Austin Hopkinson
Encyclopedia
Austin Hopkinson JP
(24 June 1879 – 2 September 1962) was a British
industrialist
and Member of Parliament
(MP) for constituencies in present-day Greater Manchester
who was notable for rejecting membership of political parties and sitting as an Independent member. He represented Mossley
from 1918 to 1929 and 1931 to 1945. He was also a noted benefactor to local causes, and a strong believer in noblesse oblige
.
KC
who was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester
from 1900 to 1913 and also served as Member of Parliament for Cricklade
in the 1890s and for Combined English Universities
in the 1920s. Although sharing the academic approach of his father, he applied his experience more directly to the problems of industry rather than taking up posts in the universities. He became a Justice of the Peace for Lancashire
.
In 1900 Hopkinson enlisted in the Imperial Yeomanry
and served in the Second Boer War
as a Lieutenant. On his return he founded a company, Pikrose (which bore the Audenshaw
coat of arms as its company logo) at the Delta Works in Audenshaw. In 1908 he invented a revolutionary coal-cutting machine which his company made: he built a reputation as a very humane employer, and while the company was highly profitable he was uninterested in the trappings of wealth and lived frugally.
Hopkinson was elected as a councillor on Audenshaw Council from 1917 to 1934 and led the council from 1923-24 and 1928-29. Long before it became fashionable, Hopkinson converted a derelict barn to a bungalow
for his own home; he donated his former home of Ryecroft Hall (which he had bought in February 1913) to the people of Audenshaw and sixteen semi-detached houses on its land to Audenshaw Council (the Hall became a community centre as well as Audenshaw council's headquarters, and the houses were used for the housing of the working class). During the First World War he again enlisted and served in the Royal Dragoon Guards
as a Second Lieutenant; in the later stages of the war he re-enlisted as a Trooper (the equivalent of Private) in the same unit.
(Liberal
MP for Prestwich
) had been killed in action in Palestine
on 22 August. Hopkinson was picked as a Government-supporting Liberal candidate to succeed him, although he was not a member of any party; he was returned unopposed at the by-election on 28 October
. On taking his seat he wore his uniform as a Trooper of the Royal Dragoon Guards.
Hopkinson did not have time to get acquainted with the House before the end of the war pitched him into a re-election battle. Owing to boundary changes he fought the new Mossley
constituency where he was adopted as a Liberal who supported David Lloyd George
's governing Coalition
. However, during the campaign he said that calling himself the Coalition candidate did not bind him to supporting the Coalition, and that he might oppose anything the government did. He insisted that he had merely taken the 'badge' of the Coalition for the good of the country. Hopkinson faced opposition only from the Co-operative Party
and won with more than 75% of the vote.
in the Amritsar massacre following the official report into it. Also in 1920 he criticised bureaucracy in the building of public housing, saying that he was building homes for a fraction of the price (it was in 1921 that he made his donation of Ryecroft Hall).
By the end of 1920 Hopkinson was already making a reputation for being one of the best speakers and most independent minds in the House, although he was still officially sitting as a Coalition Liberal. He became increasingly involved in industrial topics in which he was critical of the trades unions
(regarding them as having devoured the liberty of the workers) and of socialism
to the level of distrusting the motives of those advocating socialist policies. He was a strong supporter of free trade
. Hopkinson was much in demand as a speaker because of his unorthodox views and the frank and clear way in which he expressed them.
to suggest that ballot papers include a box in which voters could express their disapproval of all the candidates on offer. He was by now of this opinion himself: the previous month, he stopped receiving the Coalition Liberal whip, which he explained, his friends in the Liberal Party had been sending him by courtesy but which he had never considered binding. He strongly criticised as "humbug" the 1922 budget which reduced income tax without any corresponding reduction in government spending.
