Major Archibald George Church DSO, MC (7 September 1886 – 23 August 1954)[1] was a British soldier and Labour Party politician.[2] He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leyton East from 1923 to 1924, and for Wandsworth Central from 1929 to 1931.
In January 1919, Church was awarded the Military Cross (MC) for his service with the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) during the First World War,[3] and in January 1920 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his service with the RGA in the Murmansk Command during the British intervention in the Russian Civil War.[4] The citation noted his "particular gallantry and zeal during the operations from Medevja-gora to Unitsa, 8th June to 26th July 1919".[4]
Church first stood for Parliament at the 1922 general election, when he was unsuccessful in the Conservative safe seat of Spelthorne.[5] At the 1923 general election he won the Leyton East seat[6] from the Conservatives, but was defeated in 1924.[7] After five years out of Parliament, he took Wandsworth Central at the 1929 general election from the Conservatives with a majority of only 300 votes (1.1% of the total).[2][8]
In July 1931, Church introduced to the House of Commons a Ten Minute Rule bill promoted by the Eugenics Education Society.[9] He introduced the eugenics measure as a "a Bill to enable mental defectives to undergo sterilizing operations or sterilizing treatment upon their own application, or that of their spouses or parents or guardians",[10] but the real purpose of the Bill was to sterilise those who were refusing to consent or were incapable of consenting.[9] Church described the Bill as "an experiment on a small scale so that later on we may have the benefit of the results and experience gained in order to come to conclusions before bringing in a Bill for the compulsory sterilisation of the unfit."[10] The Commons voted by 167 votes to 89 to deny the Bill a second reading.[9][10]
When the Labour Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald left the party in 1931 to lead a Conservative-dominated National Government, Church was one of the few Labour MPs to support him. He followed MacDonald into the new National Labour Organisation, but did not stand again in Wandsworth at the at the 1931 general election.[2] Instead he stood as a National Independent in the London University constituency, where he came second of two candidates, with only 27% of the votes.[11]
He stood again twice, as a National Labour candidate in Bristol East at the 1935 general election[12] and in Derby at a by-election in July 1936,[13] but never returned to Parliament.
In March 1934 he was appointed as a member of a Royal Commission established to enquire into the organisation and work of the University of Durham.[14]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Ernest Alexander |
Member of Parliament for Leyton East 1923 – 1924 |
Succeeded by Ernest Alexander |
| Preceded by Sir Henry Jackson |
Member of Parliament for Wandsworth Central 1929 – 1931 |
Succeeded by Sir Henry Jackson, Bt |