Hector Samuel James Hughes (14 August 1887 – 23 June 1970) was a Scottish Labour Party politician. In his university years in University College Dublin he was a member of the Young Ireland Branch of the United Irish League, which successfully agitated for the land of 'ranchers' or large graziers to be confiscated and redistributed to their tenants. In the Labour landslide at the 1945 general election, he was elected as Member of Parliament for Aberdeen North. He held the seat through six further general elections, before retiring from the House of Commons at the 1970 general election. He died in Brighton aged 83, only five days after the 1970 election returned the Conservative Party to power. Hector was not only an esteemed politician. He fought for women's rights in the suffragette movement as well as the abolition of the death penalty. He was also a published poet and wrote the national anthem for Ghana when they gained their independence. He was the great-grandfather of Paul and Tonie Walsh among others. Grandfather of Sylvia Walsh, Denise Casey, Mark Quinn, Clem Quinn and Benita Quinn Ahearne ( Ireland) Father of Isolde Hughes/ Cazelet ( Actress) and Finny Hughes/McMullan References External links 1887 births 1970 deaths Scottish Labour MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Aberdeen constituencies UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 People educated at St Andrew's College, Dublin Alumni of University College Dublin