Francis Noel-Baker

Francis Edward Noel-Baker (7 January 1920 – 25 September 2009) was a British Labour Party MP. His father was Labour MP and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Philip Noel-Baker. Early life Born in London, Noel-Baker was educated at Westminster School and King's College, Cambridge, where he won an exhibition to study history. He was the founding chairman of the Cambridge University Labour Club, which had broken away from the Cambridge University Socialist Club because of the latter's support for pacifism and the Soviet Union. Having spent time as a fighter for the Republican forces in the Spanish Civil War, he nevertheless managed a First in his Prelims, but his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War and he never completed his degree. During the war he served in the Intelligence Corps, and was mentioned in despatches while serving in the Middle East. Political career Noel-Baker was first elected to the House of Commons in the Labour landslide at the 1945 general election as Member of Parliament for Brentford and Chiswick. When elected, he was the youngest Labour MP. During his first term in the House he was noted for his interest in international affairs, and in 1948 he acted covertly for the British Government inside Francoist Spain, observing the political conditions there and liaising with underground resistance activists. His report Spanish Summary, with a foreword written by Lady Megan Lloyd George, had a huge influence in shaming the British and other governments and worldwide organisations for allowing Francoist Spain to remain undefeated in Europe until the Spanish transition to democracy.