William Warbey, the son of a stationer, was born in London
on 16th August, 1903. After being educated at the London
School of Economics he became a school teacher.
A
member of the Labour Party he was elected
to represent Luton in the 1945 General Election.
In the House of Commons Warbey associated
with a group of left-wing members that included John
Platts-Mills, Konni
Zilliacus,
Lester Hutchinson, Ian
Mikardo, Barbara
Castle, Sydney
Silverman, Geoffrey Bing, Emrys
Hughes, D. N. Pritt, Leslie
Solley,
William
Gallacher and
Phil Piratin.
Warbey's
opposition to the Cold War and the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
made him an unpopular figure in post-war England and he was defeated
when he stood at Luton in the 1950 General Election.
After leaving the House
of Commons Warby worked as editor of the educational journal,
Look and Listen. He returned
to parliament when he was elected to represent Broxtowe in September,
1953. In May 1955 he moved to Ashfield and held the seat until he
retired.
In
1965 Warby joined Michael Foot, Konni
Zilliacus,
William Warbey, Russell
Kerr, Norman Atkinson, Stan
Newens, and Sydney Silverman in
protesting against American intervention in Vietnam.
However, Zilliacus and his friends were unable to persuade the Labour
prime minister, Harold
Wilson,
to condemn US policy on Vietnam.
Warbey left the House
of Commons in 1966. He continued to be involved in politics and
was Executive Director of Organisation for World Political and Social
Studies and Secretary of the World Studies Trust. He also wrote a
biography of Ho
Chi Minh.
William
Warbey died on 6th
May 1980.
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