Sydney Silverman

Silverman, the Labour MP for Nelson and Colne, campaigned against capital punishment for twenty years. A Commons vote on his amendment to suspend hanging passed in 1948 but was overturned by the Lords, and his 1956 bill passed the Commons before the Lords blocked it again. After the 1964 election he introduced the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Bill, given government time but a free vote, and it became law in 1965. Parliament confirmed the abolition in 1969.