Henry Norris in
Parliament 1919
Last
updated: 29 July 2008
FIRSTLY: A NOTE ON THE
SOURCE FOR ALL THIS
It’s Hansard’s
House of Commons Debates that records verbatim what was said in
Parliament, by whom, on what day, in what debate; and who/how voted if a vote
was needed. They cover both the House of
Commons and the House of Lords and as you can imagine there are an infinite
number of volumes. HOWEVER as a source
for finding out what Henry Norris did when he was an MP, Hansard’s got
very serious limitations.
1) It’s
a record of what was said in debate and who said it. It isn’t a record of who was in the House of
Commons chamber at any time: there is no daily attendance list à la a school
register so you can’t tell whether your MP was in the House of Commons unless
he spoke, or voted; he might hardly attend at all, he might attend but sit and
say nothing at all day after day; he might be there for the afternoon but leave
as soon as the pubs open - you just can’t tell.
2) I found votes in
the House of Commons to be pretty rare, on the whole. Government-introduced business usually went
through without any votes; at least in this Parliament. When a vote was taken, it was timed, and Hansard
also prints who voted for the motion and who voted against. So you can tell whether your MP voted at that
particular time but voting turns out to be less of a help than you’d think, in
finding out whether your MP is there or not.
3) Even votes aren’t
all that good for checking whether MP’s were in the House of Commons, because
unless the whips are out, MP’s don’t have to vote, they can sit in their seats
while everyone else does so and although they are in the House of Commons their
name will not appear on the voting lists.
Rather late on in my
reading through the Hansard volumes from 1919 to 1922, I realised that
one thing I could do to shed light on Norris’ life as an MP was compare his
voting record with those of some other MP’s.
I chose two that I knew about, because Henry Norris knew them and had
dealings with them outside Parliament: Sir George Elliott, ex-mayor of
Islington and MP for an Islington constituency; and Sir Samuel Hill-Wood, MP
for a constituency near Glossop (the town where his family made their cotton
fortune) and later a director of Arsenal FC.
These limitations
hampered my efforts to assess Henry Norris as an MP. Although, in the course of an interview,
Norris said he attended almost all House of Commons sessions during his time as
an MP, I can’t corroborate that evidence.
I believe he was telling the truth, actually, based on his excellent
record in attending meetings of the London Borough of Fulham; though his
attendance records were not so good at the Metropolitan Water Board and the
London County Council.
4) Unless it involved
asking a question at Question Time, Hansard gives no record of what MP’s
did in a more informal way, chasing up enquiries, pursuing information or
lobbying the powerful on behalf of their constituents. Norris did mention one or two incidents
himself, but in general, that side of his parliamentary career is not recorded
at all so I can’t say anything about it.
Two more limitations
on my attempts to look Henry Norris as an MP are all my own work. Firstly, I did not study this period at
university and had to read up about what happened in Parliament 1919-23 while I
was researching Henry Norris’ life. My
understanding of it is therefore limited.
Secondly,
politics bore me, politicians (especially contemporary ones) disgust
me. I won’t have done this part of
Norris’ history to a very high standard.
HOW NORRIS GOT ELECTED
Henry Norris was
elected an MP in the snap general election of December 1918 which took place in
circumstances which were quite unique. The
Representation of the People Act 1917 had reorganised the boundaries of many
constituencies to reflect changing patterns of settlement: Norris’ own, Fulham
East, was one of two new ones replacing the old Fulham constituency. Henry Norris’ wife Edith and his sister Ada
were amongst those who became eligible to vote for the first time at this
election; and for the first time women were permitted to stand as Parliamentary
candidates; but women under 30 still did not have the right to vote. So there were good things about the election
but there were bad things about it too: the flu epidemic had died down from the
heights of October 1918 but many people were still very ill; soldiers who
hadn’t yet been demobbed (which was most of them) were eligible to vote but
many didn’t receive their ballot papers in time and many more were too cynical
to bother with them; and it poured with rain on polling day. Under those circumstances, it’s not very
surprising that the turnout was the lowest ever in a general election, 59% ; even including the latest one.
It was seen as a
comment on the coalition governments’ handling of the war; and as they’d just
got the Armistice agreed, they won a handsome victory. The Parliament that took office in December
1918 was divided thus:
Conservatives in the coalition 335 Norris
was one of these; as were Elliott and
Hill-Wood
Liberals in the coalition 133 Lloyd George was one of these
Labour members in the coalition 10
Total in the coalition
= 478; coalition majority at least 322 on less than 50% of the vote.
Outside the coalition
were some small groups:
Conservatives who wouldn’t join
the coalition 23
Liberals who wouldn’t join 28 supposedly led by ex-PM Asquith,
only he lost his seat
Labour members who wouldn’t join 63
Others (
Sinn Fein 73 none of whom took their seat
These figures are not
mine, they’re from Britain: Domestic Politics 1918-39 by Robert
Pearce. The comments and query are mine,
though.