At the 1922 general election
Hopkinson therefore found himself opposed by an official Liberal Party candidate who had been Lord Mayor of Manchester in 1921-22. However, his local connections and good works saw Hopkinson re-elected with 58% of the vote. At the 1923 election
, Hopkinson's outspoken support for free trade helped him fight off a renewed attempt by the Liberal Party to regain the seat, although his majority was reduced to only 375 votes. The local Conservative Party
supported him at these elections, and despite his support for free trade he backed the Baldwin
government in the motion of no confidence
in January 1924. Hopkinson grew personally very friendly with Baldwin.
At the Westminster Abbey
byelection in March 1924, Hopkinson signed the nomination papers for Winston Churchill
who had fallen out with the Liberal Party and was standing as an Independent Constitutionalist. Although Churchill failed on this occasion, it was only by 43 votes. At the 1924 general election
, Hopkinson had opposition from both the Labour Party and the Liberals; he was re-elected more comfortably with Labour outpolling the Liberal candidate by more than two to one.
he was critical of the actions of the trade unions. However, he opposed the Baldwin government's Trades Disputes Bill which restricted union powers, on the grounds that it would hinder those trade unionists committed to reform from changing their unions, and also hinder employers who were committed to improving the liberty of their employees.
By the late 1920s, Hopkinson was expressing the hope that Stanley Baldwin would be elected as a free trader in order to save the country from David Lloyd George who had left the country open to socialism "and its twin brother, protection". He was again supported by the Conservatives in the 1929 general election
, but in one of the shock results of the election, lost his seat by 5,029 votes to Herbert Gibson
, the Labour candidate. Hopkinson kept up his contribution of articles expressing unorthodox thoughts to journals while out of Parliament, blaming the Wall Street Crash of 1929
on an American attempt to restrict imports.
Hopkinson attempted to regain his seat but found himself opposed by an official Conservative Party candidate as well as the sitting Labour MP. He declared himself a supporter of the National Government
. Having unexpectedly lost in 1929, Hopkinson managed to win his seat back in an equally unexpected result. The Conservative candidate was in third place.
Hopkinson continued to support free trade and Baldwin, and in the 1935 general election
the putative Conservative candidate withdrew in his favour. Baldwin wrote to Hopkinson (under the salutation "Dear Hoppy") that "You have been one of my most loyal supporters in good times and in bad when I needed friends most". Hopkinson had a straight fight with Labour and the official backing of the National government, saying that he would take the National Government whip if elected. He won by only 2,170 votes in a constituency that was suffering in the economic difficulties.
In March 1936 Hopkinson was injured in a flying accident, aviation having long been a private hobby. He was making a forced landing in bad weather near Warrington
when his aeroplane overturned; fortunately it hit a hedge and did not crush him. Unluckily he suffered light injuries in a second accident the next month, at Rochester airport in Kent
when his aircraft went into a spin. In March 1938 Hopkinson was hit by a car near his home, and had to recover in hospital.
and on 16 November 1938 he declared that the Chamberlain
government's inadequate action in that area made it impossible for him to continue to support the government, and resigned the whip. In an article he wrote shortly after, he declared that Conservative Associations should not select "crooks and half-wits" as Parliamentary candidates. However he continued to back the government on the issue of Palestine
.
Hopkinson considered his warnings had been amply justified when war broke out. He re-enlisted in the Royal Navy
on the declaration of war, serving from 1939 to 1942. During breaks in his service he voted against Chamberlain after the Norway debate
of 1940, and supported Churchill's policy of 'total war', but opposed the use of secret sessions of the House of Commons to suppress public criticism of the performance of Ministers. In 1942 a corrupted report of a speech of his was printed in the This England column of the New Statesman
in which he was supposed to have declared himself an autocrat
. Hopkinson sued for libel, describing the statement as a travesty. The New Statesman eventually agreed to pay 50 guineas
to the RAF Benevolent fund in damages, and Hopkinson's costs. The same erroneous report also appeared in Reynolds News and Hopkinson won £500 damages from them.
