11 Facts About Cooper Rawson

Sir Alfred Cooper Rawson was a British businessman and Conservative Party politician.

Cooper Rawson was a delegate to the International Road Congress in 1923 and in 1926, and in 1930 he was president of the Granite Guild; the following year he was president of the Institute of Quarrying.

Cooper Rawson served the rest of the war with the RNVR at The Crystal Palace, becoming a temporary lieutenant commander.

Cooper Rawson remained involved with the RNVR after the war, and in 1925 was made an honorary commander, attached to the RNVR's Sussex Division; in 1940 he was made an honorary Captain of the RNVR.

Cooper Rawson was a Wandsworth councillor for 11 years, serving as mayor in 1918 to 1919, and was elected to the London County Council in 1913.

Cooper Rawson was elected Member of Parliament for Brighton at the 1922 general election, replacing the Conservative MP Charles Thomas-Stanford, who had retired.

Cooper Rawson stood down from local government on his election to Westminster and held his seat in the Commons at the next five general elections.

Cooper Rawson holds the record for the largest number of votes ever polled by a candidate at a British general election, a record he achieved in the 1931 election by polling 75,205 votes.

Cooper Rawson told his local Conservative Association in October 1943 that he wanted to be relieved of his Parliamentary duties as soon as possible, and retired from Parliament on 17 January 1944, by resigning his seat through the procedural device of accepting appointment as Steward of the Manor of Northstead.

Cooper Rawson was knighted in the 1926 New Year Honours List, and in 1927 he was awarded the Legion of Honour by the government of France, for his work with the British League of Help.

Cooper Rawson died on 11 January 1946 at Hove, Sussex, aged 69.