people Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1987–1992 {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1950s-stub