Levi Collison (28 December 1875 – 22 October 1965) was an English art publisher and printer and Liberal

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

Private life

Levi Collison was born in

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston, Lancashire, City of Preston local government district. Preston ...

, and educated at private schools. He married and had two sons and two daughters.''Who was Who'', OUP 2007 In 1925, Collison was described as a country gentleman from St Annes on Sea. At that time he resided at Barton Grange, Barton near Preston and he lived there until 1943 when the house was requisitioned by the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence (MoD ...

as a mess for the

Women's Auxiliary Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs (), was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000 at its peak strength in 1943, with over 2 ...

Career

By profession, Collison was a printer and publisher of art books and founded his own company, Collison's Ltd, of which he was Chairman and managing director. He also had other business interests. He was a trustee of Preston Savings Bank and a chairman of a number of companies. Collison also served as a Justice of the Peace.

Politics

Penrith and Cockermouth by-election

In 1921, Collison was selected as Liberal candidate for the

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election use ...

in Penrith and Cockermouth caused by the resignation of the sitting

Coalition Conservative The Coalition Coupon was a letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the 1918 United Kingdom general election, endorsing them as official representatives of the Coalition Government. The 1918 election took place in the heady atmosphere of vict ...

MP and Speaker of the House of Commons, James Lowther. In a tight contest, Collison just failed to gain the seat for the Independent Asquithian Liberals, losing by 31 votes.

1922-1923

Collison fought the Penrith and Cockermouth seat again at the 1922 general election. In another straight fight and facing the same

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

candidate as he had at the by-election, Major-General Cecil Lowther, Collison gained the seat by a majority of 378. However, at the general election of 1923 he was unable to hold his seat, losing to the new Conservative candidate Arthur Dixey.

Liberal National

He did not stand for Parliament again but retained his link with Liberal politics holding the office of Chairman and President of the Preston Liberal Association. However, in the crisis which overtook the Liberal Party after the formation of the

National Government A national government is the government of a nation. National government or National Government may also refer to: * Central government in a unitary state, or a country that does not give significant power to regional divisions * Federal governme ...

in 1931, Collison associated himself with the Liberal National group led by

Sir John Simon John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon, (28 February 1873 – 11 January 1954), was a British politician who held senior Cabinet posts from the beginning of the First World War to the end of the Second World War. He is one of only three peop ...

. He was a founder member of the Liberal National Council in July 1932 and later held the office of President of Preston Liberal Nationals.

Death

Collison died on 22 October 1965, aged 90.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Collison, Levi 1875 births 1965 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1922–1923 National Liberal Party (UK, 1931) politicians Politics of Cumbria Politicians from Preston, Lancashire People from Lytham St Annes Businesspeople from Preston, Lancashire