Leslie Judah Solley (15 December 1905 – 9 January 1968) 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 ...

and

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

. Solley was born 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 educated at Davenant Foundation School then the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. He worked as a

scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

and then a barrister. He joined the Labour Party and won the

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Essex, England. It lies on the north bank of the River ...

seat at the 1945 general election. In 1948, Solley signed a

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to an officia ...

written by

John Platts-Mills John Faithful Fortescue Platts-Mills, (4 October 1906 – 26 October 2001) was a British barrister and left-wing politician. He was the Labour Party Member of Parliament for Finsbury from 1945 to 1948, when he was expelled from the party effec ...

in support of Pietro Nenni and the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a Social democracy, social democratic and Democratic socialism, democratic socialist political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parti ...

, in defiance of Labour Party policy. As a result, he was warned not to contravene the party line in future. Solley was an ardent opponent of the

North Atlantic Treaty The North Atlantic Treaty, also known as the Washington Treaty, forms the legal basis of, and is implemented by, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The treaty was signed in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949. Background The treat ...

, calling instead for a united Europe and work through the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. He was one of six Labour MPs to vote against signing the Treaty, and as a result of this and his previous warning, was expelled from the party. He then became a founder member of the Labour Independent Group, and contested Thurrock again in the 1950 general election as an "Independent Labour" candidate. He failed to win, and afterwards concentrated on his career in law, while also becoming prominent in the Songwriters Guild of Great Britain. He wrote many pieces of music in his life, including the songs for " The Adventures Of Twizzle" under the pseudonym Leslie Clair, an early British television series for children. His masterwork, an orchestral fantasy, "Music For Orchestra" was written in 1948 but remained undiscovered until 2008, well after his death, aged 62, in 1968.

References

Spartacus: Leslie Solley

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Solley, Leslie 1905 births 1968 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies British barristers UK MPs 1945–1950 Politics of Thurrock Far-left politicians in the United Kingdom