Frances Josephy

Frances Louise Josephy (February 1900 – 1985) was a British Liberal politician, journalist and lecturer.

Josephy in 1935

Background

She was born in Broughty Ferry, Forfarshire.[1] She was educated at Seymour Lodge School, Dundee, before going on to St. Andrew's University and Newnham College, Cambridge.[2] She graduated at Cambridge in Classics and English.[3]

Political career

In 1924, she joined the National League of Young Liberals. She was Research Secretary to the Radical Parliamentary Group in the House of Commons. In March 1928 she stood at the London County Council elections as a Liberal backed Progressive Party candidate.[4] She contested Winchester in 1929. This was a safe Tory seat that they had won at every election since 1885 and at the previous election, the Liberals came third. She managed to increase the Liberal vote but still finished third. She contested Basingstoke in 1931, a seat the Liberals had won in 1923. In an unfavourable year for the Liberals, she retained second place;

General Election 1931
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Viscount Lymington 23,523 69.7
Liberal Frances Louise Josephy 6,106 18.1
Labour C A Goatcher 4,124 12.2
Majority 17,417 51.6
Turnout 67.44
Conservative hold Swing

She became Honorary Secretary of the National League of Young Liberals,[5] and a vice-chairman. She contested Devizes in 1935, a seat the Liberals last won in 1923 and nearly re-gained in 1929. She managed to reduce the Tory majority;

General Election 1935
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Sir Percy Angier Hurd 14,438 59.3
Liberal Frances Louise Josephy 9,903 40.7
Majority 4,535 18.6
Turnout 72.2
Conservative hold Swing

She was re-adopted by Devizes Liberals as their prospective parliamentary candidate for a General Election expected to occur in 1939/40.[6] In 1939 she served as President of the National League of Young Liberals.[7] In the early 1940s, she was an advocate of global federalism. She served as Chairman of the Federal Union from 1941–45. She edited the group's paper, Federal News, from 1944–6. She contested Devizes again in 1945. With the country swinging to Labour, she dropped to third place;

General Election 1945
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Maurice Christopher Hollis 12,796 47.0
Labour Wilfrid Edward Cave 8,120 29.9
Liberal Frances Louise Josephy 6,278 23.1
Majority 4,676 17.2
Turnout 67.6
Conservative hold Swing

She was also a member of the European Union of Federalists' central committee from 1946 until her death. In 1949 she attended the European Assembly at Strasbourg as an observer.[8] She was a member of the Liberal party national executive. She contested Cambridge in 1950. This was not a good prospect for the Liberals as they had not contested the seat since 1934 and had not won since 1906;

General Election 1950: Cambridge
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Hamilton William Kerr 25,151 49.5
Labour Arthur Leslie Symonds 20,297 39.9
Liberal Frances Louise Josephy 5,355 10.5
Majority 4,854 9.55
Turnout 50,83 86.48
Conservative gain from Labour Swing

She contested Cambridge again in 1951.

General Election 1951: Cambridge
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Hamilton William Kerr 26,570 52.4
Labour Arthur Leslie Symonds 20,893 41.2
Liberal Frances Louise Josephy 3,257 6.4
Majority 5,677 11.19
Turnout 50,720 84.44
Conservative hold Swing

From the mid-1950s, she worked as a reviser for the Assembly of Western European Union in Paris for nine years.

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References
  1. The Times Guide to the House of Commons, 1929
  2. The Times Guide to the House of Commons, 1951
  3. The Times Guide to the House of Commons, 1950
  4. The Times Guide to the House of Commons, 1929
  5. The Times Guide to the House of Commons, 1935
  6. The Liberal Magazine, 1939
  7. The Times Guide to the House of Commons, 1950
  8. The Times Guide to the House of Commons, 1950
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