Horatio Myer - Politics

Politics

Politically, Myer may have been influenced by his father, who naturalised as a British citizen and became a town councillor. In 1889 Myer was elected to the London County Council for Kennington and served until 1904. At the general election of 1906, he was elected as Liberal MP for Lambeth North, a Liberal gain from the Unionists. He had won the Liberal nomination against some opposition, including a campaign to have former Liberal MP for Finsbury Central, Dadabhai Naoroji, the first non-white person to sit in the House of Commons, selected as candidate. In fact Naoroji decided to stand in Lambeth North as an independent Liberal but did not split the vote badly enough to cost Myer the seat. Despite heading the poll in Lambeth North in 1906, Myer was unable to hold the seat at the general election of January 1910. This was despite having acquired a reputation for clever electioneering, assistance during the campaign from his former LCC colleague John Burns, by then the MP for Battersea, the first working man to gain full cabinet rank and some disruptive tactics by Liberals at Unionist meetings.