1929 general election. Labour Party leader Ramsay MacDonald spoke in the division attacking David Lloyd George's plan for dealing with unemployment at the end of March, shortly before the campaign opened. At the election, a Liberal candidate stood for the first time since 1920. Oakley was hopeful that the workers of the district had fallen out of sympathy with the Labour Party since the general strike of 1926, and that trade union membership had fallen. However the constituency included mining (some mines had closed), and the iron and steel industry imported their raw materials and were strongly opposed to protectionism. A competitive election was forecast. In line with the national swing, Oakley was defeated by 2,862 votes. Later life In the fortnight after the election, Oakley was elected once again as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Hearts of Oak Benefit Society. In September 1931 he was elected as Parliamentary Agent to the National Conference of Friendly Societies. As its Parliamentary Agent, Oakley reported back to the Hearts of Oak society's conference in 1934 that the society's pressure on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to protect friendly society benefits in law had been effective, and that payments from friendly societies would be disregarded when applying the means test. Always a highly active man, he remained active in election work. Oakley worked so heavily on campaigning in the 1935 general election that he became ill, and eventually died the following spring. References External links 1874 births 1936 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies London and North Western Railway people UK MPs 1924–1929 Municipal Reform Party politicians Members of St Pancras Metropolitan Borough Council