By the terms of the coalition,
David Lloyd George continued as Prime Minister in the new government. J Austen Chamberlain was chancellor
of the exchequer. Andrew Bonar
Law was leader of the House of Commons, and a very effective one; he led the
Conservatives in the coalition. The
Unionists were organised separately, by Sir George Younger and in this
connection I’m not clear whether the word ‘unionist’ refers to a supporter of
the inseparability of Ireland, or a supporter of the coalition; in reading
about politics in the Times I’ve got an impression (probably a confused
one) that at different times it can refer to both or either.
To be elected as an MP
had been a political ambition of Norris’ for many years, so it must have been a
proud day for him on Saturday 28 December 1918 when the general election votes
were counted. On the back of his ten
years as mayor of Fulham, Henry Norris was elected in Fulham East, having
polled over 10,000 of about 14,900 votes cast: a very comfortable majority. His new constituency covered the eastern side
of the old constituency of Fulham, including Sand’s End which he’d represented
as a councillor, and parts of West Kensington.
The new Parliamentary
session began on Tuesday 4 February 1919 “at a Quarter before Three of the
clock”, the normal start-time unless it was seriously behind schedule. The members of parliament were all sworn in
on Wednesday 5 February 1919 and business began as soon as the swearing-in was
over. The newly-elected MP’s who
supported the coalition lost no time in getting together as the New Members’
Coalition Group, under Sir Ernest Wild MP.
As of August 2008 I’ve only just found out about this group; I’m
investigating whether Norris joined it.
Taking his seat in the House of Commons was probably the point at which he
joined the Junior Carlton Club. The Club
had been founded in 1832, specifically for Conservative MP’s and peers, to
coordinate party activity; it still exists, though most of its political
functions were by Norris’ time carried out by Conservative Party central
office. It was exactly like other
gentlemen’s clubs in London and elsewhere, in that to become a member you had
to be proposed and seconded by two members.
When Norris was a member, the club’s premises were on Pall Mall. I haven’t been able to find out who proposed
and seconded Norris. There was a
parallel club for ladies which Edith Norris would have been eligible to join,
if she’d wanted.
I’m not going to list
every single day’s Parliamentary business and every vote that Norris cast in
it. But I do want to look more closely
at his first few months.
The first time Norris
had a chance to vote came at just past 9pm on 5 February in a debate on the
current industrial unrest (troops sent in to quell rioting in Glasgow). I mention it because certain features that I
noticed about it established patterns which continued throughout Norris’ time
as an MP: Samuel Hill-Wood didn’t vote; Norris voted with the Government; and
the Government won the vote by a large majority, in this case 257:43.
On Friday 7 March 1919
the Increase of Rent and Mortgage Interest (Restrictions) Bill came up for its
second reading: a subject Norris would be interested in and informed about; in
fact at this time he was a member of a national association which lobbied on
behalf of those whose income was dependent on property rents. Several MP’s made their maiden speech in the
debate but Norris wasn’t one of them; up to this date he hadn’t said anything
at all in any House of Commons session.
He may not have been in the House of Commons that day, of course, as
just like now, Friday was a day for ‘any other business’ - private members’
bills and such, and just like now, attendance was low. The debate on the Rent Restrictions Bill
resumed on Tuesday 11 March 1919 and finally, at gone 9pm that day, “Captain
Sir H Norris” (as he was always referred to in Hansard) got up and said
something. In his speech he admitted
that he was “one of those abominations known as landlords” and it was in that
capacity that he was speaking; but that he’d “never given a tenant notice to quit, nor have I ever raised my rent”. Norris was arguing against the Bill’s
proposal that the Bill’s provisions should apply to properties with a rental
value of less than £55; he said that such a provision would penalise landlords
who were owners of less expensive properties; while owners of more expensive
ones would not be subject to the Bill’s restrictions on the amount of any rent
increase. Norris proposed that the
break-point of £55 should be increased to £100 or abandoned altogether so that
the Bill would apply to all rented property.
That day’s debate, the
second on the Bill, continued without agreement until MP’s went home after
11pm; and resumed for a third session the following day (Wednesday); and then
on Friday 14 March 1919 with a vote just after mid-day in which Norris cast a
vote but Hill-Wood didn’t.
Res
of this long debate on
In the next few weeks
Norris took part in several MP’s question times sessions in the next few
weeks. Perhaps he had gained a little
confidence, having got his first speech out of the way.
Norris’ first question
was put to the Prime Minister as part of a session on Monday 24 March
1919. He asked whether the PM was aware
that in the window of a shop in Spring Gardens (where Norris had, until
recently, been going to attend sessions of the London County Council) there was
a poster denouncing one particular government minister (whom Norris didn’t
name) as a traitor. On the PM’s behalf,
Bonar Law replied as leader of the House of Commons saying that yes, the
Government had noticed; steps were being taken and the matter was now sub
judice.
