Bruce Douglas-Mann

Who was Bruce Douglas-Mann?

Bruce Leslie Home Douglas-Mann was a British politician.

Bruce Douglas-Mann was born at Bexhill, Sussex, the son of a solicitor, Leslie John Douglas-Mann, MC.

Douglas-Mann was educated at Upper Canada College, Toronto, Canada before going to Jesus College, Oxford in 1948 where he read PPE. He qualified as a solicitor in 1954 and served as a councillor on Kensington Borough Council 1962-65 and on the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea from 1964.

Douglas-Mann contested St Albans in 1964 and Maldon in 1966 as a Labour candidate. He was elected Member of Parliament for Kensington North in 1970, then for Mitcham and Morden in February 1974.

In 1982, Douglas-Mann was one of the later defectors among Labour MPs to the new Social Democratic Party. However, he made the unique decision to resign and seek re-election at a by-election upon his change of allegiance. He lost to the Conservative candidate Angela Rumbold and was pushed into third place when he stood again at the 1983 general election.