the election, lost his seat by 5,029 votes to Herbert Gibson, the Labour candidate. Hopkinson kept up his contribution of articles expressing unorthodox thoughts to journals while out of Parliament, blaming the Wall Street Crash of 1929 on an American attempt to restrict imports. Return to Parliament At the 1931 general election Hopkinson attempted to regain his seat but found himself opposed by an official Conservative Party candidate as well as the sitting Labour MP. He declared himself a supporter of the National Government. Having unexpectedly lost in 1929, Hopkinson managed to win his seat back in an equally unexpected result. The Conservative candidate was in third place. Hopkinson continued to support free trade and Baldwin, and in the 1935 general election the putative Conservative candidate withdrew in his favour. Baldwin wrote to Hopkinson (under the salutation "Dear Hoppy") that "You have been one of my most loyal supporters in good times and in bad when I needed friends most". Hopkinson had a straight fight with Labour and the official backing of the National government, saying that he would take the National Government whip if elected. He won by only 2,170 votes in a constituency that was suffering in the economic difficulties. In March 1936 Hopkinson was injured in a flying accident, aviation having long been a private hobby. He was making a forced landing in bad weather near Warrington when his aeroplane overturned; fortunately it hit a hedge and did not crush him. Unluckily he suffered light injuries in a second accident the next month, at Rochester airport in Kent when his aircraft went into a spin. In March 1938 Hopkinson was hit by a car near his home, and had to recover in hospital. Rearmament and war Hopkinson's knowledge of flying led to his strong support for rearmament especially of the Royal Air Force and on 16 November 1938 he declared that the Chamberlain government's inadequate action in that area made it impossible for him to continue to support the government, and resigned the whip. In an article he wrote shortly after, he declared that Conservative Associations should not select "crooks and half-wits" as Parliamentary candidates. However he continued to back the government on the issue of Palestine. Hopkinson considered his warnings had been amply justified when the Second World War broke out. He re-enlisted at age 60, this time in the Royal Navy on the declaration of