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.
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]
Armsedit
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.
frank, soskice, baron, stow, hill, july, 1902, january, 1979, british, lawyer, labour, party, politician, right, honourablethe, lord, stow, hillpc, middle, with, sven, arntzen, left, maurice, bourguin, hague, 1951lord, privy, sealin, office, december, 1965, ap. Frank Soskice Baron Stow Hill PC QC 23 July 1902 1 January 1979 was a British lawyer and Labour Party politician The Right HonourableThe Lord Stow HillPC QCFrank Soskice middle with Sven Arntzen left and Maurice Bourguin in The Hague 1951Lord Privy SealIn office 23 December 1965 6 April 1966Prime MinisterHarold WilsonPreceded byFrank PakenhamSucceeded byFrank PakenhamHome SecretaryIn office 18 October 1964 23 December 1965Prime MinisterHarold WilsonPreceded byHenry BrookeSucceeded byRoy JenkinsShadow Home SecretaryIn office 15 February 1963 18 October 1964LeaderHarold WilsonPreceded byGeorge BrownSucceeded byEdward BoyleAttorney General for EnglandIn office 24 April 1951 26 October 1951Prime MinisterClement AttleePreceded bySir Hartley ShawcrossSucceeded bySir Lionel HealdSolicitor General for EnglandIn office 4 August 1945 24 April 1951Prime MinisterClement AttleePreceded bySir Walter MoncktonSucceeded bySir Lynn Ungoed ThomasMember of Parliamentfor NewportIn office 6 July 1956 10 March 1966Preceded byPeter FreemanSucceeded byRoy HughesMember of Parliamentfor Sheffield NeepsendIn office 5 April 1950 6 May 1955Preceded byHarry MorrisSucceeded byConstituency abolishedMember of Parliamentfor Birkenhead EastIn office 5 July 1945 3 February 1950Preceded byHenry Graham WhiteSucceeded byConstituency abolishedPersonal detailsBornFrank Soskice 1902 07 23 23 July 1902Died 1979 01 01 1 January 1979 aged 76 NationalityBritishPolitical partyLabourSpouseSusan Isabella Cloudsley HunterRelativesDavid 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 materBalliol College Oxford Contents 1 Background and education 2 Political career 3 Arms 4 References 5 External linksBackground and education editThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Frank Soskice news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message 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 Froebel Demonstration School St Paul s School London and Balliol College Oxford He studied law and was 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 editFollowing the war he was elected to parliament as a Labour Member of Parliament MP for Birkenhead East in the 1945 general election and became Solicitor General 3 receiving the customary knighthood 4 in the government of Clement Attlee serving in that office throughout Attlee s government He was also briefly UK delegate to the United Nations General Assembly As Solicitor General Soskice was viewed as an important advocate for the government in the House of Commons His constituency was abolished in the 1950 election when he unsuccessfully fought Bebington but he was soon returned to the House of Commons at a by election in the Sheffield Neepsend constituency where the sitting MP Harry Morris 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 life peer as Baron Stow Hill of Newport in the County of Monmouth on 7 June 1966 6 Stow Hill is a steep hill in Newport which runs from the city centre up to 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 editCoat 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 Ancient Greek HMEIS D OIA TE FYLLA romanized Hemeis d oia te phylla lit We like the leaves 8 9 References edit 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 Ἡmeῖs d oἷa te fyllaExternal links editHansard 1803 2005 contributions in Parliament by Frank Soskice Parliamentary Archives Stow Hill PapersParliament of the United KingdomPreceded byGraham White Member of Parliament for Birkenhead East1945 1950 Constituency abolishedPreceded byHarry Morris Member of Parliament for Sheffield Neepsend1950 1955 Constituency abolishedPreceded byPeter Freeman Member of Parliament for Newport1956 1966 Succeeded byRoy HughesLegal officesPreceded bySir Walter Monckton Solicitor General for England1945 1951 Succeeded bySir Lynn Ungoed ThomasPreceded bySir Hartley Shawcross Attorney General for England1951 Succeeded bySir Lionel HealdPolitical officesPreceded byHenry Brooke Home Secretary1964 1965 Succeeded byRoy JenkinsPreceded byThe Earl of Longford Lord Privy Seal1965 1966 Succeeded byThe Earl of Longford Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Frank Soskice amp oldid 1189723949, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
