Cecil L'Estrange Malone

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Cecil John L'Estrange Malone (7 September 1890 – 8 June 1965), usually known as Cecil L'Estrange Malone, or Colonel Malone (and known as Cecil L'Estrange Malone, OBE until 1921), was a left wing member of the United Kingdom House of Commons and Britain's first communist Member of Parliament.

Born in Dalton Holme, Yorkshire, Malone was a rector's son. He joined the Royal Navy in 1905 and attended the Royal Naval College at Devonport. He played a pioneering role in naval aviation and rose to become a Commander, and later a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army. He saw action in World War I, commanding HMS Ben-my-Chree, for which he was awarded the Order of the Nile.

In the 1918 UK general election, Malone joined the anti-communist Reconstruction Society and was elected as the Coalition Liberal MP for Leyton East, although he later claimed never to have actually joined the Liberal Party. He was also awarded the Order of the British Empire. By August 1919 he was advertising Pelman "memory" courses throughout the national press.

The following month, Malone visited Russia as a journalist and was suddenly convinced of socialism. He became active in the Hands Off Russia campaign, and in November 1919 joined the British Socialist Party (BSP), soon being elected to its leadership through the sponsorship of Theodore Rothstein. In 1920, the BSP became the main constituent of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), and as a result, Malone became the first CPGB MP. At its first congress, he was elected to its central committee.

Malone's sudden conversion to revolutionary politics was not universally believed. John Maclean claimed that Malone was a counter revolutionary sent to disrupt the workers' movement, and it was over this issue that Maclean broke with the BSP.

In November 1920, Malone argued in a speech that during the course of a workers' revolution, it was reasonable to execute some prominent members of the bourgeoise, asking what "are a few Churchills or a few Curzons on lampposts compared to the massacre of thousands of human beings?" This statement led to his imprisonment for six months under the Defence of the Realm (Acquisition of Land) Act 1920 and he was stripped of his OBE.

Malone married in 1921 and began promoting the affiliation of the CPGB to the Labour Party, which was under consideration as a tactical matter, urged by Lenin. Malone was particularly keen, and stated "There are still a few differences between the Communist Party and the Labour Party. I am glad to realise, however, that this will soon be settled by affiliation".

With the failure of affiliation, Malone left the CPGB and instead joined the Independent Labour Party, which was affiliated to the Labour Party. He unsuccessfully stood as the Labour candidate for Ashton-under-Lyne at the 1924 UK general election, but was elected in the Northampton by-election, 1928 and held the seat until the 1931 UK general election.

Malone remarried in 1956, after the death of his first wife, and died on 8 June 1965.

[edit] External Links

• Documents relating to Cecil Malone held at the National Archives of the United Kingdom

[edit] References

• John Maclean and the CPGB, What Next
• Reclaiming Maclean, Weekly Worker
• Labour Party affiliation: For and against, Weekly Worker
• British Labour dumps fake socialism, Communist Left
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, volume 3, The Harvester Press
• For Pelmanism; Bookman, August, 1919. p.171

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by New constituency	Member of Parliament for Leyton East 1918–1922	Succeeded by Ernest Edward Alexander
Preceded by Arthur Holland	Member of Parliament for Northampton 1928–1931	Succeeded by Sir Mervyn Edward Manningham-Buller

Persondata
NAME	Malone, Cecil John L'Estrange
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Malone, Cecil L'Estrange
SHORT DESCRIPTION	British politician
DATE OF BIRTH	7 September 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH	Dalton Holme, Yorkshire
DATE OF DEATH	8 June 1965
PLACE OF DEATH