On Tue 25 March 1919
the Rent Restrictions Bill came back from some sessions in the House of
Lords. A House of Commons committtee was
set up, to argue with the House of Lords about some changes made to the Bill
and this process established another pattern: despite having a great deal of
knowledge of the property market and landlord and tenant law, Henry Norris did not sit on this committee. As far as I know, he was never chosen to sit
on any House of Commons committee on any subject during his time as MP.
Given Norris’ belief
in free trade (I deal with this more in my file on Norris’ Politics) it would
be interesting to know whether Norris was in the House of Commons later on
Tuesday 25 March for the Imperial Preference Bill, I presume an opposition
piece of legislation indicting the Government’s delay in giving imperial
manufacturing industries legal protection from cheap foreign imports. But Norris didn’t speak in the debate and no
vote was taken on the Bill so I can’t tell whether he was there or not.
Norris’ second
question was asked in the session on Monday 31 March 1919 and on this occasion he
was questioning whether the Inland Revenue had the right to demand duty from
someone who’d recently bought the freehold of their house, it previously having
been leasehold. His question sounds as
though it might have a personal application: either for Norris and his partner
William Gilbert Allen for the properties they were still leasing in Fulham and
Wandsworth; or as a result of a query made by a constituent. The Chancellor of the Exchequer agreed to
look into the question of whether duty was payable in those circumstances;
presumably, in due course, Norris received a written response from someone at
the Treasury, the matter wasn’t referred to again in
the House of Commons.
As a feminist I’m glad
to be able to report that later on that day, Norris voted to give a second
reading to the Women’s Emancipation Bill, which sought to remove some legal
barriers faced by women over 30 in certain types of work. He also voted for its third reading, on
Norris also asked a
question in the session on
Later that day the
House of Commons debated the second reading of the Housing and Town Planning
Bill. Mr Pretyman MP, of the national
property owners’ lobbying association, took a big part in this; but Norris
didn’t speak on it. Just noting that
twice-found-innocent of fraud Horatio Bottomley was a prominent speaker when
the debate on this Bill continued the following day,
On Wednesday 9 April
1919 Norris asked a question about the financial circumstances of some
conscripted soldiers who were continuing their military service in the Army of
Occupation in Flanders: they needed new uniforms, would the Government give
them a grant to help pay for them? The
answer again was no; and I suppose Norris was asking these questions he must
have known the answer to, to get the Government to make a public statement of
its position, so that everybody would know.
In this question time
session, Norris asked a second question, this time of the President of the
Local Government Board: could he produce any figures for the expenses of the
elections held in London to the LCC (March), the Boards of Guardians (April),
and the London boroughs (November)?
Norris was suggesting that the amount spent on these local elections
could be cut if they were all held on the same day - which happens now, but
wasn’t common then. Major Astor for the
Local Government Board did produce some figures; but he said that as the
various bodies didn’t actually cover the same geographical areas it was not
possible at the moment to hold elections to them on the same day.
Norris didn’t say
anything more in the House of Commons before
It must have been a
rare thing for the coalition government to need the whips out but there was a
big attendance in the House of Commons on
After his maiden
speech Norris didn’t speak again in a House of Commons debate until Tuesday 27
May 1919, when Hansard makes it clear that Norris had handed in an
amendment to the Housing and Town Planning Bill, that the schedules to clause
12(3) of the Housing of the Working Classes Act 1903 should not apply to this
new (and different) Bill. The Speaker of
the House of Commons responded to Norris’ amendment by saying it wasn’t
relevant but Norris held that it was, and a debate ensued about what had
happened to a previous, similar amendment put forward by Mr Locker-Lampson, MP
for Wood Green, but somehow lost at the Bill’s committee stage. The amendment Norris was trying to put in now
turned on what exactly constituted a working-class person: not an easy thing to
define. Eventually the Speaker agreed
with the point that Norris and Locker-Lampson were trying to make: that the
Bill did need some definition of the working-class people it was supposed to be
trying to build housing for; and Norris’ amendment did go into the Bill’s
wording - quite a triumph for a new MP in the face of some opposition from the
Speaker. A vote was taken on the Bill at
Norris did not speak
again in the House of Commons until after its summer break had come and gone;
but he did submit a written question once the Housing and Town Planning Bill
had become law, which it did very quickly.
Norris asked for a great deal of information about the kind of people
who would be appointed to oversee the working of the bill as law, and what kind
of office space and administrative support they would have as they went about
their task of assessing the current state of British housing. On
It was only in June
1919 that I started looking at the voting patterns of George Elliott as well as
Norris and Hill-Wood.
I can’t believe that
Henry Norris was missing from the House of Commons on
The last session of
the House of Commons before its summer break took place on
Henry Norris was in
the House of Commons on
By the time Parliament
went on holiday there were only a few days until the start of the football
season. Henry Norris didn’t attend the
pre-season practice match played on
[ROGER SLPARL2 FOLLOWS
ON FROM THIS FILE]
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW
MORE ABOUT THE SOURCES OF ALL THIS INFORMATION, SEND ME AN EMAIL AND I’LL SEND
YOU THE SOURCES FILE.
Copyright Sally Davis July 2008
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