HARRIS, SIR PERCY ALFRED

HARRIS, SIR PERCY ALFRED (1876–1952), English politician. Born in London and educated at Harrow and Cambridge, Harris was admitted to the bar in 1899, although by profession he was engaged in his father's mercantile business which traded with New Zealand. Harris retained a lifelong interest in that country, and published New Zealand and Its Politics in 1909. He traveled around the world three times and lived in New Zealand for three years. From 1907 to 1934 and from 1946 until his death he was a member of the London County Council and served as its deputy chairman from 1915 to 1916. In that year he returned to parliament as Liberal member for Harborough. Harris was elected for a second time in 1922 and sat continuously until 1945 when he retired. He was made a baronet in 1932 and from 1940 to 1945 was deputy leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Commons. His publications include London and Its Government (originally written in 1913 and rewritten in 1931. and an autobiography, Forty Years In and Out of Parliament (1947). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: ODNB online. (William D. Rubinstein (2nd ed.)