Joseph Kenworthy, 10th Baron Strabolgi

Joseph Montague Kenworthy, 10th Baron Strabolgi (1886-1953), was a Liberal Member of Parliament and later a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom.

Education and Naval Service

Strabolgi was born at Leamington in Warwickshire and educated at the Eastman's Naval Academy, Winchester, joined the Royal Navy in 1902 and left the service in 1920 with the rank of lieutenant-commander, after serving in the Admiralty war staff in London. However, during the Second World War he went out to Gibraltar as Assistant Chief of Naval Staff.

Politician

Kenworthy first tried to enter Parliament at the 1918 general election fighting Rotherham as a Liberal but came third. He was soon given another chance though when he was selected to contest Central Hull at a by-election in 1919. Anti-Coalition government sentiment was riding high and he was easily elected Member of Parliament for the Liberals. Kenworthy was one of the more energetic supporters of H H Asquith in Parliament and never lost his hostility to Lloyd George. When Lloyd George became leader of the Liberal Party in 1926, Kenworthy resigned from the party and joined Labour. He also resigned his Parliamentary seat and fought and won a by-election in Central Hull standing for Labour. He held the seat for Labour Labour Party until 1931. In 1934, he succeeded his father as Lord Strabolgi, and was the opposition (that is, Labour Party) chief whip in the House of Lords from 1938 to 1942.

He was disappointed not to be given a position in the post-war Labour government (1945-51).

When he died in 1953, he was succeeded by David Montague de Burgh Kenworthy, 11th Baron Strabolgi, another left-wing politician and member of the Labour Party.

Writer

Lord Strabolgi was an active supporter of the movement for the independence of India, and during the Second World War, he wrote numerous articles on the war, especially the war at sea. These include "Secret Weapons" in "Modern World" (27 April 1940) and "What’s Wrong with the British Army?" in "Colliers magazine" (22 August 1942).

Books by Lord Strabolgi

His books include -
*"Peace or war?" (with a foreword by H.G. Wells, Boni & Liveright, New York, 1927)
*"India, A Warning" (E. Mathews & Marrot, London, 1931)
*"The Campaign in the Low Countries: the first full-length account of the epic struggle in Holland and Belgium" (London 1940)
*"The Battle of the River Plate" (Hutchinson & Co., London, 1940)
*"Freedom of the Seas" (jointly with Sir George Young)
*"Our Daily Pay: the Economics of Plenty"
*"Sailors, Statesmen and Others: an Autobiography"
*"The Real Navy"
*"Narvik and After"
*"From Gibraltar to Suez: a study of the Italian Campaign"
*"Singapore and After"
*"Sea Power in the Second World War"

Appointments

* Chairman of the English-Speaking Union
* Vice-President of "The Air League of The British Empire"

ources

* [http://www.thepeerage.com/p16121.htm#i161209 Strabolgi at thepeerage.com]
* [http://www.hindu.com/2003/10/10/stories/2003101000320800.htm Obituary in The Hindu] - 10 October 1953
* [http://empireclubfoundation.com/details.asp?SpeechID=902&FT=yes Speech at the Empire Club of Canada, 1947] Entry by Eric J Grove in "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", OUP 2004-08