Peter Raffan

Peter Wilson Raffan (1863 – 23 June 1940) was a British Liberal politician.

Peter Raffan

Raffan came from Newbridge, Monmouthshire, and in 1910 was chairman of the Monmouthshire County Council.[1] When a general election was called in January 1910, P W Raffan was selected as Liberal candidate for Leigh in south Lancashire. John Brunner, the sitting Liberal member of parliament, had chosen to stand in Northwich.

The constituency contained a large number of coalminers, and Raffan was opposed not only by the Conservatives, but by Thomas Greenall of the Labour Party, who was a leader of the Lancashire and Cheshire Miners' Federation. Leigh was one of the few seats where Labour and Liberals ran against each other.[2] Raffan won the seat easily. In the Commons Raffan became secretary of the Land Values Group who sought reform in property taxation.[3] He supported women's suffrage, disestablishment of the Church in Wales and the temperance movement.[4][5][6]

At the 1918 general election Raffan was re-elected at Leigh as a Liberal and received the "coupon" despite being an opponent of the Coalition Government.[7] At the 1922 election he stood unsuccessfully for election as a Liberal at Ayr Burghs.[8][9]

At the succeeding 1923 general election he successfully contested Edinburgh North for the Liberals, unseating the Unionist MP, Patrick Johnstone Ford. He only held the seat for one year, with Ford regaining the seat in the 1924 general election.

References

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

  1. ↑ Candidates and Constituencies, The Times, 1 January 1910, p.6
  2. ↑ P F Clarke, Lancashire and the New Liberalism, Cambridge, 1971
  3. ↑ Avner Offer, Property and Politics 1870 - 1914, Cambridge, 1981
  4. ↑ Woman suffrage, The Times, 7 February 1912, p.7
  5. ↑ Welsh Disetablishment, The Times, 19 December 1911, p.4
  6. ↑ Temperence Reform, The Times, 10 February 1921, p.7
  7. ↑ The Downfall of the Liberal Party by Trevor Wilson
  8. ↑ "Wee Free" Plans, The Times, 21 October 1922
  9. ↑ "The Times" List of Candidates, The Times, 27 October 1922, p.8
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
John Fowler Leece Brunner		 Member of Parliament for Leigh
January 1910–1922 		Succeeded by
Henry Twist
Preceded by
Patrick Johnstone Ford		 Member of Parliament for Edinburgh North
1923–1924 		Succeeded by
Patrick Johnstone Ford
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