John Beckett (politician)

John Warburton Beckett
Beckett in 1929
Member of Parliament for Gateshead
In office 1924–1929
Preceded by	John Purcell Dickie
Succeeded by	James Benjamin Melville
Member of Parliament for Peckham
In office 1929–1931
Preceded by	Hugh Dalton
Succeeded by	Viscount Borodale
Personal details
Born	11 October 1894 London, England
Died	28 December 1964 (aged 70) London, England
Political party	Independent Labour Party, British Union of Fascists, National Socialist League, British People's Party
Children	Francis Beckett
Occupation	soldier, politician

John Warburton Beckett (11 October 1894 – 28 December 1964) was a leading figure in British politics between the world wars, both in the Labour Party and in fascist movements.

Beckett was born in Hammersmith, London, the son of William Beckett, a draper, and his wife Dorothy (née Salmon), who had been born into Judaism but abandoned the faith to marry Beckett. According to his son Francis he was christened Jack William Beckett but assumed the name John Warburton Beckett in 1918. He was educated at The Latymer School until the age of 14 when his father lost all his money in a scheme run by notorious swindler Horatio Bottomley and could no longer afford the fees; as a result the young John was forced to work as an errand boy. On the outbreak of the First World War he enlisted in the Middlesex Regiment before being transferred to the King's Shropshire Light Infantry soon afterwards. He was invalided out of the army in 1916 because of a heart defect.

After serving in the army during the First World War Beckett set up the National Union of Ex-Servicemen in 1918 to look after the needs of the war veterans (although it was eventually absorbed into the later Royal British Legion having failed to gain Labour Party recognition). At this time he also joined the Independent Labour Party, sitting on Hackney Council from 1919 to 1922.

Beckett first stood for Parliament at the 1923 general election but failed to capture Newcastle upon Tyne North. He was elected Labour MP for Gateshead in 1924, moving to Peckham in 1929, after which he served as an ILP whip. In these early years Beckett was considered a close ally of Clement Attlee, alongside whom he had worked as a Labour Party agent before his election to Parliament. He achieved notoriety in 1930 when he lifted the Ceremonial mace during a Commons debate over the suspension of Fenner Brockway and it had to be wrestled away from him at the door. As a campaigner Beckett was noted for his fiery, passionate speeches. Beckett opposed Ramsay MacDonald's formation of the UK National Government and returned to the ILP fold in 1931, failing to hold his seat, with the vote split between three "Labour" candidates. Retiring from active politics he visited Italy where he was impressed by the corporate state that had been set up.

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