However at some point between 1931-1935 , Beechman broke with the mainstream Liberal Party and began to support that section of the party led by Sir John Simon which continued to be part of the National Government when the orthodox Liberals under Herbert Samuel broke with the government over the traditional policy of Free trade after the Ottawa agreements of 1932 . He did not contest a seat at the 1935 general election but in 1937 he was chosen as Liberal National candidate to fight the by-election at St Ives in Cornwall when the seat fell vacant with the elevation to the peerage of the sitting MP Walter Runciman . In a hard-fought contest against former Liberal MP Isaac Foot , Beechman held the seat by just 210 votes ( or 0.8 % of the poll . ) Despite the growing link between the Liberal Nationals and the Conservatives , Beechman remained at heart a Liberal and saw collaboration with the Tories as essentially an anti-socialist front . He stood at the 1945 general election as a National Liberal albeit without Conservative opposition and remained MP for St Ives until he stood down at the 1950 general election . According to one historian of Liberal politics in the South West of England , the Liberal Nationals were looking to distance themselves from their Tory allies after the 1945 general election and he names Beechman and George Lambert the MP for South Molton in Devon as two Liberal Nationals who were likely to favour a new Centre grouping of reunited Liberals , Tory reformers and the right-wing of the Labour Party
Ottawa agreements
British Empire Economic Conference
Alec Beechman