William J. Field

William James Field (May 22, 1909 – October 11, 2002) was a British politician who found his career ruined by a conviction for "importuning for immoral purposes" in the 1950s. He was Labour Member of Parliament for Paddington North from 1946 to 1953.

Early life

Field was the son of a solicitor and grew up in south-west London. He was educated at Richmond County School and went on from there to the University of London where he took an active part in student politics, opposing appeasement of Germany. On the outbreak of World War II, he enlisted in the Royal Army Service Corps and later served in the Intelligence Corps. At the end of the war, Field was demobilized swiftly as he had been selected as Labour Party candidate for Hampstead; in the Labour landslide election of 1945, Field reduced a Conservative majority of over 20,000 to 1,638.

Political career

Later that year Field was elected to Hammersmith Borough Council. He swiftly became the dominant figure and was made council leader the following year. He was also selected to follow Sir Noel Mason-Macfarlane as Labour candidate for Paddington North following Mason-Macfarlane's resignation, and retained the seat. He improved his majority against the national trend in the 1950 general election, and was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Stewart and John Strachey.

Disgrace

In opposition after October 1951, Field was highly regarded and thought likely to be appointed as a Minister if a Labour government was formed. However, in 1953 he was spotted by a policeman acting suspiciously in public lavatories in the West End of London. The officer arrested him for "importuning for immoral purposes", an offence which meant seeking out homosexual partners. Field gave his occupation as merely "university graduate" and pleaded guilty, but when the press discovered his real job and reported the case, he changed his plea to not guilty.

Court fight

However, Field was convicted on one charge and fined £15. He immediately appealed, with his defence led by the Conservative MP John Maude who was reported to have given his services free. Maude was a spirited advocate for his cause, accusing the policeman involved of having committed perjury. Unfortunately for Field, Maude could not persuade the Appeal Court and the conviction was upheld. Field then resigned his seat and disappeared from London. He declined to give his new address to "Who's Who".

Later life

Field had actually moved to Fontmell Magna in Dorset. He followed his academic interest in Egyptology; he was a lecturer at the University of the Third Age until his death.

References

* "William James Field" (obituary), "The Times", October 15, 2002, p. 35