Fred W Harris

Frederic Walter Harris (6 March 1915 – 4 January 1979, Kenya) was a British politician and businessman. He was Conservative Member of Parliament in Croydon between 1948 and 1970.

Fred Harris was born in Balham, South London and educated at Belmont College, Streatham. After working for a period in local government, he set up his own business with money invested by Sir Sydney Marshall. Marshall's Malted Milk was set up in Clapham but soon moved to Croydon. The company expanded and during World War II making a range of foodstuffs. Harris made his fortune. The company became Marshall's Universal Ltd, then was publicly listed. By 1965, the company had fourteen subsidiaries in Britain and East Africa, working in engineering, vehicles, canning, food manufacture and farming. It had an annual turnover of £5million and Fred Harris remained Chairman of every company, even as MP.

Harris was active in the local Conservative Party. He stood in the 1945 and 1946 local elections in Broad Green and Addiscombe respectively but was unsuccessful. He was elected to the council of the County Borough of Croydon for Central ward in December 1946 in a by-election, however, and was re-elected in 1947 for a full four-year term. He served as a ratepayers' association representative, which was effectively a cover for the local Conservatives. He was also elected as the youngest councillor on Surrey County Council, representing Godstone.

Croydon had been safe Conservative territory since first electing its own Member of Parliament in 1885. But in the 1945 General Election, Labour had taken Croydon South and come within 607 votes in Croydon North. In January 1948, Sir Henry Willink resigned as Conservative MP for Croydon North. Labour and the Liberals selected high-profile candidates – Harold Nicolson for Labour and Air Vice-Marshal Don Bennett for the Liberal Party. Harris was selected by the local Conservative Association as their candidate for the Croydon North by-election, and had their wholehearted support.

Conservative Central Office were not so sure. They were concerned that a local businessman with little fame or track record would struggle to beat the former MP and author and the World War II hero. Odds were given of 6:1 against the Conservatives winning. Harris was summoned to see Party leader Winston Churchill, which Harris realised was to dissuade him from standing. He later said, "when he discovered how determined I was to win the seat, he put his arm around my shoulders and said he would help me all he could." Churchill toured the constituency, making speeches from the top of his car. Helpfully, his daughter Mary Soames was then in a Croydon maternity hospital giving birth to her son, Nicholas, bringing the campaign positive publicity. In the end, Harris triumphed with an 11,664 majority. A national newspaper the next morning ran the headline "Oh what a beautiful morning". The song (from Oklahoma!) became his theme tune when touring Croydon.

More information on the Wikipedia page.