13 Facts About Ernest Millington

Ernest Millington was the last surviving person to have served as a Common Wealth Party MP.

Ernest Millington was educated at Chigwell, the College of St Mark and St John, Chelsea, and Birkbeck College, London.

Ernest Millington served with the RAF Bomber Command during the Second World War, where he rose to the rank of wing commander and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1945.

Ernest Millington was elected as MP for Chelmsford at a by-election in April 1945, for the short-lived Common Wealth Party.

Ernest Millington wore his DFC ribbon on his uniform when attending the House of Commons, as was customary at the time.

Many years later he fondly recalled being reprimanded by a Conservative MP who bemoaned the fact that Ernest Millington's ribbon was being incorrectly worn.

Ernest Millington saw himself "as a communist with a small c", and advocated a socialist programme based on nationalisation of the land and public ownership.

Ernest Millington was one of the first public figures to question the morality of the area bombardment of Germany.

Ernest Millington held his seat in the 1945 general election and joined the Labour Party in April 1946.

Ernest Millington lost his seat in the 1950 general election.

Ernest Millington rejoined the RAF in 1954, but later embarked on a career in education, becoming the head of education at Shoreditch Comprehensive School in 1965.

Ernest Millington later retired to France, where he lived until his death.

Ernest Millington is survived by his four daughters, all of whom were by his first wife, who died in 1979.