war, serving from 1939 to 1942. During breaks in his service he voted against Chamberlain after the Norway debate of 1940, and supported Churchill's policy of 'total war', but opposed the use of secret sessions of the House of Commons to suppress public criticism of the performance of Ministers. In 1942 a corrupted report of a speech of his was printed in the This England column of the New Statesman in which he was supposed to have declared himself an autocrat. Hopkinson sued for libel, describing the statement as a travesty. The New Statesman eventually agreed to pay 50 guineas to the RAF Benevolent Fund in damages, and Hopkinson's costs. The same erroneous report also appeared in Reynolds News and Hopkinson won £500 damages from them. As the war was coming to an end, Hopkinson uncovered a financial scandal involving the Air Ministry and the British Overseas Airways Corporation in a speech on 19 December 1944. He opposed the outcome of the Yalta Conference which accepted a Soviet sphere of influence in eastern Europe. Later life At the 1945 general election, Hopkinson was for the first time opposed by all three main parties. He was by then in his mid-60s and had less ability to be active in his constituency, and also his outspoken criticisms of the Labour Party were not in line with the times. Not only did he lose his seat in the election, but he came in bottom of the poll with only 8% of the vote and thereby lost his deposit, the threshold being 12.5%. Hopkinson retired from politics but lived mainly in Westminster at 61 St George's Square. A portrait of him by William Dring was exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition of 1955. Hopkinson never married. References Who's Who of British MPs, volume 3 by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester, Brighton, 1979) Times Guide to the House of Commons from 1929 to 1945 (The Times, London) British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949 by F. W. S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services, Chichester, 1983) External links A tribute to Austin Hopkinson from Tameside Council 1924 photograph from National Portrait Gallery External links 1879 births 1962 deaths People from Mossley British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Independent politicians in England Councillors in Greater Manchester UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923