Frank Walter Raffety

Frank Walter Raffety OBE (1875 – 8 September 1946) was a British barrister and Liberal Party politician.

He was the son of Charles Walter Raffety, of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire and attended the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe.^[1] In 1898 he was called to the bar at the Middle Temple, and practised on the Northern Circuit.^[2]

He developed an interest in politics, and became honorary secretary of the Social and Political Education League. The organisation was established to provide political education to the general public, and in particular to promote moderation over revolution.^[2][3] He was also an active member of the Eighty Club, an educational group within the Liberal Party.^[2][4]

He was selected as Liberal prospective parliamentary candidate for Stamford for a general election expected to take place in 1915.^[5]

He unsuccessfully contested the Lewisham West by-election in September 1921;

Lewisham West by-election, 1921

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Sir Philip Dawson	9,427	38.9	n/a
	Anti-Waste League	Walter George Windham	8,580	35.4	n/a
	Liberal	Frank Walter Raffety	6,211	25.6	n/a
Majority			847	3.5	n/a
Turnout			24,218	59.2	n/a
	Unionist hold		Swing	n/a

In March of the following year he was elected to the London County Council, as a (Liberal-backed) Progressive Party councillor for Islington West;^[6]

London County Council election, 1922: Islington West^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Progressive	Henry Mills	5,903	33.6
	Progressive	Frank Walter Raffety	5,746	32.7
	Labour	P.H. Black	3,013	17.2
	Labour	G. Davison	2,894	16.5
Majority			2,733	15.5
	Progressive hold		Swing

At the general election in November 1922 he failed to win Bristol West;

General Election 1922: Bristol West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	George Abraham Gibbs	18,124	62.0	n/a
	Liberal	Frank Walter Raffety	11,100	38.0	n/a
Majority			7,024	24.0	n/a
	Unionist hold		Swing	n/a

A further general election was held in 1923, and Raffety was elected Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Bath;

General Election 1923: Bath

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Frank Walter Raffety	13,694	51.6	+19.6
	Unionist	Charles Talbot Foxcroft	12,830	48.4	-1.8
Majority			864	3.2	21.4
Turnout				79.1	-3.3
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+10.7

His membership of the Commons was brief, as he was defeated when a further general election was called in 1924;

General Election 1924: Bath

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Charles Talbot Foxcroft	16,067	55.8	+7.4
	Liberal	Frank Walter Raffety	8,800	30.6	-21.0
	Labour	Walter Barton Scobell	3,914	13.6	+13.6
Majority			7,267	25.2	28.4
Turnout				84.5	+5.4
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+14.2

He again stood as a Liberal candidate at Cheltenham in 1929;

General Election 1929: Cheltenham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Sir Walter Reuben Preston	15,279	53.2	+3.7
	Liberal	Frank Walter Raffety	8,533	29.7	-2.0
	Labour	William Ramsey Piggott	4,920	17.1	-1.7
Majority			6,746	23.5	+5.7
Turnout				79.8	-0.5
	Unionist hold		Swing	+2.8

and East Dorset in 1935, but failed to be elected;^[2]

General Election 1935: Dorset East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Gordon Ralph Hall Caine	25,520	53.5	+9.0
	Liberal	Frank Walter Raffety	11,349	23.8	-16.6
	Labour	Edward Joseph Stocker	10,823	22.7	+14.6
Majority			14,171	29.7	+25.6
Turnout			47,692	74.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+12.8

Raffety remained active in Liberal party politics, as a speaker. He became the Chairman of the Industrial Co-Partnership Association. In 1943 he was granted the freedom of the borough of High Wycombe, of which he had been honorary recorder since 1905.^[2] In 1945 he was made an Officer of the Order of British Empire.^[2]

He died at his home in Bramley, Surrey in August 1946, aged 71.^[2]

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

1. School Records: http://www.rgs.tonyhare.co.uk/Wycombiensian/1939%20September.pdf
2. Obituary: Mr F W Raffety, The Times, 11 September 1946, p.7
3. Deborah Wormell, Sir John Seeley and the Uses of History, Cambridge, 1980
4. "Eighty Club". Database of Archives of Non-Governmental Organisations. University of Birmingham. 2007. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
5. Grantham Journal, Lincolnshire Mar 1914
6. LCC Elections, The Times, 3 March 1922, p.12
7. London Municipal Notes - Volumes 18-23, London Municipal Society

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Frank Walter Raffety