# Horace Crawfurd

Horace Evelyn Crawfurd (13 January 1881 – 14 March 1958) was a Liberal Party politician in the United Kingdom.

## Professional career

Crawfurd was a lecturer at Liverpool University. In 1930, Elinor Glyn Ltd employed Crawfurd to undertake the publicity campaign for two movies: Knowing Men (1930), which experimented with a new colour process, and The Price of Things (1931). Crawfurd also worked with the author Elinor Glyn on her own personal publicity.

## Political career

In 1913, Crawfurd was selected as the Liberal candidate for Southport for a general election expected to take place in 1914 or 1915. However, the election was postponed due to the Great War. He became a Flight Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Air Service and was stationed in the Far East. He continued to nurse the Southport constituency while on leave in anticipation of being selected as the candidate when the election was finally held. However, the Conservative MP for Southport, received endorsement from the Coalition Prime Minister David Lloyd George, so the Southport Liberals decided not to run a candidate against him. He unsuccessfully contested the Walthamstow West constituency at the 1922 and 1923 general elections, before winning the seat at the 1924 general election, narrowly defeating the sitting Labour MP Valentine McEntee. During the 1924-29 parliament which was dominated by a Conservative majority, Crawfurd worked closely with a group of radical Liberal MPs that included: William Wedgwood Benn, Percy Harris, Joseph Kenworthy and Frank Briant to provide opposition to the government. However, McEntee regained the seat at the 1929 general election. He stood again at the Islington East by-election in February 1931, where he finished in fourth place. He stood for election for the last time at the 1935 general election, when he finished last out of the three candidates in Leicester West. He did not stand for Parliament again.

### Electoral record

General election 1922 : Walthamstow West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Valentine McEntee | 8,758 | 43.3 | +14.0 |
| | National Democratic | Charles Jesson | 6,253 | 30.9 | |
| | Liberal | Horace Crawfurd | 5,228 | 25.8 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,505 | 12.4 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 63.8 | +16.8 |
| | Labour gain from National Democratic | Labour gain from National Democratic | Swing | | |
General election 1923: Walthamstow West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Valentine McEntee | 10,026 | 47.6 | +4.3 |
| | Liberal | Horace Crawfurd | 8,234 | 39.0 | +13.2 |
| | Unionist | Jabeez Lyne | 2,832 | 13.4 | n/a |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,792 | 8.6 | −3.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 65.5 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | -4.5 | |
General election 1924: Walthamstow West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal | Horace Crawfurd | 12,991 | 50.9 |
| | Labour | Valentine McEntee | 12,521 | 49.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 470 | 1.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 75.5 |
| | Liberal gain from Labour | Liberal gain from Labour | Swing | |
General election 1929: Walthamstow West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Valentine McEntee | 16,050 | 54.0 | −4.9 |
| | Liberal | Horace Crawfurd | 9,470 | 31.9 | −19.0 |
| | Unionist | Frederick C Bramston | 4,184 | 14.1 | n/a |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,580 | 22.1 | +14.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 73.3 | −2.2 |
| | Labour gain from Liberal | Labour gain from Liberal | Swing | +7.0 | |
1931 Islington East by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Leah Manning | 10,591 | 34.7 | −3.3 |
| | Empire Crusade | Alfred Critchley | 8,314 | 27.2 | n/a |
| | Conservative | Thelma Cazalet | 7,182 | 23.5 | −10.6 |
| | Liberal | Horace Crawfurd | 4,450 | 14.6 | −13.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,277 | 7.5 | +3.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 50.0 | −16.4 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
General election 1935: Leicester West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | National Labour | Harold Nicolson | 15,821 | 43.73 |
| | Labour | John Morgan | 15,734 | 43.49 |
| | Liberal | Horace Crawfurd | 4,621 | 12.77 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 87 | 0.24 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 66.83 |
| | National Labour gain from Liberal | National Labour gain from Liberal | Swing | |