{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}} {{Use British English|date=February 2017}} '''Leslie Judah Solley'''<ref>[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/37238/pages/4291 The London Gazette Issue 37238] {{webarchive|date=8 November 2012|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108180142/http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/37238/pages/4291}}</ref> (15 December 1905 – 9 January 1968) was a British politician and barrister.
Solley was born in London and educated at Davenant Foundation School then the University of London.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Rubinstein|editor1-first=William D.|editor2-last=Jolles|editor2-first=Michael A.|title=The Palgrave dictionary of Anglo-Jewish history|date=2011|publisher=Springer|location=Basingstoke|isbn=9780230304666|edition=illustrated|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0230304664}}</ref> He worked as a scientist and then a barrister. He joined the Labour Party and won the Thurrock seat at the 1945 general election.
In 1948, Solley signed a petition written by John Platts-Mills in support of Pietro Nenni and the Italian Socialist Party, in defiance of Labour Party policy. As a result, he was warned not to contravene the party line in future.
Solley was an ardent opponent of the North Atlantic Treaty, calling instead for a united Europe and work through the United Nations. He was one of six Labour MPs to vote against signing the Treaty, and as a result of this and his previous warning, was expelled from the party. He then became a founder member of the Labour Independent Group, and contested Thurrock again in the 1950 general election as an "Independent Labour" candidate. He failed to win, and afterwards concentrated on his career in law, while also becoming prominent in the Songwriters Guild of Great Britain. He wrote many pieces of music in his life, including the songs for "The Adventures Of Twizzle" under the pseudonym Leslie Clair, an early British television series for children. His masterwork,{{Citation needed|date=September 2019}} an orchestral fantasy, "Music For Orchestra" was written in 1948 but remained undiscovered until 2008, well after his death, aged 62, in 1968.
He was the father of musician and record producer Peter Solley.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Solley |first1=Stephen |title=Peter Solley obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/feb/20/peter-solley-obituary |access-date=6 May 2026 |work=The Guardian |date=20 February 2024}}</ref>
==References== *[http://www.spartacus-educational.com/TUsoleyL.htm Spartacus: Leslie Solley] {{Reflist}}
== External links == *{{Hansard-contribs | mr-leslie-solley | Leslie Solley }}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{s-new | constituency }} {{s-ttl | title =Member of Parliament for Thurrock | years = 1945 – 1950 }} {{s-aft | after = Hugh Delargy }} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solley, Leslie}} Category:1905 births Category:1968 deaths Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Category:Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Category:British barristers Category:UK MPs 1945–1950 Category:Politics of Thurrock Category:Far-left politicians in the United Kingdom