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Edwin Bayliss

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Edwin Bayliss

Edwin Bayliss OBE (1894 – 30 March 1971), was a British politician who was notably Chairman of the London County Council.

Background

Bayliss was born the son of Edwin Bayliss of Wolverhampton. He was educated at Nottingham College. In 1913, he married Lily Smithers. They had two sons. Lily died in 1948. In 1949, Bayliss married Constance Shipley. He was awarded the OBE in 1960.[1][2]

Political career

Bayliss was a member of the executive of the Midlands Liberal Federation. He served on the Nottingham Board of guardians. He had a particular interest in industrial matters and ex-servicemen issues (being a founding member of the British Legion, for which he published articles.[3] In November 1925, he was selected as prospective Liberal Party candidate for the Belper division of Derbyshire.[4] However, he did not contest the seat. He was Liberal candidate in the 1926 Smethwick by-election. This made him the first Liberal to contest Smethwick since the constituency was created in 1918. Lloyd George had just taken over as Liberal Leader and was keen to see Liberals contesting as many seats as possible. Bayliss came in third with 9% of the vote. He was Liberal candidate for the Rossendale division of Lancashire at the 1929 General Election. He was not planning to contest the election, but the adopted Liberal candidate fell ill at the last minute and withdrew.[5] Rossendale had been a Liberal seat until it was lost in 1918 to a coalition government backed Unionist. The Liberals had come within 2,000 votes of winning it back in 1923 before falling to third place in 1924. Bayliss lifted the Liberal share of the vote to 34%, which was only good enough to recapture second place, falling 800 votes short of victory. He did not stand for parliament again.[6] He was to move south to London where, after World War II, he had a long municipal career in the Labour Party, representing Islington East on the London County Council and then Islington on the Greater London Council. From 1952-53, he was chair of the council.[7]

Electoral record

1926 Smethwick by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Oswald Ernald Mosley 16,077 57.1 +4.8
Unionist Marshall James Pike 9,495 33.7 −14.0
Liberal Edwin Bayliss 2,600 9.2 N/A
Majority 6,582 23.4 +18.8
Turnout 35,862 78.6 +0.4
Labour hold Swing −9.4
General Election 1929: Rossendale [8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Arthur Law 14,624 36.0 +3.6
Liberal Edwin Bayliss 13,747 33.9 +8.0
Unionist Sir Wilfrid Hart Sugden 12,225 30.1 −11.6
Majority 877 2.1 11.4
Turnout 87.7
Labour gain from Unionist Swing -2.2

References

  1. ^ ‘BAYLISS, Edwin’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, April 2014 accessed 1 March 2016
  2. ^ The London Gazette, 15 September 1961
  3. ^ The Times House of Commons, 1929
  4. ^ Derby Daily Telegraph, 16 November 1926
  5. ^ The Times House of Commons, 1931
  6. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1973, FWS Craig
  7. ^ ‘BAYLISS, Edwin’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, April 2014 accessed 1 March 2016
  8. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
Civic offices
Preceded by Chairman of the London County Council
1952 – 1953 		Succeeded by
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