Frank Soskice

Henry Graham White
Henry Graham White
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	Frank Soskice; 23 July 1902
Died	1 January 1979 (aged 76)
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour
Spouse	Susan Isabella Cloudsley Hunter
Relatives	David Soskice (son); Ford Madox Ford (uncle); Oliver Madox Hueffer (uncle); Ford Madox Brown (great-grandfather); Catherine Madox Brown (grandmother); Francis Hueffer (grandfather); Lucy Madox Brown (half-great-aunt); William Michael Rossetti (great-uncle);
Alma mater	Balliol College, Oxford

Frank Soskice, Baron Stow Hill,

QC (23 July 1902 – 1 January 1979) was a British lawyer and Labour Party

politician.

Background and education

Soskice's father was the exiled Russian revolutionary journalist David Soskice [ru]; his mother Juliet Hueffner was the daughter of Catherine Madox Brown and Francis Hueffer, and so granddaughter of artist Ford Madox Brown, niece of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and sister of Ford Madox Ford.

Soskice was educated at the

called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1926. He served in the British Army with the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry during World War II.^[1]

He served first in east Africa and then, as political welfare executive, in Cairo. Later he worked with the Special Operations Executive in London.[2]

His son, David Soskice, is an economist.

Political career

Following the war, he was elected to parliament as a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for

stood down to make way for Soskice. In April 1951, he became Attorney General

.

In 1952, Soskice joined the shadow cabinet, and his fortunes rose in 1955 with the election of his close ally Hugh Gaitskell as party leader, although he continued his legal practice as well. His Sheffield Neepsend constituency was abolished for the 1955 general election, but in 1956 he won a by-election in the Newport seat in Monmouthshire that he would hold until he retired.

When Labour returned to government in 1964 under Harold Wilson, Soskice became Home Secretary. In this office he did not impress Wilson – he was in poor health, and he botched the response to an electoral boundary change dispute in Northamptonshire and accepted weakening amendments to the Race Relations Act of 1965.

In December 1965, Soskice was relieved of his Home Office responsibilities and made Lord Privy Seal. He had, though, ensured Government support for Sydney Silverman's Private Members Bill, passed on 28 October 1965, which suspended the death penalty in the United Kingdom for five years (except for treason). This reform is sometimes erroneously included with the Jenkins reforms which followed. In fact when the death penalty for murder was finally abolished in 1969,^[5] James Callaghan was Home Secretary.

In 1966, Soskice retired, and was created a

St. Woolos Cathedral

.

According to
Yes, Minister co-writer Antony Jay, the case of Timothy Evans (who was wrongfully hanged for the murder of his wife and daughter) was part of the inspiration for the television satire because of Soskice's refusal to reopen the case despite having himself appealed for an inquiry while in opposition.^[7]

Arms

Coat of arms of Frank Soskice
Crest Between two wings addorsed Azure a paint brush and a quill pen in saltire Proper both tipped Gules. Escutcheon Argent perched on a triple mount in base Vert charged with a portcullis chained Or a dove wings expanded and in the beak a ship of olive Proper in chief two portcullises chained Gules. Supporters On either side a pegasus Azure pendant from a chain about the neck a portcullis Or. Motto romanized: Hēmeis, d'oia te phylla, lit. 'We, like the leaves'^[8]^[9]

References

^ "No. 35040". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 January 1941. p. 247.
^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
^ "No. 37222". The London Gazette. 14 August 1945. p. 4135.
^ "No. 37243". The London Gazette. 28 August 1945. p. 4345.
^ The abolition of hanging in Britain
^ "No. 44014". The London Gazette. 7 June 1966. p. 6598.
^ Jay, Antony (22 May 1980). "Informed Sources". London Review of Books. 02 (10). Retrieved 6 May 2020.
^ Debrett's Peerage. 1973.
^ Mimnermus, fragment 2: Ἡμεῖς δ’ οἷά τε φύλλα

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Frank Soskice
Parliamentary Archives, Stow Hill Papers

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Graham White	Member of Parliament for Birkenhead East 1945–1950	Constituency abolished
Preceded by Harry Morris	Member of Parliament for Sheffield Neepsend 1950–1955	Constituency abolished
Preceded by Peter Freeman	Member of Parliament for Newport 1956–1966	Succeeded by Roy Hughes
Legal offices
Preceded by Sir Walter Monckton	Solicitor-General for England 1945–1951	Succeeded by Sir Lynn Ungoed-Thomas
Preceded by Sir Hartley Shawcross	Attorney-General for England 1951	Succeeded by Sir Lionel Heald
Political offices
Preceded by Henry Brooke	Home Secretary 1964–1965	Succeeded by Roy Jenkins
Preceded by The Earl of Longford	Lord Privy Seal 1965–1966	Succeeded by The Earl of Longford

[1] "No. 35040". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 January 1941. p. 247.

[2] Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

[3] "No. 37222". The London Gazette. 14 August 1945. p. 4135.

[4] "No. 37243". The London Gazette. 28 August 1945. p. 4345.

[5] The abolition of hanging in Britain

[6] "No. 44014". The London Gazette. 7 June 1966. p. 6598.

[7] Jay, Antony (22 May 1980). "Informed Sources". London Review of Books. 02 (10). Retrieved 6 May 2020.

[8] Debrett's Peerage. 1973.

[9] Mimnermus, fragment 2: Ἡμεῖς δ’ οἷά τε φύλλα

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[5]

[7]

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