Frank Briant

Frank Briant (30 November 1865 – 1 September 1934) was a radical British Liberal Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Lambeth North. In addition, he represented Lambeth on the London County Council and was a leading member of Lambeth Borough Council.

Background

He was born in Kennington to William and Susannah Briant. He started work as a civil servant. In 1887, he started working at the Alford House Institute for Workingmen and Lads. In religion, he was a Congregationalist.

Political career

He served for 10 years as Chairman of the Lambeth Board of Guardians. He was a Justice of the peace for London. He was a member of Lambeth Borough Council, the London County Council and the House of Commons. He was first elected to Lambeth Council and was elected Chairman of the Council in 1899, a position he held for twenty years. He was elected as a Progressive Party member to the London County Council in 1905 representing Lambeth North. He served as both a borough and county councillor through to the end of World War I. In 1912, he was selected as the Liberal prospective parliamentary candidate for Lambeth North but due to the outbreak of war; had to wait until the 1918 general election. He was comfortably re-elected to the LCC in 1913 suggesting that he may well have gained the parliamentary seat in a 1915 general election;

File:LambethNorth1885.png

Lambeth North in London County, showing boundaries used 1885–1918

London County Council election, 1913: Lambeth North Electorate 7,582

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Green tickY Frank Briant	2,370
		Green tickY Louis Courtauld	2,118
		W. Gough-Cook	2,105
		Francis Samuel Smith	2,037
Majority
	hold		Swing
	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing

Despite his Unionist opponent receiving the 'coupon' letter of support from the Coalition Government he gained the seat from the Unionists. His election was one of only a handful of gains made by the Liberals at these elections.

File:LambethNorth1918.png

Lambeth North in the County of London 1918–1949

General election 1918: Lambeth North Electorate 28,777

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Frank Briant	7,326	62.3
		Sir William Henry Houghton Gastrell	4,441	37.7
Majority			2,885	24.6
Turnout				40.9
	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing	+15.8

In 1919, due to the commencement of his parliamentary career, he stood down from the Chairmanship of Lambeth Council, and retired from the London County Council.

He retained his seat in the House of Commons at every subsequent election

General election 1922: Lambeth North Electorate 30,320

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Frank Briant	8,132	43.1
		Ernest Roy Bird	7,362	39.1
		Barbara Bodichon Ayrton-Gould	3,353	17.8
Majority			770	4.0
Turnout				62.2
	hold		Swing	-10.3

General election 1923: Lambeth North Electorate 31,146

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Frank Briant	9,036	48.5
		Ernest Roy Bird	5,509	29.6
		F. Hughes	4,089	21.9
Majority			3,527	18.9
Turnout				59.8
	hold		Swing	+7.5

General election 1924: Lambeth North Electorate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Frank Briant	7,943	37.2
		George Russell Strauss	7,914	37.1
		J. Lazarus	5,488	25.7
Majority			29	0.1
Turnout			31,866	67.0
	hold		Swing	-13.3

During the 1924–29 parliament which was dominated by a Unionist majority, Briant worked closely with a group of radical Liberal MPs that included William Wedgwood Benn, Percy Harris, Joseph Kenworthy and Horace Crawfurd to provide opposition to the government. He lost his seat to Labour in the 1929 General Election

General election 1929: Lambeth North Electorate 38,815

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		George Russell Strauss	11,264	43.8
		Frank Briant	10,722	41.8
		Clyde Tabor Wilson	3,691	14.4
Majority			542	2.0
Turnout				66.2
	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing	+1.1

In 1931 he returned to municipal politics and was re-elected to the London County Council again representing Lambeth North. Later that year he regained his Lambeth North seat in the House of Commons, defeating the Labour candidate at the 1931 General Election

General election 1931: Lambeth North Electorate 38,923

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Frank Briant	16,368	65.1
		George Russell Strauss	8,766	34.9
Majority			7,602	30.2
Turnout				64.6
	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing	+16.1

He remained a London County Councillor up until the Match 1934 elections. He continued to represent Lambeth North in the House of Commons until his death. He died on 1 September 1934 at the Alford House Institute for Workingmen and Lads of which he had been the superintendent for 47 years.

See also

• List of Liberal Party (UK) MPs

External links

• Template:Trim Portraits of Template:Trim at the National Portrait Gallery, LondonTemplate:EditAtWikidata
• Template:Hansard-contribs
• Leigh Rayment's peerage page – https://web.archive.org/web/20180914195349/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Lcommons1.htm
• POLITICS & PEOPLE OF LONDON – London County Council 1889–1965: https://books.google.com/books?id=A1yI5GjsmNsC&q=The+Story+of+the+London+County+Council