Harry Thorneycroft

Who was Harry Thorneycroft?

Harry Thorneycroft was a British hairdresser and Labour Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1942 to 1955.

He was educated at an elementary school, and began work in a hairdresser's shop at the age of 9. He later became President of the National Federation of Hairdressers.

During World War I he served overseas with the Royal Field Artillery. He was elected to Manchester City Council in 1923, and became an alderman in 1939.

Thorneycroft unsuccessfully contested the borough of Blackpool at the 1935 general election, and was elected to Parliament seven years later at a by-election in October 1942 after the death of the Labour MP John Jagger. During World War II, the parties in the coalition government did not contest by-elections when vacancies occurred in seats held by their coalition partners, but in the Clayton by-election Thorneycroft was opposed by an independent candidate, Major Hammond Foot. Thorneycroft received a letter of support signed by the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, and the leaders of the other coalition parties. He was the first Labour candidate to receive such a letter, and won the seat with 93.3% of the votes.