Ernest Thurtle

Who was Ernest Thurtle?

Ernest Thurtle was a British Labour politician.

Thurtle worked as am accountant and salesman. He saw service in the army in World War I and was badly wounded at the Battle of Cambrai. In 1912 he married Dorothy, daughter of George Lansbury, leader of the Labour Party in the 1930s.

Thurtle contested South West Bethnal Green and Shoreditch without success, and was Member of Parliament for Shoreditch, London from 1923–31 and 1935–50, then Shoreditch and Finsbury from 1950 until his death.

Thurtle's greatest achievement in Parliament was to bring about the abolition of the death penalty for cowardice or desertion in the British Army. With over 300 British soldiers shot by firing squad after brief trials during the First World War, Thurtle first introduced the measure for abolition in 1924, which became Labour party policy in 1925 and eventually approved by the House of Commons by the Labour government in 1930. Supporters of the measure included T E Lawrence but the abolition was rejected at first by the House of Lords who were encouraged in their resistance by various retired generals including Lord Allenby. The House of Commons insisted and the measure was enacted.