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Eric Bullus

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Sir Eric Bullus
Member of Parliament
for Wembley North
In office
1950 – February 1974
Preceded byCharles Hobson
Personal details
Born
Eric Edward Bullus

(1906-11-20)20 November 1906
Peterborough, England
Died8 September 2001(2001-09-08) (aged 94)
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Joan Denny
(m. 1949; died 1993)
Children2

Sir Eric Edward Bullus (20 November 1906 – 8 September 2001) was a British Conservative politician. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Wembley North from 1950 until the constituency was abolished by boundary changes for the February 1974 general election.

Early life

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Although Bullus was born in Peterborough, his mother's home town, he grew up in Leeds. He was educated at Leeds Modern School and the University of Leeds.[1]

Career

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At the age of twenty, Bullus joined the right-of-centre newspaper the Yorkshire Post, for which he wrote for more than twenty years.[1][2] He also joined the Junior Imperial League, the youth wing of the Conservative Party. He was elected to Leeds City Council in 1930. Five years later he became the Tory whip; he also held the chair of the Libraries and Arts Committee, founding a series of lunchtime concerts.[1]

When the Second World War began, Bullus was thirty-three years old. Too old for active service, in August 1940 he was commissioned as a pilot officer in the Royal Air Force (RAF) Volunteer Reserve. He served at the Air Ministry until 1943,[1] when he was promoted to the rank of flight lieutenant and transferred to southeast Asia to join Lord Mountbatten's staff.[2] Despite eventually reaching the rank of wing commander, he never flew a plane, and was demobilised in December 1945.[1]

Member of Parliament

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Bullus was elected to the House of Commons in 1950 as MP for the constituency of Wembley North.[2] He introduced the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill, which aimed to reinstate flogging as a punishment for violent and armed robbery (a punishment that had been abolished by the Criminal Justice Act 1948[3]), as well as for wounding and rape, in 1952, and it was debated in early 1953.[4] After the Home Secretary expressed opposition, the second reading of the bill was defeated in a free vote by a majority of 96.[5] Bullus became the secretary of the Conservative backbenchers' 1922 Committee in 1953, and later served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to several ministers.[2]

Bullus was a passionate eurosceptic. He strongly opposed Britain's entry into the European Communities and voted against party orders in favour of a referendum on the issue. However, his loyalty to the government led him to support the European Communities Act 1972 despite this.[2]

Bullus was knighted in December 1964 as part of Alec Douglas-Home's dissolution honours list, for "political and public services".[1][6]

Personal life

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Bullus was a member of the Church of England and a committed Christian. At home, he was a lay reader, preaching nearly one thousand sermons during his life,[2] and while serving in Delhi during World War II he was a member of the arch-deaconry council. He also enjoyed sport, taking part in swimming, rugby and cricket, including playing for the Lords and Commons cricket team.[1]

In 1949 he married Joan Denny, with whom he had two daughters. Joan died in 1993 after a marriage of fifty-two years.[2] Bullus died in 2001, survived by both his children. [1]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Roth, Andrew (11 September 2001). "Obituary: Sir Eric Bullus". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Sir Eric Bullus". The Telegraph. 10 September 2001. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  3. ^ Criminal Justice Act 1948 Part 1, Section 2
  4. ^ "'Flog for all violence'". News Chronicle. London. 15 November 1952. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  5. ^ "From The Herald archives". The Herald. 14 February 2003. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  6. ^ "Supplement to the London Gazette" (PDF). London Gazette. No. 43502. 27 November 1964. p. 10228. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
[edit]
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Wembley North
1950Feb 1974
Succeeded by
constituency abolished