Wilfrid Roberts - Liberal MP

Liberal MP

He first stood, without success, for North Cumberland in 1931, losing by 1,277 votes. He became a Member of Parliament (MP) for the seat at the 1935 election, gaining his seat from the Conservatives.

At the time of the Spanish Civil War, he worked in the relief effort for Basque refugees, with Christopher Hill. He was Secretary of the National Joint Committee for Spanish Relief, working with Conservative MP the Duchess of Atholl as Chair, David Grenfell of the Labour Party, and Eleanor Rathbone of the Independent Labour Party, from 1937 to 1940. He was also joint secretary, with the Conservative MP John Macnamara, of the Basque Children's Committee.

A radical Liberal, he was a supporter of the Popular Front advocated by Sir Stafford Cripps, seeking an alliance between left-of-centre political forces. He spoke at the 1938 Emergency Conference for a Popular Front.

Having been commissioned in the Border Regiment, from 1941-42 he served as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Liberal Leader, Sir Archibald Sinclair, Secretary of State for Air.

At the 1950 general election, following boundary changes, Roberts contested the re-drawn seat of Penrith and the Border but lost to the Conservative. In the three previous elections, Labour had not opposed him but, in 1950, they intervened and cost him his seat.