Jack Cohen (politician)

Major Sir Benn Jack Brunel Cohen KBE (5 October 1886 – 11 May 1965) was a British Conservative Party politician and campaigner on behalf of disabled people. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Liverpool Fairfield from 13 years, from 1918 to 1931.

Cohen was born in Toxteth Park, Liverpool, where his father, Louis Cohen, was a businessman and Conservative local politician. His family owned the Lewis's department stores, which Cohen's father ran after the death of David Lewis. Both of his grandfathers were politicians in New South Wales.

He was educated at Cheltenham College, and then joined the family business. He married Vera Evelyn Samuel in 1914, becoming the son-in-law of Sir Stuart Samuel, 1st Baronet. They had three children: two sons and a daughter.

Cohen volunteered for military service in 1906, joining a territorial battalion of the King's Liverpool Regiment. He served with the battalion after the outbreak of the First World War, but remained in the depot in Liverpool until 1917. Meanwhile, two elder brothers joined the Regiment on the Western Front in France, where one was killed in action and the second was gassed. At his own request, Cohen was sent to France in early 1917. He was promoted to Major in June 1917, but was wounded at the Third Battle of Ypres, and both legs were amputated above the knee. He used an electric wheelchair for most of his life afterwards.

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