Herbert Willison

Herbert Willison (1872 - 30 November 1943) was an English solicitor and Liberal Party, later Liberal National politician.

Willison was born in Cosgrove, Northamptonshire. He received his education in Northamptonshire and Birmingham. He was married to Frances Mary Pearson and they had two daughters.

Willison was admitted as a solicitor in 1901 and practised in Birmingham. He achieved a reputation as an advocate throughout the English Midlands. He established himself with the firm of Philip Baker & Co. who were solicitors to many large enterprises and societies.

Willison first stood for Parliament at the 1922 general election as Liberal candidate in the Birmingham Deritend division, coming third in a three-cornered contest.

At the 1923 general election, Willison switched his candidacy to the Nuneaton division of Warwickshire. In a three-cornered contest, Willison defeated the sitting Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), Sir Henry Maddocks, by a majority of 3,578 votes with Labour in third place. Ironically, Willison and Maddocks were longstanding personal friends, the former having as solicitor instructed Maddocks as barrister to represent a number of legal cases before Maddocks became MP.

Willison was judged to have gained great popularity in Nuneaton during his brief time as MP but by 1924, after the first ever Labour government, the Tories were resurgent nationally and Britain was swinging back to two-party politics, with Labour replacing the Liberals as the main party of the left. At the 1924 general election the Conservatives re-captured Nuneaton with Willison pushed narrowly into third place by Labour. The combined Liberal and Labour vote amounted to 62% of the poll and it seems likely that in a straight fight Willison would have retained the seat.

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