As the war was coming to an end, Hopkinson uncovered a financial scandal involving the Air Ministry and the British Overseas Airways Corporation
in a speech on 19 December 1944. He opposed the outcome of the Yalta Conference
which accepted a Soviet
sphere of influence in eastern Europe.
, Hopkinson was for the first time opposed by all three main parties. He was by then in his mid-60s and had less ability to be active in his constituency, and also his outspoken criticisms of the Labour Party were not in line with the times. Not only did he lose his seat in the election, but he came in bottom of the poll with only 8% of the vote and therefore lost his deposit
. Hopkinson retired from politics. A portrait
of him by William Dring was exhibited at the Royal Academy
Summer Exhibition of 1955.
Hopkinson never married.
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
(24 June 1879 – 2 September 1962) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
industrialist
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
and Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for constituencies in present-day Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
who was notable for rejecting membership of political parties and sitting as an Independent member. He represented Mossley
Mossley (UK Parliament constituency)
Mossley was a parliamentary constituency which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Parliament....
from 1918 to 1929 and 1931 to 1945. He was also a noted benefactor to local causes, and a strong believer in noblesse oblige
Noblesse oblige
Noblesse oblige is a French phrase literally meaning "nobility obliges".The Dictionnaire de l’Académie française defines it thus:# Whoever claims to be noble must conduct himself nobly....
.
Early life
Hopkinson was the son of Sir Alfred HopkinsonAlfred Hopkinson
Sir Alfred Hopkinson was an English lawyer, academic and politician who served as a Member of Parliament for two three-year periods, separated by nearly thirty years....
KC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
who was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
from 1900 to 1913 and also served as Member of Parliament for Cricklade
Cricklade (UK Parliament constituency)
Cricklade was a parliamentary constituency named after the town of Cricklade in Wiltshire.From 1295 until 1885, Cricklade was a parliamentary borough, returning two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, previously to the House of Commons of...
in the 1890s and for Combined English Universities
Combined English Universities (UK Parliament constituency)
Combined English Universities was a university constituency represented in the United Kingdom Parliament . It was formed by enfranchising and combining all the English Universities, except for Cambridge, Oxford and London, which were already separately represented.-Boundaries:This University...
in the 1920s. Although sharing the academic approach of his father, he applied his experience more directly to the problems of industry rather than taking up posts in the universities. He became a Justice of the Peace for Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
.
In 1900 Hopkinson enlisted in the Imperial Yeomanry
Imperial Yeomanry
The Imperial Yeomanry was a British volunteer cavalry regiment that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Officially created on 24 December 1899, the regiment was based on members of standing Yeomanry regiments, but also contained a large contingent of mid-upper class English volunteers. In...
and served in the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
as a Lieutenant. On his return he founded a company, Pikrose (which bore the Audenshaw
Audenshaw
Audenshaw is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, in Greater Manchester, England. It is located on the east side of the River Tame, along the course of both the M60 motorway and the Ashton Canal, southwest of Ashton-under-Lyne and east of the city of Manchester...
coat of arms as its company logo) at the Delta Works in Audenshaw. In 1908 he invented a revolutionary coal-cutting machine which his company made: he built a reputation as a very humane employer, and while the company was highly profitable he was uninterested in the trappings of wealth and lived frugally.
Hopkinson was elected as a councillor on Audenshaw Council from 1917 to 1934 and led the council from 1923-24 and 1928-29. Long before it became fashionable, Hopkinson converted a derelict barn to a bungalow
Bungalow
A bungalow is a type of house, with varying meanings across the world. Common features to many of these definitions include being detached, low-rise , and the use of verandahs...
for his own home; he donated his former home of Ryecroft Hall (which he had bought in February 1913) to the people of Audenshaw and sixteen semi-detached houses on its land to Audenshaw Council (the Hall became a community centre as well as Audenshaw council's headquarters, and the houses were used for the housing of the working class). During the First World War he again enlisted and served in the Royal Dragoon Guards
Royal Dragoon Guards
The Royal Dragoon Guards is a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1992 by the amalgamation of two other regiments: The 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards and the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards...
as a Second Lieutenant; in the later stages of the war he re-enlisted as a Trooper (the equivalent of Private) in the same unit.
