Edward Martell (politician)
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Edward Martell (1909 – 1989) was a British politician and libertarian activist.
Martell "worked tirelessly to keep the Liberals afloat during the 1940s" and had "a central role in the 1950 and 1951 election campaigns".[1] However he left the Liberal Party in September 1956 and set up his People's League for the Defence of Freedom, which was later part of the Freedom Group. Martell joined the Conservative Party in 1962 and in 1963 he was chairman of the Hastings Conservative association. His anti-trade union newspaper, The New Daily, reached a circulation of 100,000.[2]
During the "work-to-rule" of postal service workers in January 1962, the People's League ran a letter delivery service which was suppressed by the Postmaster General. However they delivered parcels for three weeks (with their own stamps) until the "work-to-rule" came to an end. This was repeated in July 1964 during the one day strike and overtime ban for postal workers, again with their own stamps.[3]
In the Bristol South East by-election, 1963 Martell stood as a National Fellowship candidate against Tony Benn and came second with 4,834 votes (19%).
Martell has been described as "an expert self-publicist" who exercised "a volatile influence on public opinion during periods of government unpopularity".[4]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Peter Barberis, Liberal Lion: Jo Grimond, A Political Life (I B Tauris & Co, 2005), p. 53.
- ^ E. H. H. Green, Ideologies of Conservatism (Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 230.
- ^ People's League
- ^ John Ramsden (ed.), The Oxford Companion to Twentieth Century British Politics (Oxford University Press, 2005), p. 424.
