Ralph Morley (25 October 1882 – 14 June 1955) was a Labour politician in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He was a

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(MP) from 1929 to 1931, and from 1945 until his death. Born in

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ...

, Morley was educated privately, then at University College Southampton, before becoming a schoolteacher. He joined the

Social Democratic Federation The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on 7 June 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury, Jame ...

, and served as the secretary of its Southampton branch from 1908 until 1913, but later moved to the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse worki ...

. He was also president of Southampton Trades Council in 1911 and 1920, and was active in the Southampton Class Teachers' Association and the

National Union of Teachers The National Union of Teachers (NUT; ) was a trade union for school teachers in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It was a member of the Trades Union Congress. In March 2017, NUT members endorsed a proposed merger with ...

. He was elected to Southampton Urban District Council, and was its chair in 1920. At the 1929 general election, he and Tommy Lewis were elected as the first Labour MPs for the two-seat Southampton constituency. They both lost their seat at the 1931 general election, having been among the Labour MPs who refused to follow the Prime Minister and Labour Party Leader Ramsay MacDonald into a coalition with the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

to form the

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. Morley and Lewis returned to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the 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 parliament. ...

in the Labour landslide at the

1945 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1945. Africa * 1945 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1945 Indian general election Australia * 1945 Fremantle by-election Europe * 1945 Albanian parliamentary election * 1945 Bulgaria ...

. When the two-seat Southampton constituency was divided at the 1950 general election, Morley was returned for the new Southampton Itchen constituency, which he represented until stepping down at the 1955 general election.

Outside Parliament

Before and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Morley taught at Sholing Boys' School,

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

. He is commemorated in local schools by the ''Ralph Morley

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Competition''. At Richard Taunton College, he is commemorated by the '''Ralph Morley Memorial Prize'.'' The ''Ralph Morley Memorial Fund'' was a registered charity from 1980 to 1999 which awarded prizes for students who had successfully completed a Diploma in Education course at the University of Southampton's Institute of Education, and for students attending secondary schools in Southampton. Ralph Morley Memorial Prize

References

* *

External links

*
Portrait of Morley
in the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: *National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra *National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London, with s ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morley, Ralph 1882 births 1955 deaths Alumni of the University of Southampton Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies National Union of Teachers-sponsored MPs Politicians from Chichester Presidents of the National Union of Teachers Social Democratic Federation members UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Southampton Schoolteachers from Hampshire