Entry to politics
On 11 September 1918 news was received confirming that Captain the hon. Oswald CawleyOswald Cawley
Oswald Cawley , styled The Honourable from January 1918, was a British soldier and Liberal Party politician....
(Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
MP for Prestwich
Prestwich (UK Parliament constituency)
Prestwich was a constituency in the county of Lancashire of the House of Commons for the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, it was represented by one Member of Parliament...
) had been killed in action in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
on 22 August. Hopkinson was picked as a Government-supporting Liberal candidate to succeed him, although he was not a member of any party; he was returned unopposed at the by-election on 28 October
Prestwich by-election, October 1918
The Prestwich by-election, 1918 was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Prestwich on 24 October 1918. The seat had become vacant upon the death in action near Merville of the sitting Liberal MP, the Hon...
. On taking his seat he wore his uniform as a Trooper of the Royal Dragoon Guards.
Hopkinson did not have time to get acquainted with the House before the end of the war pitched him into a re-election battle. Owing to boundary changes he fought the new Mossley
Mossley (UK Parliament constituency)
Mossley was a parliamentary constituency which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Parliament....
constituency where he was adopted as a Liberal who supported David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
's governing Coalition
Coalition Government 1916-1922
The Coalition Government of David Lloyd George came to power in the United Kingdom in December 1916, replacing the earlier wartime coalition under H.H. Asquith, which had been held responsible for reverses during the Great War. Those Liberals who continued to support Asquith served as the Opposition...
. However, during the campaign he said that calling himself the Coalition candidate did not bind him to supporting the Coalition, and that he might oppose anything the government did. He insisted that he had merely taken the 'badge' of the Coalition for the good of the country. Hopkinson faced opposition only from the Co-operative Party
Co-operative Party
The Co-operative Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom committed to supporting and representing co-operative principles. The party does not put up separate candidates for any UK election itself. Instead, Co-operative candidates stand jointly with the Labour Party as "Labour...
and won with more than 75% of the vote.
Political activities
Initially, as shown by his choice of taking his seat in uniform, Hopkinson was particularly active on military matters, calling for 'democracy under discipline' and a recognition that democratic forces were present when reconstructing the Army. He was a member of the House of Commons Army Committee in 1919, and the following year criticised the actions of Brigadier-General DyerReginald Dyer
Colonel Reginald Edward Harry Dyer CB was a British Indian Army officer who as a temporary Brigadier-General was responsible for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar ....
in the Amritsar massacre following the official report into it. Also in 1920 he criticised bureaucracy in the building of public housing, saying that he was building homes for a fraction of the price (it was in 1921 that he made his donation of Ryecroft Hall).
By the end of 1920 Hopkinson was already making a reputation for being one of the best speakers and most independent minds in the House, although he was still officially sitting as a Coalition Liberal. He became increasingly involved in industrial topics in which he was critical of the trades unions
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
(regarding them as having devoured the liberty of the workers) and of socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
to the level of distrusting the motives of those advocating socialist policies. He was a strong supporter of free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
. Hopkinson was much in demand as a speaker because of his unorthodox views and the frank and clear way in which he expressed them.
Independence
On 22 March 1922 Hopkinson wrote to The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
to suggest that ballot papers include a box in which voters could express their disapproval of all the candidates on offer. He was by now of this opinion himself: the previous month, he stopped receiving the Coalition Liberal whip, which he explained, his friends in the Liberal Party had been sending him by courtesy but which he had never considered binding. He strongly criticised as "humbug" the 1922 budget which reduced income tax without any corresponding reduction in government spending.
At the 1922 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1922
The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...
