John Platts-Mills

John Faithful Fortescue Platts-Mills QC (4 October, 1906 – 26 October 2001) was a British Labour Party politician born in Wellington, New Zealand. He graduated with a first-class honours degree in law from Victoria University of Wellington and later won a Rhodes Scholarship to Balliol College, Oxford.

After graduating he was called to the Bar from the Inner Temple in 1932, then worked as a lawyer in London, and in 1936 joined the Labour Party. On the outbreak of the Second World War he joined the Royal Air Force. However he was later told to leave, and it was suspected that this was due to his communist sympathies. Once the Soviet Union entered the war, the military was more enthusiastic about his involvement.

During the later part of the war, Platts-Mills volunteered to work as a miner, and at the 1945 general election he was elected as the Labour MP for Finsbury.

In the House Platts-Mills emerged as one of the leaders of the left wing, and he was a member of various left-wing societies. Platts-Mills' opposition to NATO and his claim that the United States had too much power in Europe brought him into conflict with the leadership of the Labour Party.

In April 1948 Platts-Mills organised a petition in support of Pietro Nenni and the Italian Socialist Party in its general election campaign. This became the foundation of the Labour Independent Group. He gained support from 27 other MPs including Konni Zilliacus, D. N. Pritt, Geoffrey Bing and William Warbey. This went against government policy. Platts-Mills was expelled from the party, and he lost his seat in the 1950 general election.

He returned to work as a lawyer and established himself as one of Britain's leading barristers. He was eventually made a QC. John Platts-Mills died on 26th October 2001.

References

* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,581645,00.html Obituary: John Platts-Mills] in "The Guardian"
*Rayment