Frederick Messer

Sir Frederick Messer CBE 12 May 1886–8 May 1971 was a British trade unionist and Labour politician. He was a member of the House of Commons and Chairman of Middlesex County Council.[1]

Messer was born in north London, and was the son of a poor law officer. He was educated at Thornhill Primary School, Islington before entering an apprenticeship as a French polisher. He became one of the first members of the French Polishers Union.[1] He subsequently changed his career, becoming national organiser of the Industrial Orthopaedic Society.[1]

He was elected as a Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Tottenham South at the 1929 general election. Two years later another election was held and Messer was defeated in a straight fight with the National Labour candidate, Francis Palmer[2] The situation was reversed when he regained the seat from Palmer at the next general election in 1935.[3] He held the seat until its abolition in 1950, and was MP for the successor seat of Tottenham from 1950 until his retirement from parliament in 1959.[1] He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1948 "for political and public services" and knighted in 1953.[4][5]

As well as serving in parliament, he was for many years a member of Middlesex County Council. For 15 years he was chairman of the Labour group on the council, and in 1938 was elevated to become an alderman.[1] He served as chairman of the council from 1947 to 1948, the first member of the Labour Party to hold the chair. A Bevanite, in 1958 he became the first president of Victory for Socialism, a left-wing ginger group within the Labour Party.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Obituary: Sir Frederick Messer. Former Labour MP". The Times. 11 May 1971. p. 16.
  2. ↑ "The General Election, First Returns, Polling In The Boroughs". The Times. 28 October 1931. p. 6.
  3. ↑ "The General Election, First Returns, Polling In The Boroughs". The Times. 15 November 1935. p. 8.
  4. ↑ "No. 38493". The London Gazette. 31 December 1948. p. 11 supp=yes.
  5. ↑ "No. 39904". The London Gazette. 3 July 1953. p. 3677.
  6. ↑ Political Correspondent (13 February 1958). "Labour Group To Fight Apathy". The Times.

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir Frederick Messer

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Patrick Bernard Malone		 Member of Parliament for Tottenham South
1929 – 1931 		Succeeded by
Francis Noel Palmer
Preceded by
Francis Noel Palmer		 Member of Parliament for Tottenham South
1935 – 1950 		Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for Tottenham
1950 – 1959 		Succeeded by
Alan Brown
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