Neville Devonshire Sandelson (27 November 1923 – 12 January 2002) was a British politician.

Early life

Sandelson was educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. He was a barrister, called to the bar by

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1946, and director of a publishing company. He was elected to the

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

in 1952, representing Stoke Newington and Hackney North and was a council member of Toynbee Hall and the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society () is a History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom, British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in ...

Parliamentary career

Sandelson unsuccessfully attempted to enter Parliament many times before he finally gained election. He contested Ashford in

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

and 1955, the Beckenham by-election in 1957 and

Rushcliffe Rushcliffe is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south Nottinghamshire, England. Its council is based in West Bridgford. The borough also includes the towns of Bingh ...

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

. He might have won the seat of Heston and Isleworth at the 1966 general election from Reader Harris, its

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 ...

MP, had it not been for a strong Liberal vote. Additionally he also lost the Leicester South West seat in a 1967 by-election, and finally fought

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

at the subsequent election. He was elected Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Hayes and Harlington in a 1971 by-election. Later in the decade he survived a number of attempts to de-select him and seemed to relish the role of the beleaguered right wing Labour MP. In October 1980 he was so unhappy at the Labour Party Conference's support for unilateral disarmament that he announced that he would vote with the Tories on all defence issues. In 1981, he was among the Labour MPs who defected to the new

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

. Sandelson later said that he had decided to join the party months before, and had voted for

Michael Foot Michael Mackintosh Foot (23 July 19133 March 2010) was a British politician who was Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition from 1980 to 1983. Foot beg ...

in the Labour leadership election in order to ensure Labour had an unelectable leader.

After Parliament

In 1983 he lost his seat, polling 29% of the vote - although he almost pushed Labour into third place which allowed the Conservative candidate Terry Dicks to win. When the 1987 general election came round he did not stand and endorsed a number of Conservative candidates as a means of defeating Labour though the list included

Chris Patten Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes (; born 12 May 1944), is a British politician who was the Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992, and the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997. He was made a lif ...

whose seat was a prime SDP-Liberal Alliance target which Labour had no chance of winning. Despite the above activities he was allowed to rejoin the Labour Party in 1996, then under the leadership of

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

, who appealed to Sandelson's centrist values. He stayed with Labour until his death in 2002 aged 78.

References

Bibliography

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons'', 1955, 1966 & 1983 * *Obituary, ''The Independent'', 16 January 2002.

External links

*
Catalogue of the Sandelson papers held at LSE Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandelson, Neville 1923 births 2002 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Social Democratic Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of London County Council UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 People educated at Westminster School, London Presidents of the Cambridge Union