Hopkinson therefore found himself opposed by an official Liberal Party candidate who had been Lord Mayor of Manchester in 1921-22. However, his local connections and good works saw Hopkinson re-elected with 58% of the vote. At the 1923 election
United Kingdom general election, 1923
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
, Hopkinson's outspoken support for free trade helped him fight off a renewed attempt by the Liberal Party to regain the seat, although his majority was reduced to only 375 votes. The local Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
supported him at these elections, and despite his support for free trade he backed the Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars...
government in the motion of no confidence
Motion of no confidence
A motion of no confidence is a parliamentary motion whose passing would demonstrate to the head of state that the elected parliament no longer has confidence in the appointed government.-Overview:Typically, when a parliament passes a vote of no...
in January 1924. Hopkinson grew personally very friendly with Baldwin.
At the Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey by-election, 1924
The Westminster Abbey by-election, 1924 was a parliamentary by-election held on 19 March 1924 for the British House of Commons constituency of Westminster Abbey in London. The seat had become vacant when the Conservative Member of Parliament John Nicholson had died on 21 February 1924. Nicholson...
byelection in March 1924, Hopkinson signed the nomination papers for Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
who had fallen out with the Liberal Party and was standing as an Independent Constitutionalist. Although Churchill failed on this occasion, it was only by 43 votes. At the 1924 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1924
- Seats summary :- References :* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* - External links :* * *...
, Hopkinson had opposition from both the Labour Party and the Liberals; he was re-elected more comfortably with Labour outpolling the Liberal candidate by more than two to one.
Baldwin
In March 1926 Hopkinson had the pleasure of formally introducing his father Alfred to the House of Commons, after he won a byelection in the Combined English Universities. His father was, unlike him, elected as a Conservative, although Hopkinson was a generally reliable vote for the Conservatives in this period. After the general strikeUK General Strike of 1926
The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 May 1926 to 13 May 1926. It was called by the general council of the Trades Union Congress in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British government to act to prevent wage reduction and worsening...
he was critical of the actions of the trade unions. However, he opposed the Baldwin government's Trades Disputes Bill which restricted union powers, on the grounds that it would hinder those trade unionists committed to reform from changing their unions, and also hinder employers who were committed to improving the liberty of their employees.
By the late 1920s, Hopkinson was expressing the hope that Stanley Baldwin would be elected as a free trader in order to save the country from David Lloyd George who had left the country open to socialism "and its twin brother, protection". He was again supported by the Conservatives in the 1929 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1929
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...
, but in one of the shock results of the election, lost his seat by 5,029 votes to Herbert Gibson
Herbert Gibson
Herbert Mellor Gibson was a member of the British co-operative movement and a Labour politician.Gibson was the youngest of five children, who was brought up in poverty after his mother was widowed. He first gained employment as an office boy at Manchester Town Hall, and worked for many years in...
, the Labour candidate. Hopkinson kept up his contribution of articles expressing unorthodox thoughts to journals while out of Parliament, blaming the Wall Street Crash of 1929
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...
on an American attempt to restrict imports.
Return to Parliament
At the 1931 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1931
The United Kingdom general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday. It was also the last election, and the only one under universal suffrage, where one party received an absolute majority of the votes cast.The 1931 general election was the...
Hopkinson attempted to regain his seat but found himself opposed by an official Conservative Party candidate as well as the sitting Labour MP. He declared himself a supporter of the National Government
UK National Government
In the United Kingdom the term National Government is an abstract concept referring to a coalition of some or all major political parties. In a historical sense it usually refers primarily to the governments of Ramsay MacDonald, Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain which held office from 1931...
. Having unexpectedly lost in 1929, Hopkinson managed to win his seat back in an equally unexpected result. The Conservative candidate was in third place.
Hopkinson continued to support free trade and Baldwin, and in the 1935 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1935
The United Kingdom general election held on 14 November 1935 resulted in a large, though reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Conservative Stanley Baldwin. The greatest number of MPs, as before, were Conservative, while the National Liberal vote held steady...
the putative Conservative candidate withdrew in his favour. Baldwin wrote to Hopkinson (under the salutation "Dear Hoppy") that "You have been one of my most loyal supporters in good times and in bad when I needed friends most". Hopkinson had a straight fight with Labour and the official backing of the National government, saying that he would take the National Government whip if elected. He won by only 2,170 votes in a constituency that was suffering in the economic difficulties.
