Henry Usborne | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1909-01-16)January 16, 1909 |
| Died | March 16, 1996(1996-03-16) (aged 87) Evesham,Worcestershire, London |
Henry Charles Usborne (16 January 1909 – 16 March 1996) was a BritishLabour Party politician and peace activist who defected to theLiberal Party.[1]
Usborne was born inHisar,Punjab,India,[2][3] was educated atBradfield College and read Engineering atCorpus Christi College, Cambridge.[4]
In the1945 general election, Usborne was elected as theMember of Parliament (MP) forAcocks Green. The constituency was abolished and in1950 Usborne was elected in the marginal constituency ofBirmingham Yardley. He held the seat until the1959 general election.
According to his obituary in theTimes on 19 March 1996, Usborne resigned from the Labour Party in 1962 and joined the Liberal Party. He urged former colleagues to joinJo Grimond's party as the best hope for defeating the Conservatives. There was a suggestion that Usborne be nominated to stand for the Liberal Party atCheltenham, but he announced that wild horses would not drag him into another parliamentary contest.
In addition to his work as a constituency MP, he was one of the main drivers in the Britishworld federalist movement. In 1945, ahead of the foundation of theUnited Nations, Edith Wynner, a friend, activist and secretary toRosika Schwimmer visited London and worked with Henry forCampaign for World Government.[5] After that Henry founded theParliamentary Group for World Government (PGWG) in 1945,[6][3] which led to the establishment of the World Association of Parliamentarians for World Government (WAPWG)[7] in 1947, later renamed as the World Parliament Association (WPA).[6] Which asAll Party Parliamentary Group for World Governance (APPGWG) counts today. 167 members of APPGWG meets regularly to provide a forum for debate on global governance issues in theBritish Parliament. In 1951, Usborne set up theOne World Trust (OWT) as an independent educational Charity to provide secretarial support to the Group, promote and disseminate knowledge on world governance. In addition to its ongoing support for the APPGWG, the One World Trust conducts independent research into the accountability of global organisations, political engagement of citizens at global level and international law.
Usborne was one of the signatories of the agreement to convene a convention for drafting aworld constitution.[8][9] As a result, for the first time in human history, aWorld Constituent Assembly convened to draft and adopt theConstitution for the Federation of Earth.[10]
Usborne died inEvesham, Worcestershire, at 87.[citation needed]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| New constituency | Member of Parliament forBirmingham Acock's Green 1945–1950 | Constituency abolished |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBirmingham Yardley 1950–1959 | Succeeded by |
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