Who was the first MP to die in World War Two?

Anthony Muirhead was the Conservative MP for Wells and a junior minister throughout the 1930s. Much of his life was as you might expect; his death was anything but.

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Image: Anthony Muirhead’s heraldic shield in the chamber of the House of Commons.

Who was the first MP to die in World War Two?

by Lee David Evans

In so many respects, Anthony Muirhead was a typical Conservative MP in the first half of the twentieth century. He was born on 4th November 1890 into a grand Oxfordshire family and attended Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford before serving with the Oxford Yeomanry in the First World War.

Muirhead’s gallant service was such that his name was mentioned in despatches three times and he was honoured with the Military Cross and Bar. The London Gazette in 1919 celebrated his service near Armentières between 29th September and 6th October 1918, recording how he had carried:

out many daring reconnaissances, always under fire and exposed to danger, in order that the situation might be kept in hand. The enemy rearguard of machine gunners and snipers were all over the country. This officer did the work entirely on his own initiative, and the results were very valuable.

Many who had seen the brutality and bloodshed of the First World War would have been glad to see the end of fighting. But Muirhead’s war didn’t end with Armistice Day; he followed his commanding officer to a role in the Lithuanian Army from 1919-20. It was clear that Muirhead had found a calling and vocation. From 1924 until his death, he served in the Territorial Army.

Entering politics

Back home, Muirhead first won the electors’ favour in 1925 when he was elected to Oxfordshire County Council as the representative of Thame. But County Hall was not the limit of his ambition and ahead of the 1929 election he went hunting for a parliamentary seat. He struck it lucky in Wells, Somerset, and was selected in March to fight the next election. In a sign of how these things used to work, at least in the Tory party, his adoption was unanimous. A Countess served among his principal proposers at the adoption meeting and general election.