In March 1936 Hopkinson was injured in a flying accident, aviation having long been a private hobby. He was making a forced landing in bad weather near Warrington
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
when his aeroplane overturned; fortunately it hit a hedge and did not crush him. Unluckily he suffered light injuries in a second accident the next month, at Rochester airport in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
when his aircraft went into a spin. In March 1938 Hopkinson was hit by a car near his home, and had to recover in hospital.
Rearmament and war
Hopkinson's knowledge of flying led to his strong support for rearmament especially of the Royal Air ForceRoyal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
and on 16 November 1938 he declared that the Chamberlain
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the...
government's inadequate action in that area made it impossible for him to continue to support the government, and resigned the whip. In an article he wrote shortly after, he declared that Conservative Associations should not select "crooks and half-wits" as Parliamentary candidates. However he continued to back the government on the issue of Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
.
Hopkinson considered his warnings had been amply justified when war broke out. He re-enlisted in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
on the declaration of war, serving from 1939 to 1942. During breaks in his service he voted against Chamberlain after the Norway debate
Norway Debate
The Norway Debate, sometimes called the Narvik Debate, was a famous debate in the British House of Commons that took place in May 1940. It led to the formation of a widely-based National Government led by Winston Churchill which was to govern Britain until the end of World War II in Europe...
of 1940, and supported Churchill's policy of 'total war', but opposed the use of secret sessions of the House of Commons to suppress public criticism of the performance of Ministers. In 1942 a corrupted report of a speech of his was printed in the This England column of the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
in which he was supposed to have declared himself an autocrat
Autocracy
An autocracy is a form of government in which one person is the supreme power within the state. It is derived from the Greek : and , and may be translated as "one who rules by himself". It is distinct from oligarchy and democracy...
. Hopkinson sued for libel, describing the statement as a travesty. The New Statesman eventually agreed to pay 50 guineas
Guinea (British coin)
The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...
to the RAF Benevolent fund in damages, and Hopkinson's costs. The same erroneous report also appeared in Reynolds News and Hopkinson won £500 damages from them.
As the war was coming to an end, Hopkinson uncovered a financial scandal involving the Air Ministry and the British Overseas Airways Corporation
British Overseas Airways Corporation
The British Overseas Airways Corporation was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946 to 1974. The company started life with a merger between Imperial Airways Ltd. and British Airways Ltd...
in a speech on 19 December 1944. He opposed the outcome of the Yalta Conference
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, held February 4–11, 1945, was the wartime meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, represented by President Franklin D...
which accepted a Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
sphere of influence in eastern Europe.
Later life
At the 1945 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1945
The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, due in part to the time it took to...
, Hopkinson was for the first time opposed by all three main parties. He was by then in his mid-60s and had less ability to be active in his constituency, and also his outspoken criticisms of the Labour Party were not in line with the times. Not only did he lose his seat in the election, but he came in bottom of the poll with only 8% of the vote and therefore lost his deposit
Deposit (politics)
A deposit is a sum of money that a candidate must pay in return for the right to stand for election to certain political offices, particularly seats in legislatures.-United Kingdom:...
. Hopkinson retired from politics. A portrait
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
of him by William Dring was exhibited at the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
Summer Exhibition of 1955.
Hopkinson never married.
External links
- A tribute to Austin Hopkinson from TamesideTamesideThe Metropolitan Borough of Tameside is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England. It is named after the River Tame which flows through the borough and spans the towns of Ashton-under-Lyne, Audenshaw, Denton, Droylsden, Dukinfield, Hyde, Mossley and Stalybridge. Its western...
Council - 1924 photograph from National Portrait Gallery