Sir Percy Alfred Harris, 1st Baronet, PC (6 March 1876 – 28 June 1952) was a British Liberal Party politician. He was Liberal Chief Whip and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Parliamentary Party. Political positions Percy Harris was regarded as a radical Liberal with a strong social conscience, which grew from representing a working-class area of the East End of London. He was particularly interested in the issue of social housing, a major responsibility of the London County Council. Harris sided with H. H. Asquith against David Lloyd George in 1918–23. Thereafter, he sought unity within the Liberal Party. When the Liberal Party split in 1931 over the issue of free trade, he sided with Sir Herbert Samuel and against the Liberal National breakaway led by Sir John Simon. Under the leadership of Sir Archie Sinclair, he rose to prominence in the party. Harris was a strong supporter of the social policies advocated by Sir William Beveridge and was key to getting Beveridge to run for the Liberals. Background Harris was born in Kensington, the second son of Wolf Harris (1833–1926) a Polish immigrant. He was educated at Harrow and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Harris was called to the bar by Middle Temple in 1899. In 1901 he married Marguerite Frieda Bloxam (1877–1962). They had two sons including Jack Harris (23 July 1906 – 26 August 2009). A great-grandson is the former Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament Matthew Taylor—which Taylor, who was adopted, discovered in 2008. Political career Harris first stood for election at the 1906 general election when he was the Liberal candidate for the Ashford Division of Kent. Ashford was a safe Conservative seat that they had won at every election since the seat was created in 1885. He was not expected to win and in an election that saw the Liberals sweep the country Harris came within 400 votes of toppling his Conservative opponent. Harris next contested the 1907 London County Council election for the Progressive Party, the municipal wing of the Liberal Party. He contested Bethnal Green South West alongside his running mate Stewart Headlam and they were both elected. In 1910, Harris contested the January 1910 general election as Liberal candidate for the Harrow division of Middlesex. Harrow was a safe Conservative seat that had been unexpectedly won by the Liberal James Gibb in 1906. Gibb had decided to retire and Harris was given the hard