Francis Noel-Baker
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Francis Edward Noel-Baker (born 7 January 1920) is a retired British Labour Party politician. He is the son of Labour MP and Nobel Peace prize-winner Philip Noel-Baker.
He was first elected to the House of Commons in the Labour landslide at the 1945 general election as Member of Parliament for Brentford and Chiswick. When elected, he was the youngest Labour M.P. He lost his seat at the 1950 general election, but returned to Parliament at the 1955 election as MP for Swindon. He resigned his seat in March 1969, by taking the Chiltern Hundreds.
In 1948, Francis acted covertly for the British Government inside Franco's Fascist Spain. His report "Spanish Summary" with a forward written by Lady Megan Lloyd George M.P. had a huge influence in shaming the British and other governments and world-wide organisations for allowing the fascist state to remain undefeated in Europe until Franco's death.
While in office, Noel-Baker advocated reforms to moderate the influence of outside interests in Parliament. In 1961, he published an article in Parliamentary Affairs warning that "the door, in fact, is wide open for a new form of political corruption, and there is an uneasy feeling in Parliament and outside, that its extent could be much greater than the known or published facts reveal."[1]
He was educated at Westminster School and King's College, Cambridge and served with the Royal Armoured Corps in World War II.[2]
As of 2006, he was one of the few surviving members of the 1945 Parliament, the others being Ernest Millington, Michael Foot and John Freeman. His wife Barbara (Barbro) Noel-Baker, from Sweden, died in 2004 of skin cancer. His son Phillip Noel-Baker lives in Athens with his Greek wife and two children.
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| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Harold Paton Mitchell |
Member of Parliament for Brentford and Chiswick 1945–1950 |
Succeeded by Percy Lucas |
| Preceded by Thomas Reid |
Member of Parliament for Swindon 1955–1969 |
Succeeded by Christopher Ward |
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