Vernon Bartlett


Charles Vernon Oldfield Bartlett, CBE was an English journalist, politician and author. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1938 to 1950: first as an Independent Progressive advocating a Popular Front, then for the Common Wealth Party, and then again as an Independent Progressive.

Life

Born at Westbury, Wiltshire, Bartlett was educated at Blundell's School, then joined the British Army during the First World War, from which he was invalided out. He became a journalist, working for the Daily Mail, and later was a foreign correspondent for The Times. In 1922 he was appointed director of the London office of the League of Nations, after which he worked as a news reporter for BBC radio. He did not have his BBC contract renewed after his coverage of Hitler's decision to leave the League of Nations in 1933 was deemed too sympathetic. In 1933 he joined the News Chronicle and was its diplomatic correspondent for twenty years, including a period in Spain during the Spanish Civil War.
Bartlett was elected to the House of Commons for the Somerset seat of Bridgwater as a Popular Front candidate opposed to appeasement in a by-election held on 18 November 1938. He held the seat for twelve years.
In 1942, Bartlett, Richard Acland, J. B. Priestley, and others established the socialist Common Wealth Party. At the 1945 election, Bartlett held his Bridgwater seat, standing as an Independent. In 1950 he joined the Labour Party and retired from parliament.
In 1954 Bartlett also retired from his work with the News Chronicle and moved to Singapore, where he was both political commentator for the Straits Times and also South East Asia correspondent for the Manchester Guardian.

Publications