17 Facts About Richard Acland

Richard Acland joined the Labour Party in 1945 and was later a Labour MP.

Richard Acland was one of the founders of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

Richard Thomas Dyke Acland was born on 26 November 1906 at Broadclyst, Devon, the eldest son of Sir Francis Dyke Acland, 14th Baronet, a Liberal Member of Parliament and of his first wife Eleanor Acland, nee Cropper, a Liberal politician, suffragist, and novelist.

Richard Acland had two brothers and one sister; his brother Geoffrey Acland became a Liberal politician.

Richard Acland was educated at Rugby School and at Balliol College, Oxford, before qualifying as a barrister.

Richard Acland briefly served in peacetime as a lieutenant in the 96th Field Brigade, RA.

Richard Acland was elected Liberal MP for Barnstaple at the 1935 election, having first contested the seat in the 1931 general election.

Richard Acland helped launch the Popular Front in December 1936.

Richard Acland's politics changed course subsequently, as seen in the various political pamphlets he wrote.

In 1942, Acland broke from the Liberals to found the socialist Common Wealth Party with J B Priestley and Tom Wintringham, opposing the coalition between the major parties.

Richard Acland himself failed to win Putney, where he came third.

Richard Acland joined Labour and was selected to fight the Gravesend seat following the expulsion of the Labour member of parliament Garry Allighan from the party for making allegations of corruption.

Richard Acland won the Gravesend by-election of November 1947 with a majority of 1,675.

Additionally, Richard Acland retained some feudal rights, including the gift of the living at the parish church, and entitlement to shooting and fishing.

Richard Acland became president of The Devonshire Association in 1974.

Richard Acland died in Exeter in 1990, two days before his 84th birthday.

Richard Acland advocated common ownership, citing the work of Conrad Noel as well as the Bible to support his views.