Henry Price

Henry Alfred Price, CBE (3 January 1911 – 4 December 1982) was a British company director and politician. He came from a working-class background but did well in the paper trade, where he set up his own business. He became a Conservative Party Member of Parliament, during which he founded an alliance to protect the middle class. Family origin Price was the son of a builder's labourer and was born in London. He attended Hungerford Road School and Holloway County School but left at the age of 15 to join a paper manufacturer. Later, he set up his own business, Price, Topley and Company Ltd, who were paper merchants. Municipal life He became an active member of the Conservative Party and, in 1944, he was co-opted as a member of Lewisham Borough Council, elections having been suspended for the duration of the Second World War. He enjoyed municipal life and, in 1946, he was chosen as Conservative candidate for Lewisham West for the London County Council. He was elected by 578 votes. This gave Price a prominent role in London-wide Conservative politics. After boundary changes, Price was re-elected in 1949. Parliament At the 1950 general election, Price was chosen as Conservative candidate for Lewisham West. He gained the seat from Arthur Skeffington, who had held it as a Labour MP. His maiden speech on 22 May dwelt on the subject of high housing rents; he urged that the period for repayment of public works loans be lengthened from 60 to 80 years. Fighting for re-election in 1951, Price reported that his audiences were "flabbergasted" to learn the high level of spending by the Labour government.