Simon Mahon (4 April 1914 – 19 October 1986) was a British Labour Party politician.

Biography

Simon Mahon was born into a prominent

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

family of Irish descent in

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. Historically part of Lancashire, Bootle ...

. His father,

Alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...

Simon Mahon (1886–1961), was a mayor of

who ran for

Liverpool Exchange Liverpool Exchange was a borough constituency within the city of Liverpool in England, centred on Liverpool Exchange railway station. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, ele ...

MP in

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart bec ...

."Bootle loses a great worker by the death of Alderman Simon Mahon", 'Bootle Times'', 12 May 1961. His brother,

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

, was elected MP for Preston South in 1964. His great-nephew, Peter Dowd, has been the Labour MP for the Bootle constituency since 2015, and served in the Shadow Cabinet under

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the pol ...

until 2020. Mahon was educated at St Joseph's

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school and at St James' School,

. He became a general contractor. Mahon was a councillor and later an

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...

of Bootle Borough Council and was chairman of the housing committee and

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

of Bootle from 1962 to 1963. He was chairman of Bootle Trades Council and Labour Party. Mahon was

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 ...

for

from 1955 to 1979. He served as an opposition

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from 1959 to 1961. In 1968, Mahon and his brother, Peter, together with another Catholic Labour MP,

Walter Alldritt Walter Harold Alldritt (4 July 1918 – 27 July 1990) was a British Labour politician. Alldritt was educated at St Francis de Sales Catholic Junior School, and the University of Liverpool. He served in the Armed Forces during World War I ...

, threatened to resign the Whip. They had taken exception to remarks made by Douglas Houghton, Chairman of the

Parliamentary Labour Party In UK politics, the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) is the parliamentary group of the Labour Party in Parliament, i.e. Labour MPs as a collective body. Commentators on the British Constitution sometimes draw a distinction between the Labour ...

, that large families were a form of "social irresponsibility". Only a midnight meeting with

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

and a written statement that Houghton's views were not party policy dissuaded the MPs from carrying out their threat. In 1969, Mahon was created a

Papal Knight The orders, decorations, and medals of the Holy See include titles, chivalric orders, distinctions and medals honoured by the Holy See, with the Pope as the fount of honour, for deeds and merits of their recipients to the benefit of the Holy ...

. Upon returning from his investiture

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to the House of Commons, he was prevented from entering the Chamber by the

Sergeant at Arms Sergeant (abbreviation, abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a Military rank, rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is use ...

until he divested himself of his ceremonial sword. In 1978, Mahon wrote a letter of protest to

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, complaining of their "appalling taste" in opening a book on the successor to

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

Personal life

Mahon married Veronica Robertshaw in 1941; the couple had no children. After his retirement, Mahon moved to live in Crosby, where he died in 1986, aged 72.

References

Sources

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons October 1974'' *

External links

* 1914 births 1986 deaths Councillors in Merseyside Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 Politicians from Liverpool English people of Irish descent English Roman Catholics {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub