Chapter 62: By-Election

There had been no General Election since 1935. There would not be another one until 1945. But there was a by-election in Lancaster in 1941.

This pleased Jack Matthews no end. It gave him the first chance in years to support a political cause, which if successful, might have a real effect on the changes he wanted brought about in the country, once the war was over. The Independent Labour Party candidate, Fenner Brockway, was far-sighted enough. to be looking ahead in his speeches. He consistently outlined the changes in society that should take place after the so-called ‘People's War' was won.

There was also a pleasant side-effect for Jack during the election campaign. He had never had many restrictions placed on his long-standing affair with his former colleague at Skerton, Beth Farrell. His wife, Sheila, never questioned any of his spare time comings and goings. Nevertheless, the weeks of political activity, helping Fenner Brockway, gave him almost unlimited opportunities to be with her when he was not at work.

He read with interest some of the ideas in Fenner's writings, absorbed them and regurgitated them, whenever and wherever he had a chance to catch a vote.

Fenner had been to prison during the First World War. He had been a pacifist. He had published first-hand accounts, by front-line survivors, of what the battles in France were really like. For that, he'd been put in gaol. Authority hated the truth being told.

The Spanish Civil War and the rise of Fascism had caused Fenner to change his mind and he'd abandoned his pacifism. He'd learned from personal experience to hate and mistrust Stalin but he felt Fascism was even worse.

"I was in all my nature opposed to war," he said. "I could never see myself killing anyone. But I could not contemplate a Nazi victory. The Spanish Civil War settled this dilemma for me. I could no longer justify pacifism when there was a Fascist threat," he declared.

All very serious stuff! But, the campaign in Lancaster had its farcical side.

Opposed to Fenner Brockway, there was a truly gallant soldier, one Fitzroy Maclean. He'd risen suddenly and, by his own account, unexpectedly, from the lower ranks and become he said, " a f****** officer."

Tired of inaction in England, and dreading being sent to a chair job in London, he decided to try and go into politics. He was selected as the Conservative candidate at Lancaster. There was a month to the poll.

He'd never been a political speaker. Fenner had all of those skills and to spare. Fenner described himself as being fully behind the war-effort and the country's commitment to smash the Fascist enemy. However, he made a distinction between that and the awful failure of the old gang, now led by Churchill.

He listed the failures at Guam, Wake, Hong Kong, Manila, the Dutch East Indies, Rangoon, Benghazi and finally, the total disaster at Singapore after Chruchill became Prime Minister.
He spoke out against their attempts to ban newspapers which criticised Churchill's inadequacies as a leader. He condemned the wide-spread censorship in all of the others.

These attacks by the Government on the press, Fenner maintained, were a diversion, to stop the public from concentrating on the Government's lacklustre performances. They were blaming the messengers for bad news, instead of themselves. That was Fenner's message. It was not welcomed in all quarters!

Everyone agreed that Fitzroy was a hopeless speaker but he was good at downing pints of beer, shaking hands and smiling sweetly at people, especially women. He had good looks, almost of film-star quality, like Ronald Colman's. His candidature was endorsed by all three of the major party leaders. His smart uniform helped convince the Lancaster voters that here was the true patriot. Most of them were not going to vote for Fenner, whose truthful speeches could be accused of sapping morale.

According to Fenner, it was another of Fitzroy's assets which won the election for him. He had beautiful legs! He had a good figure, a smart uniform and a short kilt. Fenner complained, that while he was making a fine speech, Maclean would turn up and distract the listeners by displaying himself, peacock-fashion, at meetings.

Result: Maclean, 15,783 and Brockway, 5,418

After the result was announced, Beth and Jack mounted their bicycles and rode to Halton. There, Jack stayed with her for an hour before going home. They had a pleasant time forgetting their disappointment at losing the election!

Ten years later, there was a very close election contest at Lancaster. Legs again played a part. The Labour candidate was the beautiful war heroine, Dodo Lees. In the 1930s, she had been a journalist in Germany. Even Adolf Hitler, whom she detested, had said that he admired her long legs and fine speech making. Unfortunately, despite her superiority in the battle of legs and in speech-making, she too lost the election to Maclean.

Both had shown valour during the war. She was the only British nurse in the Free French Forces and won two Croix de Guerre awards. He won acclaim for his activities in Yugoslavia and wrote an acclaimed book, Eastern Approaches, all about his adventures there.

Lancaster was instinctively Conservative for many decades.

At the end of his life, Gordon would smile ruefully and say, "I've never voted for a successful candidate in my life."

Despite their defeat in 1941, Jack enjoyed the campaign and remained convinced that after the war the old policies would be rejected. there would be a better deal for the ordinary man and woman. "Our time is fast approaching," he assured Beth.

Two years before the 1941 by-election, his affair with Beth had reached scandalous proportions. At the two Skerton schools, the staffs had been well aware of what was going on between them. Neither of them was worried about being seen together. If anything, Beth was less concerned than Jack.

"What I do in my spare time is my business!" she would say, if challenged about her behaviour.

When the pair of them were found in a compromising position, in a storeroom in the Girls' School, after school hours, they were reported by a cleaner to Authority. The cleaner was the wifw of one of the local Fascists. Her action was not inspired so much by her outraged morality as by political vindictiveness.

"At it they were," she told her husband, "just like a couple of dogs. One armed Commie shit! Brazen-faced bitch that woman of his!"

"Don't worry love," replied her husband, "we'll fix ‘em!"

Beth was not asked to resign from teaching, but a veiled threat ensured that she left Skerton. She applied for a new post, at Ryelands School. She was appointed there in September, 1939.

Beth and Leslie still lived together. Leslie knew Jack well and did not think he was a threat to her friendship with Beth. Sheila suspected Jack was up to no good but she was not bothered. Since his return from Spain, she was pleased when he was out of the house. It was not worth bothering about, if his affairs were to do with things other than politics. She was comfortable enough with the material things he provided. She enjoyed being a housewife with three nice children. If only he were more affable and kind to her she would have been quite satisfied with her life.

Only occasionally, his behaviour at home became intolerable to her. She would have a go at him.

"You're a funny sort of Socialist," she told him. "I thought you were supposed to care about people. Your trouble is, you only love what you read about in books. You treat us humans, the people you know and have to live with, badly. You're just plain cruel."After her outburst, she started to cry.

Jack said nothing in response. Tight-lipped, he went upstairs to his room.

When Sheila's friend, Margaret, told her about her modelling for Mr Martin, and about the success in a local exhibition, of the painting he'd done of her, she was not envious. She simply found it odd, how Margaret seemed to be changing.

Mrs Martin had told Margaret that she had several admirers, amongst those who had viewed the painting in which she figured. She was placed prominently in the middle of the composition. Her sad expression, her pale skin, her off-shoulder blouse made an impression on some of the susceptible males, amongst the art admirers of the area. Her features stimulated romantic longings in several. They wondered who she was.

She did not know who they were and did not want to know. She had declined an invitation to the opening of the exhibition and had not been to see the painting hung there. Going to an art gallery would have made her feel nervous. She was not used to going to places like that.However, she could not resist telling Sheila all the details which had been relayed to her by Mrs Martin.

Sheila could not help noticing the considerable improvement in her friend's appearance lately. First of all the new teeth. Then, after she'd taken the job in Joyce's pub, she'd started wearing a lot more make-up.

"Wearing your Sunday face every day!" she told Margaret.
"Have to keep up appearances when you're working in public!" responded Margaret.

Sheila didn't remind her that only a few months earlier, Margaret would have described any female wearing her skirts as short as she was now wearing hers as, "Common! Common as they come!"

Times were certainly changing. Sheila had no particular wish to change with them. But she wished that Jack would change back to how he used to be!